It is wonderful to live in a democracy where everyones' opinions are 
valuable.  I don't believe history should be written to make a certain group 
comfortable.  My original point was that Natives are locked out of the 
history reporting process. It is always someone who claims to speak for the 
Natives. That is fine if you are consulting with those groups and writing 
how they actually feel.

Anita


>From: Tom Apple <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history         
>      <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
>Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 15:47:00 -0230
>
>I think that there has been too much emotional handwringing over the 400th 
>as
>far as people tripping over themselves cast the the colony in different
>lights to suit their agendas.
>
>I am really getting tired of the colony being portrayed as a bunch of evil
>white Europeans whose presence in the New World is to rob the natives of
>their lands and lives as part of some genocidal masterplan. I am all in 
>favor
>of examining this history, warts and all, but the judgmental attitudes of
>those weighing in from their various cultural perspectives is getting 
>really
>old.
>
>There is ample documentation available that in a general sense, the English
>wanted to deal fairly with the Indians. Granted it didn't always come out
>that way in practice but there was some acknowledgement of the rights of 
>the
>Indians.
>
>I think the Lawes Divine, Moral, and Martial first instituted by Sir Thomas
>Gates in May of 1610, amply illustrates this.
>
>Some excerpts:
>
>article 1.9
>...No man shall ravish or force any woman, maid or Indian, or other, upon
>pain of death,...
>
>article 1.16
>No man shall rifle or despoil, by force or violence, take away any thing 
>from
>any Indian coming to trade, or otherwise, upon pain of death.
>
>article 2.44
>Whosoever shall give offence to the Indians in that nature, which truly
>examined, shall found to have been cause of breach of their league, and
>friendship, which with so great travail, desire, and circumspection, we 
>have
>or shall at any time obtain from them without commission so to do , from 
>him
>that has authority for the same, shall be punished with death.
>
>article 2.45
>Whosoever shall wilfully, or negligently set fire on any Indian dwelling
>house, or Quioquisock house or temple, or upon any storehouse, or garner of
>grain , or provision of what quality soever, or disvaledge, ransack , or 
>ill
>intreat the people of the country, where any war, or where through any 
>march
>shall be made except it be proclaimed, or without commandment of the chief
>officers shall be punished with death.
>
>
>
>
>On Mon, 21 May 2007 12:52:34 -0400, Lyle E. Browning wrote
> > The end result of being overly PC, apart from cultural emasculation,
> >  seems to be a sort of acontextual Yassir Arafat variant of "Never
> >  missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity" for fear of the
> > possibility of offenses real or imagined.
> >
> > Two cultures collided in VA. One dominated the other after years of
> > struggle and opportunity to do otherwise. To negate that also
> > negates  what we became later as in the United States of America.
> > The end  result of had we been PC way back then was that we don't
> > now exist.  Now that's a nice image and one I find to be rather 
>pathetic.
> >
> > Lyle Browning

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