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MrBillM
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Posts: 21656
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Out and About
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Mood: It's a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Day
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Custer Lesson Learned
The battle at Little Big Horn can be considered Pyrrhic in that the U.S. "learned" from the calamity that they needed to
put an END to such problems in the future and engaged in a successful campaign to eradicate the American Indian population as a
continued threat.
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mtgoat666
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Posts: 18118
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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Who knows what are the origins of the word? Does it even matter in the 21st century?
Today "California" means many things to people all over the world. California is often seen as a mythical land, nirvana, the epitome of all things
American. In the USA alone, most gringos outside of California are green with envy at Californians.
California uber alles!
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Mexitron
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Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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Mood: Happy!
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I have a rather paradoxical view of the American Indian--on the one hand they had an intense spiritual connection to the North American continent,
their wonderful mythologies giving evidence of that, and one that we are sometimes slow to translate into our thinking. And yet, they routinely
practiced slavery, kidnapping, and ritual torture of captives---not only on the European invaders but amongst neighboring tribes. I'm not sure what
the motivation for torturing people to death was---perhaps a bravado thing but I don't think that helped their cause in the long run, as it was
appalling to most Europeans ( ironically at the same time we were importing slaves in dreadful conditions and torturing those who didn't fall in
lockstep...still some of that going on today, come visit the south). A great book that gives an impartial look at a slice of American Indian history,
the Comanche in particular, is 'Empire of the Summer Moon' by S.C. Gwynne. The story revolves around half white/half Indian Qanah Parker, the last
war chief of the Comanche---very interesting! But yes, disease did 90% of the damage--one wanders if these diseases which routinely ravaged Europeans
but did not kill them all off, were a genetic advantage for conquering new areas--in the same way that Sickle Cell Anemia is a genetic advantage
against Malaria at the cost of some contracting the disease.
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Osprey
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Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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Yesterday I was researching something when I saw a long Wiki work on Land Grants. Whether from Spain or Mexico there were many large grants to Indian
tribes in reparation for usurpation and slavery (Called Ranchos).
Goat, I love California and all its natural wonders. My pal Ray doesn't see it your way. He's a hardcase but he's still vowing to go there, live
there, work there. He said "I'm gonna sneak across the border in Liberal Land. As long as I can find a tribe with a scribe who can get me almost free
Wonderweed, I won't care where my taxes go or who is out there diggin the weed, not workin' while I do the heavy lifting. No one cares. Why should I?
It's all good."
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MrBillM
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21656
Registered: 8-20-2003
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Mood: It's a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Day
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A LAND to LOVE................BUT
As a good friend of mine who has traveled the world extensively often says (usually regarding 3rd world nations).................."It's a place of
natural wonders. The ONLY thing wrong with it is the People".
Fits California well.
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