Saturday, May 13, 2006

Feck off, boat people!

I didn’t post yesterday because I visited the New Echota Cherokee Capital and Etowa Indian Mounds (two separate places). I won’t bore you with the details of the Trail of Tears since all Americans should know about this sad chapter in our history (and shame on you if you don’t), so I’ll just post the pictures over the next few days and add a few comments. Note – re: the Trail of Tears, I lost an ancestor on that forced march. That’s right – I’m partially native, so I get to call the rest of you a bunch of fecking boat people, regardless of your color. Why don’t you all go back to where you came from? Further note – does not apply to Nihon no usagi.

One interesting thing I saw in the New Echota museum was a phonetic chart of the Cherokee language. The vowels are pronounced EXACTLY the same as in Japanese. Were the American natives descendants of Japan? Does this explain my yellow fever? :p On with the photos. Click on each to view the full sized picture.

The pictures below represent the homestead of the typical middle class Cherokee family of the early 1800’s. Most of the Hollywood stereotypes don’t apply to the Cherokee way of life. Before being “colonized” by the Europeans, they lived in sod houses. After encountering the French and British, they adopted most ways of the European lifestyle, including converting to Christianity, wearing European clothes (albeit with a Cherokee flourish), and utilizing a parliamentary approach to government instead of the traditional tribal councils. All this makes what you fecking evil white people did to my people even worse – we adapted to your intrusion, and yet you stole our lands and moved us to Oklahoma. Feck off!

Barn
This is a typical barn with two stalls and a rain shelter for the wagon.


Barn
Closer image of the right side.


Barn
And the left.


Corn Crib
Corn crib.


Corn Crib
The corn crib also has a sheltered work area.


Smokehouse
Smokehouse.


Smokehouse
And again.


Smokehouse
The original meat-cutting bench.


Smokehouse
Fire for roasting the pork.


Middle-class House
The farm house is in the center, smokehouse on the left, corn crib on the right. The crib looks bigger because it's in the foreground.


Middle-class House
The front of the house.


Middle-class House


Middle-class House


Middle-class House


Middle-class House


Middle-class House


Middle-class House


Not bad living standards, especially for 180 years ago.

9 comments:

Tracy Lynn said...

Admit it, you'd miss me if I went back to Europe. :-P

Enemy of the Republic said...

I'm the daughter of fecking boat people, but my son is part native American due to my mother in law. I teach the Trail of Tears in one of my courses when I explain Manifest Destiny, John Locke and the betrayal of the social contract. It's a horrifying part of our history. I wish I could visit it as well, but I've never spent much time in that part of the world: something about my accent makes people all upset. My son is not Cherokee but Sioux, a branch of the tribe, but they got fecked over just the same. I still love my country and would die fighting for it, but I am not afraid of the history. Most countries treat their population like vermin.

Anonymous said...

How very interesting! I'm on the tribal roles of the Cherokee Tribe, thanks to my great great grandparents. I love to learn tidbits of info about them. I did some research on the tribe while I was in college.... glad to know you've got native too ;)

Grant said...

tracy - okay, you can stay.

enemy - people who think modern America is a horrible nation need to learn their history.

kerry - I've got my scalping technique down.

Grant said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

That meat cutting bench maybe its juts me however it does look you know a bit erotic or something.J/K :)


On a serious note this adapting to the invaders ways hasn't helped in the initial days of colonization many people in India did change to their ways however it never ensures equal treatment or even safety.

Josh said...

It is awful what was done to the AI. I have always thought of Oklahoma as the armpit of the nation. I haven't been to NJ, but seems OK just sucks. It's like they are stuck in a time warp, 20 years behind the rest of the world.

BTW I am part Cherokee too.

Kira said...

In this area of the country, everybody likes to claim to be part Cherokee. It amuses me. It reminds me of how after Kennedy was shot and killed, more people said they voted for him than actually did.

We have a former Cherokee settlement about an hour from my place that is a state park. There's a museum (tiny) there plus a trail to walk with lots of information on it. As you already know, Grant, I end up teaching about President Asshat...I mean President Jackson...and the indian removal act/trail of tears issue because it is a backdrop of the novel we teach in Eng 102 at my school. It intrigues me that there were enough Cherokee who either opted to stay with the white folks or who ran and hid into the woods to make up the Eastern Cherokee reservation. That makes me happy that so many stayed behind, esp. considering how many died along the trail of tears.

Cool pictures!

Anonymous said...

I could just imagine someone sat on that chair outside long ago.Great pics.I liked how you took pics of some of the displays so we could read what was wrote about them.