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In my searching on the Internet I came across the
best article on the Apaches, that I have ever read. In looking further,
I discovered this continuing series, Remembering the Great Chiefs,
written by Joyce Worley, a well-known journalist and historian from
Missouri. When asked, Joyce agreed to allow us to put up the
Introduction of the series and two of the articles. It was hard to
choose two articles...they are all outstanding...AND there are more to
come. You can read all of the articles at
Native Radio-The
Great Chiefs. Joyce welcomes any emails to know your opinions,
questions, and even your disagreements.
JoyceWorley@NativeRadio.com
As time goes on...We hope to have more writings
from Joyce. We are honored she has allowed us to put her work on the
Snow Owl website. ~~ Spotted Wolf |
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This column on
NativeRadio.com
will present a series of articles about the Great Native American
chiefs, their accomplishments and, alas, their sorrows.
By this close-up look
at the leaders who gave their all to try to save their peoples, I hope
we will gain a better understanding of what happened and why, and how
these courageous captains struggled against impossible odds.
There are few
surprises to be found here, and almost no joy whatsoever. These are
stories of sorrow and grief, of betrayal and ordeal beyond decency. You
may ask, "Then why should we preserve these sad memories?"
The answers are clear and unequivocal. We must face
their challenges, we must know their fear, we must keep forever alive
the memory of our past in order to preserve our future. We must not
allow our children to forget our Holocaust.
There is no joy in the past, but we can use it to
illuminate our futures. We can never undo what happened, we cannot bring
back what was lost.
But we can raise our
tear-stained faces, and feel the warmth of the sun, and use our
knowledge of the past to build a better Native America for ourselves.
In this third
millennium, the past grows ever more remote and difficult to understand,
but it is up to us to teach our children how to live with the betrayals
and heartbreaks our grandparents knew, and how to bravely seek joy in
this new world.
Native Americans must live with the knowledge of what
was done to our elders. And, the children of the settlers must live with
the knowledge of what their elders did. These are heavy burdens for
both, but not yet ready to be laid aside.
The Great Chiefs were mighty men who faced impossible
problems. How they dealt with them may provide lessons for a world that
offers no compromises.
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