When I was a young boy, we used to go to the local theater every Saturday to watch cowboy and Indian movies. Those “savages” were always the bad people, killing people that were heading westward on wagon trains. In those years, I had also heard the term “Indian giver,” but rarely gave any thought to its true meaning: Native Americans, on a routine basis, were tricked into surrendering their valuable “untitled” real estate, for trivial items of low value.
One month ago, an article in this newspaper, with the author referring to the word “sacred” as being inserted into the equation of “private property rights,” weighed heavily on my mind, as the author immediately made historical references related to our Founding Fathers, the Bill Of Rights, and fearing government’s heavy hand.
I wrote a response to that article, and I feel that my reply did not dwell “deep enough” into this equation of private property rights, with the word “sacred” being the key to the entire issue.
All my life, I have heard, and read, that, “In the beginning, God created Heaven and Earth.” Our preacher, at the close of each sermon, would hold up the Bible, and exclaim: “The word of God!”
With that assumed to be true, it would mean that God created this continent, North America, and all of its creatures of life. I have often wondered what God thought of the treatment of his Native Americans, in the years of our Founding Fathers. I cannot imagine that God had approved of any of those “Trails Of Tears.”
“In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States, first appearing on U. S. coins in 1864. During the height of the Cold War, on July 11, 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 140, making it mandatory that all coinage and paper currency display this motto.
American history demonstrates repeatedly that this nation was founded on Christian principles, and our Founding Fathers wished to acknowledge that fact, all over Washington, D.C., buildings, in official documents, and historical speeches. (Perhaps it had been assumed, by our Founding Fathers, in a “sacred” assumption, that God had approved of their misdeeds to God’s Native Americans.)
One possible origin of our motto is in the final stanza of “The Star Spangled Banner,” written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key. The song contains an early reference to a variation of the phrase: “And this be our motto: In God is our trust.” (I wonder if Mr. Key had been living on, and held title to, any “stolen” acreage? Whom am I kidding? We ALL live on property of historical ties.)
A more truthful motto, in the days, years, and centuries, of our Founding Fathers, would have been: “In Guns We Trust.”
In Ocala, Fla., at the Silver Springs Park, they erected a statue of the great American Indian chief, Osceola, the chief of the Seminole Indians. Isn’t that something? They boot the Seminole Indians out of the inhabitable parts of the state, and force them to live in the Everglades, then erect a statue in memory of their chief.
The Seminole wars lasted from 1812 to 1858. On Oct. 21, 1837, on the orders of U.S. General Thomas Sidney Jesup, Osceola was captured when he arrived for supposed truce negotiations in Fort Payton, near St Augustine. He was imprisoned at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Fla., and later moved to Fort Moultrie, S.C. Osceola died of malaria on Jan. 30, 1838, less than three months after his capture. He was buried with military honors at Fort Moultrie, S. C. On the Internet, Sonofthesouth.net has a history of his life.
U-S-History.Com shows a chart labeled “Indian Wars Timetable,” from the year 1622, to the year 1890. Infoplease.com states that about half of our states got their names (in some fashion) from Indian words. Many creeks and rivers in this country have Indian names. Ever seen a Indian-head penny?
We send our finest young men and women off to foreign countries to aid oppressed people. And we criticize the oppressors, and rightfully so. Yet we continue to close any discussion when it comes to what our Founding Fathers had done.
True, we cannot be held responsible for the misdeeds of our ancestors, but our motto did originate with them. We cannot keep hiding the truth about our ancestry, and we need to get it right with our God. Seems to me that we all should do some “sacred” soul searching, related to our famous motto. It should be changed to read: “In Truth We Trust.”
Hugh Buchanan
Peachtree City, Ga.
