How the Indians Taught the Pilgrims Democracy

[Cd.]

http://www.sidis.net/indian-pilgrim.htm


Mahony points out that the Massachusetts Bay Colony flag shows two pine trees and an Indian. The flag flown at Bunker Hill was a pine tree flag, as was the first U. S. Navy flag. For many years the Massachusetts state flag had a pine tree on the back of it.

Within the federation, the council of the Pine Tree people controlled the dams built as fishing weirs which later supplied the power for New England's mill towns. They were also overseers for what Sidis calls "the system of public and neutral couriers" along regular routes. The couriers were used by the white men, even in times of war with the Indians because of their neutrality, and the routes became roads like the local Route 1A, one of the first paved roads in the Western hemisphere.

Sidis also says that the New England Indians of each town also met not merely to keep check on their representatives, but to settle important public questions directly, and over the representatives' heads; this furnished a prototype for the 'town meeting' which was and still is the chief form of local government among the white settlers in the same part of America." As the capital of the Saugus nation, Agawam, which later became Ipswich, must have been the site of many such meetings.

Sidis knew he was presenting many things which "will doubtless be difficult for the average reader to swallow." But he offers them openly, honestly: "But let us also hope that the new point of view will make the reader 'think it over'¯that it will excite his interest, and make him reconsider much that he has taken for granted about his country."

Says Mahony, "I think you can admire the resourcefulness and adaptability of the first settlers more in " Sidis' version than you can in some glossy picture book that pretends the white man always bad it all together."

Founding of Plymouth

In fact, says Sidis, the Pilgrims were equipped with a map from "The Plymouth Company...printed in a style similar to the modern 'sucker' real estate literature, showing a town every few miles along the coast, all named after English communities." The towns never materialized, except for "Plymouth," which the settlers themselves founded. And an agreement was drawn up "whereby all the passengers on the ship agreed to abide by whatever government should be established among them as soon as they should settle down. This 'Mayflower Compact,' as it is commonly called, is generally given as one of the original instances of a democratically written constitution; but it was actually hardly more than a recorded oath of allegiance to the future rulers of the colony."

But the first ruler they chose didn't last out the rough winter. And the next they chose in the Spring, John Carver, had no experience with government, "So the church had to handle the government of the colony for the time being...but it was reorganized and democratized under Wampanoag influence."

If that first winter was hard on the Pilgrims, it was harder on the Indians, who were not immune to the white men's diseases. Sidis estimates that of over 200,000 Indians in the Penacook Federation, fewer than 50,000 survived that first winter.

According to John Grimes, curator at Salem 's Peabody Museum, lndians are not usually considered as an influence in New England because "so many of them were wiped out so quickly by diseases, and the ones that were left became scattered."

What seems surprising is that the Indians who were left were friendly to the white men despite the many deaths. Dan Mahony points to early deeds and treaties as evidence or the New England Indians' interest in democratic government among the white men.

"Here is a copy of the Penacook deed for Rockingham County," he says, producing an ornate document. "It specifies that all allotments be granted 'by vote of a major part of the inhabitants.' The word 'lot' is said to have originated with the Indian leader Massasoit who, when asked by the English about how to apportion the land they'd been given, recommended that they draw lots to be fair"

Absorption of Values

Mahony interprets Sidis "not as saying the white men deliberately copied the red, but as saying there was an absorption of the values around them. Sidis is showing that the American political system is a blend of two influences, the European. with an emphasis on hierarchy and property, and the New England Indian culture, which was one of great political insight and democratization. It 's only been in the '80s with books like Howard Russell's 'Indian New England Before the Mayflower,' that we're beginning to realize politics was an art form to New England Indians."

Sidis even claims that the members of the Penacook Federation in what is now Middlesex County, the Okamakammessets, although nearly extinct by the time of the American Revolution, passed on many of their principles to the Sons or Liberty, including their idea of "leaderless rebellions," and their preference for tactics that did not involve loss of life. Typical of several early skirmishes was "The Boston Tea Party." The identity of of the white men was a well-kept secret, but they were dressed as Mohawks, enemies of the Penacooks, in a dig at the British, who were their allies. Sidis surmises that the regalia may "have come from the supply captured by some Penacook tribe during the last war."

The legacy of the Indians lives on in sometimes strange ways in the names of places and things all around us. The tribe that Sidis claims was influential in the early days of the Revolution, the Okamakammessetts, supplied the name for a fire engine in Marlborough. When the fire engine was bought by the town of Marblehead in 1800, the firemen thought it might be bad luck to change the name, like changing the name of a ship. There is still a group of "Okoes" in Marblehead who look after the old hand-drawn pump fire engine and take it out on parade.

A Private Man

But if Indian names are a reminder of the Indians who once lived here, another example of Penacook influence might be the life of William Sidis himself, who, according to Mahony, came to absorb many of their values as he studied them. "One of the reasons Sidis didn't take issue with the press was that he came to value his independence, his privacy, above all else," Mahony says. "He didn't care if he was ridiculed for his plain lifestyle, for not earning more money. Many white men treated the Indians with contempt for living simply. The Penacooks genuinely did not understand the white man's idea of 'owning' property and this was really exploited,"

Sidis also learned a lot about detachment and tolerance from the Indians, according to Mahony, "The Indians came up with the Idea of incorporating dissent within a system The Indian enlightenment was eclecticism: include everything. Accept all the tribes in a federation, have respect for each other's ways."

As proof, Mahony cites the record of an interview with Masconomet, sagamore of Agawam (Ipswich), who is buried in Hamilton Cemetery. Asked by white questioners in 1644, "1st. Will you worship the only true God, who made heaven and earth, and not blaspheme?" Masconomet replied, "We do desire to reverence the God of the English and to speak well of Him, because we see He doth better to the English, than other gods do to others." Asked, "Will you allow your children to learn to read the word of God?" he replied, "We will allow this as opportunity will permit, and, as the English live among us, we desire so to do."

Like Passaconaway, the chief of the Penacook Federation, Masconomet seems to have agreed to all the English asked of him, not under threat of force, but with a gentle reasonableness.

Tolerance of Dissent

Even conservative history books record the influence of Massasoit on Roger Williams, a friendship which may have led to Williams' ejection from his colony for what Sidis calls "the heresy of freedom of belief in religious tolerance." Massasoit gave land to Williams and to another dissenter, Anne Hutchinson, to found what are now Providence and Newport.

"The Indians never thought controversy was bad. They had a great tolerance for dissent, for beliefs that were different from their own, Sidis really identified with this. People who knew him said he would never argue with anyone who disagreed with him. He automatically accepted their right to think differently about things. He calls 'The Tribes and the States' "an interesting alternative version of history," saying he hopes 'the truth will move you,' but that "I attempt to explain rather than advocate,'" according to Mahony.

[Johnson]

"tolerance of dissent" is exactly what is killing the modern day obscene experiment known as democracy in the rebublic of boosh.

[Jay GW]

Ho hum, another "noble savage" narrative. Bullcrap. The Indians fought, killed, stole, cheated with the best of them. Another way to summarize the information presented there is:

"After thousands of years of continuous settlement, the native populations had no form of writing, no established boundaries, no stable governments, no schooling, no specialization of labor, no science, no currency, and so forth and so on."

[Cd.]

Originally posted by Jay GW
Ho hum, another "noble savage" narrative. Bullcrap. The Indians fought, killed, stole, cheated with the best of them. Another way to summarize the information presented there is:

"After thousands of years of continuous settlement, the native populations had no form of writing, no established boundaries, no stable governments, no schooling, no specialization of labor, no science, no currency, and so forth and so on."

Incorrect. Some indian cultures were very warlike, e.g. Creek, Iriquois etc. But mostly tribes were concerned with keeping peace with their neighbors. Wars were fought over such issues as hunting grounds or infrindgements over tribal laws, such as adultry, rape or desecration of sacred grounds (cemetaries, etc). When the white settlers came, each nation armed the native peoples and played them off against eachother. The Dutch and later the British armed the Iriquoian and Mohician peoples and the French armed the Algonkwin, Erie and Hurons. The whites used the indians to fight over trapping grounds in the fur trade. It mattered very little to the colonial powers how the indians fought unless white settlers got caught up in such fights. Only then did word get out about the evil "savages". It should be remembered that European peoples faught wars, often with as much savagry. The religious conflicts known as the "Thirty Years War" were especially bloody and cruel.

You may say that the Indians did not have stable governments or schools or civilizations and it may be partially correct. For the most part, native people in what is now the United States had a life and culture which suited their ability to survive in the americas. It should be remembered that the first white settlement in the Virginias, the so called Virginia Dare colony (named after the first british colonial baby born there) failed probibly because of the white man's inability to adapt themselves to the hostile environment. The next settlement at Jamestown was beset by the folly and outright stupidy of its leaders who forced starving settlers to look for gold. If it were not for Capt. John Smith getting supplies from the Indians the colony would also have perished.

The Massachussettes Bay Colony suffered terrible losses its first two years. Half of the settlers died of disease and starvation. It was the indians who taught these people how to survive. The Pilgrims gave thanks to God for their survival but some thanks should also have went to the Indians.

Oddly enough, a few years after their encounter with the Pilgrims, most of the indians died of diseases brought by the white men.

The developement of native american culture depended on the location of the peoples. The Woodlands peoples were hunters and fishermen and did make war on their neighbors. The Southern tribes practiced agraculture on a limited scale. The Mississippi and Ohio valeys found some evidence of an ancient culture who probibly practiced trade as far south as Mexico. Indians of the Southwest built cities made of adobe block and practiced agraculture. They were mostly peaceful except when defending themselves against Apache or Navajo raiders. In the Northwest coast from Alaska to Oregon, Coastal tribes lived by fishing and had a hierarchical culture similar to norse vikings.

While most tribes did not see the need for a writen language as we know it, communication was often very sophisticated among tribes. The coastal tribes of the northwest used totem poles to tell stories and legends. Cave paintings and other art found throughout the americas give evidence to sophisticated communication techniques.

I would add that the Mayan indians of the Yucatan were extremely advanced. They did have a written language and actually had libraries. Most of these were destroyed by Spanish missionaries fearful that the writings were demonic.

[Jay GW]

The Mexican Indians were slightly more advanced, but only a few of them could read, their language was a ceremonial one, not for everyday use. They also practiced cannibalism.

The most advanced Indians in what is now the U.s. I believe were the pueblos in New Mexico, Arizona. They built fortresses in the side of hills several stories above ground... to protect themselves from other Indians, I suppose.

All Indians in the Americas had Stone age cultures, which made it easy for Europeans to push them aside, to put it mildly. The Aztec empire was conquered by 550 Spaniards, which says alot about Indian's level of organization.

Review your own post - what does it tell you that Indians living in the same region for hundreds of years could easily be turned against each other? It tells me alot about the level of civilization they had. Number 1 they didn't get along, and number 2 they wanted guns so badly they conspired with invaders against other native Americans.

Instead of doing the smart thing and banding together against Europeans, they betrayed the Indians next door.

[Cd.]

Originally posted by Jay GW
The Mexican Indians were slightly more advanced, but only a few of them could read, their language was a ceremonial one, not for everyday use. They also practiced cannibalism.

The Aztecs were cannibals but they were not native to that region. They are decended from barbarian nomads who decended into the region of southern Mexico from the north. Whatever civilization they had was learned from the Toltecs who preceded them. It should be pointed out that Toltecs, who lived in city states, had a very humain civilization. In fact they went to war with dulled blades so they would not kill other warriors.

[Banky]

Originally posted by Criminal

Incorrect. Some indian cultures were very warlike, e.g. Creek, Iriquois etc. But mostly tribes were concerned with keeping peace with their neighbors. Wars were fought over such issues as hunting grounds or infrindgements over tribal laws, such as adultry, rape or desecration of sacred grounds (cemetaries, etc). When the white settlers came, each nation armed the native peoples and played them off against eachother. The Dutch and later the British armed the Iriquoian and Mohician peoples and the French armed the Algonkwin, Erie and Hurons. The whites used the indians to fight over trapping grounds in the fur trade. It mattered very little to the colonial powers how the indians fought unless white settlers got caught up in such fights. Only then did word get out about the evil "savages". It should be remembered that European peoples faught wars, often with as much savagry. The religious conflicts known as the "Thirty Years War" were especially bloody and cruel.
.

I collect old history books, especially ones written before the Civil War, and you cannot be more wrong.

Plymouth Plantation
http://members.aol.com/calebj/bradford_journal.html

[Cd.]

Originally posted by Banky

I collect old history books, especially ones written before the Civil War, and you cannot be more wrong.

Plymouth Plantation
http://members.aol.com/calebj/bradford_journal.html

K
Read Bradford's Journals. Point out where I was wrong.

[Banky]

Originally posted by Criminal

K
Read Bradford's Journals. Point out where I was wrong.

It was your first statement that most wanted peace.

Read up oin the Pequot Wars and King Phillips War

[jojo]

Originally posted by Johnson
"tolerance of dissent" is exactly what is killing the modern day obscene experiment known as democracy in the rebublic of boosh.

Your remarks are tolerated.

[DngrMse]

Originally posted by Jay GW
They also practiced cannibalism.

I like to consider myself a 'non practicing' cannibal, thank you very much.