Posted by Champ on February 24, 1999 at 20:53:29:
In Reply to: Re: War Clubs versus ... Nut Crackers???? posted by MMMMarcia on February 24, 1999 at 18:35:47:
: At the risk of repeating myself, I firmly believe that no ethnic, cultural, or racial group of human beings has a lock on virtue OR vice, and this is one more example. I don't know why it is necessary to deny that Indians practiced various forms of warfare...warfare has played a large part in the history of almost every group of people on earth. This may be sad, but it's true, and hiding from the truth never helps anything. An Ojibwa friend used to go on at great lengths about the Warrior Tradition among his people, and most of what he said was a matter of particular pride to him.
: MMMMarcia
: :
>>Exactly MMMMarcia!
I have an uncle [thru marriage] who is a full-blooded Blackfoot, and as a child I recall visiting his home where he proudly showed me a Colt Army 1861 model revolver, that his ancestors took from the body of a US cavalryman they killed in battle [he showed me how to load it etc, saying that by the time you reloaded it you were scalped!]. He was quite proud of the Blackfoot warrior ways, as are many Mohawks I know that reenact with Butler's Rangers [etc] portraying their ancestors who fought under Joseph Brant's leadership. Just as the FoolCrow's in Montana, who host an annual "Custer's Last Stand" reenactment each year, on land they own that part of the actual battlefield is on!
And my friend, Capt. Tuklo, in Oklahoma, who along with other Cherokees & Choctaws reenact as Stand Watie's Cherokee Braves of the Confederacy [War Between The States].
You are right, the "warriors path" is very much a part of our heritage & should not be buried.
I also celebrate the warrior spirit of my [mainly] Scottish & Irish heritage as well, why just today I found out about a parental line, the McReynolds, who came from Keppoch area of Scotland, to Ireland to escape English rule, then Ireland to the American Carolinas to once again escape the English, and then helped throw out the English from America! ;-) [my direct ancestor, Joseph McReynolds, at age 16 was wounded & crippled at the Battle of Camden, SC, Aug.16,1780].
Part of my reenacting [18th & 19th centuries] is a way of trying to "capture" & celebrate that "warrior spirit" of my own bloodlines.
As I said in an earlier post, I for one am proud of BOTH my Cherokee & Celtic warrior heritage, and will never "water it down" to suit a PC driven world.
"Champ"