Earlier Clash of Civilizations.

This nation is facing a crisis because of illegal immigration and the Islamic intrusion. But Columbus Day points to an earlier clash of civilizations. Having been in the Navy (in the sixties) and spent time in the Mediterranean, I saw a replica of the Santa Maria (Christopher Columbus’s flag ship). Also being of Celtic extract and spent time in Ireland and Oban Scotland (the home of my clan), I am aware of the English abuses of the Celtic peoples of the British Isles. I sent time on the Caribbean Islands of Nevis and Saint Kitts (named after Columbus). My wife worked on the Island of Saint Kitts. The two Islands are rich in the history of the colonization of the western world. Columbus sighted Nevis in 1493 (on his second voyage to the New World). He called it Las Nieves, Spanish for snows, because its mountains reminded him of the snow-capped range in the Pyrenees. Thomas Jefferson’s grandfather owned a sugar plantation on Saint Kitts. Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis. The last battles of the American Revolution were fought in the area; in 1782 Brimstone Hill fortress (on Saint Kitts) fell to the French. The Kalinago Indians allowed the first Europeans (English and French) to colonize Saint Kitts. Excerpts taken from: Saint Kitts and Nevis- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. All earlier attempts to settle other islands were met with immediate destruction of the colonies by the Indians. The Kalinagos (known as Caribs by the Europeans) were eventually completely wiped out on Saint Kitts, in the great Kalinago Genocide of 1626. I spent time walking through the ruins of 17th century sugar cane plantations on Saint Kitts, where Indian slaves labored before the introduction of African slaves. I also walked on the beaches of the eastern side of Nevis, possibly where the native people, first sighted the small wooden Spanish ships.

As bad as the Spanish treated the native populations in their colonies (South America, Central America and Mexico), not all English colonists were saints in North America. At first the Native Americans and the Pilgrims (of present day Plymouth, Massachusetts), worked together to till and plant the first successful crops. Excerpts taken from Duane A. Cline 2006 (The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony: 1620). The first feast of Thanksgiving (another national holiday now protested by Native Americans), in October of 1621, was a harvest festival filled with fellowship, good food and games. The Pilgrims had a deep and sincere friendship for the natives. But the peace born of mutual support and trust eventually eroded. The small pox epidemic of 1633-34-swept away thousands Native Americans and made more land available for the English. Full-scale war eventually erupted between the increasing number of colonists and the Indians. The following are excerpts from: Anglo-Powhatan Wars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In Virginia, in the Tidewater War of 1644-1646, Indian attacks enraged the English colonists who then launched raids on Indian villages, nearly destroying the Powhatan people. The peace treaty in 1646 erased any hope of the colonists and Native Americans being able to peacefully coexist. The Native Americans were displaced from their ancestral lands and the reservation system began. So like the Kalinago Genocide of 1626 on Saint Kitts, the English (illegal immigrants in the eyes of the Indians) replaced the native populations.

The English colonies became the USA and the colonization and displacement of the Native Americans continued. The Indian Wars of the West were the last efforts by the native peoples to resist from being driven from their lands. The Trail of Tears, (plus the Sand Creek and the Wounded Knee massacres) and the Nes Prece (Chief Joseph) fight for freedom, are only a few examples of Native American resistance and defeat. The butcher of Sand Creek, John M. Chivington, appeared on a Denver stage where he delighted audiences with his war stories and displayed 100 Indian scalps, including the pubic hairs of women and was honored with a widely attended parade through the streets of Denver just two weeks after the massacre. Taken from excerpts of PBS - The West - John M. Chivington. So Denver is the right place to protest Columbus Day. After all, these are the same streets Native American scalps and female parts were proudly displayed by Chivington’s troopers in 1864.

So if Martin Luther King lead protests in Birmingham why isn’t right for Indians to protest Columbus Day in Denver? After all, Columbus opened the floodgates of the largest colonization and displacement of aboriginal peoples the world has seen since the beginning of civilization. The Native American lost of life due to disease, famine, slavery and warfare in the Americas was in the tens of millions. As bad as African slavery was with the lost of life in the millions due to disease, slavery and murder; look at the present populations of African Americans and Native Americans. Today where are the vast concentrations of Native Americans, compared to African Americans? What sports do Native Americans dominate, where are the Native American politicians, and other Native American Leaders. As bad as it is for African Americans in this country, they have Africa to identify as their ancestral origin and black Africans now largely control Africa.

The Americas are lost forever to the Native Americans. They are the invisible people, like the buffalo, they had to be eradicated. They had no value; at least the African slave had value.