So I've been thinking a lot about a certain ancestor of mine, a man by the name of Dr. Marcus Whitman, and his wife Narcissa Whitman, and their little missionary party which also included Mr. and Mrs. Spalding, the women being the first white women to cross the Rocky Mnts.
Their mission was to save Indians, especially the Cayuse in Walla Walla Washington. They had been told, back in New York, that the Cayuse wanted to learn about Jesus and how to read English and all about "white man's ways..." In reality, the powers that exisited at that time knew that missionaries quite often pave the way for it to be easier for other white folks to come in and take over the land...if you send kindhearted missionaries first, people will be less suspicious of other white folks as they move in and take over. This is a well-known fact...in fact, in regards to Africa, a meeting was held in the early 1800s (I don't remember the exact date,) in Geneva Switzerland, where a group of "top dogs" from nearly all of the powerful European countries at the time and they where meeting about how to conquire Africa. The solution, as they saw it, was simple, send in missionaries first, to teach native peoples they needed salvation from a white man's God, and then they would be less resistant to being taken over. I have no doubt some of this type of brainstorming happening in this country as well, in regards to natives here.
So some of my ancestors (not my direct ancestors I guess, I was related to a brother of Dr. Marcus Whitman,) cheerfully moved into the territory of the Cayuse people; no doubt they had the best of intentions, really thinking they where doing God's work, but in reality, most of the Cayuse people began dying as a result of the smallpox the Whitmans brought with them. In the meantime, the Whitmans had had a baby, which had drowned in the Walla Walla River, and then adopted seven white kids who where the children of a trapper who had died, and fostered a couple of "half-breed" kids as well.
The Cayuse did the logical thing; once they realized the terrible disease they now had had come over the mountains with the white folks, they scalped the Whitmans and the Spaldings, who worked with the Whitmans. A trapper rescued the seven adopted kids (history does say what happened to the foster kids,) and took the kids to Fort Walla Walla. He let the folks at the fort know what had happened to the Whitmans, and then, in true white-man style, men left the fort and waged an all-out slaughter on the Cayuse people. The Cayuse no doubt thought that if they killed the carriers of this dreadful disease, it would be gone, so I don't blame them at all for their actions. In fact, I feel horrified that I am, even distantly related to these folks, folks whose actions lead to the destruction of a culture and a people, so I am thinking about writing some kind of formal apology and going to the Umtilla Reservation to apologize.
So I guess my question to the community of PUers would be; is it necessary to apologize for something you didn't do, that a distant relative did, but that was, nevertheless, disasterous. I would especially like to hear from anyone in the community that is of Native American ancestory, who feels one way or the other about this. I just feel horrible about the way things went down (and the fact that everyone still talks about Narcissa and Marcus as "all-American heros",) and I know that doesn't undo all the crap that happened, but still, I feel an apology is necessary.
Love ya,
Carrot
I just checked my sources, and some weren't right about everything...for one thing, it was measles, not smallpox that the Whitmans and others brought with them. And, at first, the settlers siezed Cayuse women and children, which they held for randsom, which the Cayuse paid for with blankets, guns and tobacco. But this was indeed the beginning of an all-out battle between white folks in the area and the Cayuse (called Tetawken, "we the people," in their own language.) This battle, which was apparently on again, off again for years, was named the Cayuse War, which, of course, the Cayuse eventually lost.
Love ya,
Carrot
I have a little Native American in my blood, but not nearly enough to really comment on their modern condition. Still, I have a few thoughts.
That is a sad story, but I'm not sure what sort of reception you would get if you went there to apologize. Even now, many Native Americans don't trust the "white man" and...well...I'm not sure it would be taken in the right way, possibly even condescending rather than compassionate. I'm trying to think of how I would feel if someone came up to me and told me they were sorry for what their ancestors had done to my ancestors. It would just be...weird to say the least. Nevertheless, Native American culture is different from ours, so they might take it differently.
Personally, I think a letter might be best, and that way they could react or not react as they wanted without having to decide on the spot. Who knows, you might make some contacts that would invite you onto the reservation.
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Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
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I was thinking along the same lines....that it might be considered condescending...however, I think I would feel really honored if someone apologized to me for something their ancestors did to my ancestors. It would show me that that person really cared about others...I don't think Native culture is so different that they wouldn't be able to recognize sincerity.
But I was going to write a letter first...I don't know to who yet, but I was going to look up reservation elders and write to them? Then, if it seemed good to both of us, I might go actually do a formal apology....
Love ya,
Carrot