GREED and the GOSPEL are two threads that run through the past 2,000 years.
Those
motivated by GREED took land from Indians; held slaves; were East India
Tea Company merchants who imported opium into China; or hung signs
"Help Wanted-No Irish Need Apply"; or voted for candidates promising
financial security even though they spread immorality and disregard for
human life.
Those motivated by the GOSPEL donated money, food and clothes, opened orphanages and
medical clinics, dug wells in native villages, fought to abolish
slavery, founded hospitals, took in homeless, dispensed emergency aid,
inoculated children, taught farming techniques, visited those in prison,
provided literacy programs and disaster relief.
 Such were:
Scottish Missionary to Nigeria Mary Slessor who promoted women's rights and ending twin killing;
Baptist Missionary Lottie Moon, who helped famine victims in China;
Scottish Missionary to the Congo David Livingstone who worked to end the Muslim slave trade;
Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma, who created a Burmese-English Dictionary;
Missionary to India William Carey, who helped end the practice of 'sati' - the burning widows on their husband's ashes;
George Muller, who founded orphanages in the slums of England;
Missionary to China Gladys Aylward, who helped end the binding of little girls' feet;
Hudson Taylor, who was a missionary and physician in China;
Irish missionary Amy Carmichael, who worked with orphans in India;
Olympic athlete Eric Liddell, who was a missionary and teacher in North China;
Jake DeShazer, who was a prisoner-of-war turned missionary to Japan;
Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, who were missionary martyrs to Ecuador's Auca Indians;
and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who said:
"I
see Jesus in every human being. I say to myself, this is hungry Jesus, I
must feed him. This is sick Jesus. This one has leprosy or gangrene; I
must wash him and tend to him. I serve because I love Jesus."
These
spread Judeo-Christian ideals like 'women and children first,'
philanthropy, charity, volunteerism, civil rights, and tolerance.
Though
conquistadors unfortunately lusted for gold, they were followed by
sincere missionaries like Bartolome' de Las Casas, who ministered to
native peoples.
American Indians were caught in the struggle between GREED and the GOSPEL.
Many
Indians sided with the French against the British during the French and
Indian War. When the French lost, the Indians lost land.
Many
Indians sided with the British during the Revolutionary War as Britain
limited colonial westward expansion in 1763. When the British lost,
Indians lost more land. (Treaty of Greenville, 1795)
Many
Indians sided with the British during the War of 1812. When the British
lost, Indians lost more land. (Treaty of Fort Jackson, 1814)
Gold
was discovered in Georgia and settlers rushed in. A Democrat controlled
Congress hurriedly passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by a
Democrat President. Four thousand Cherokee died in their forced march to
Oklahoma. (Treaty of Fort Armstrong, 1832; Treaty of Echota, 1835)
Some Indians sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War. When the South lost, Indians lost more land.
During
America's history, there were well-intentioned missionaries motivated
by the GOSPEL: John Elliott, Pierre Marquette, David Brainerd, Francis
Makemie, John Stewart, Marcus Whitman, and Hiram Bingham.
On April 26, 1802, President Jefferson extended a 1787 act of Congress in which special lands were designated:
"For
the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren
missionaries for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity."
After
the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson asked Congress to ratify a treaty
with the Kaskaskia Tribe, negotiated by William Henry Harrison-the
future 9th President. The Kaskaskia Treaty, DECEMBER 3, 1803, stated:
"And
whereas the greater part of the said tribe have been baptized and
received into the Catholic Church, to which they are much attached,
the
United States will give annually, for seven years, one hundred dollars
toward the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to
perform for said tribe the duties of his office, and also to instruct as
many of their children as possible, in the rudiments of literature,
and
the United States will further give the sum of three hundred dollars,
to assist the said tribe in the erection of a church."
In 1806 and 1807, two similar treaties were made with the Wyandotte and Cherokee tribes.
President Jackson stated in a Message to Congress, January 20, 1830:
"According
to the terms of an agreement between the United States and the United
Society of Christian Indians the latter have a claim to an annuity of
$400..."
President Jackson commented in his 2nd Annual Message, December 6, 1830:
"The
Indians...gradually, under the protection of the Government and through
the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and
become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community."
In the 1850's, the territory of the Five Civilized Tribes in the eastern Oklahoma had missions, schools and academies:
Presbyterians' Dwight Mission (Cherokee, 1820, 1828);
Chuala Female Academy (Choctaw, 1842);
Tullahassee Manual Labor Boarding School (Cherokee, 1848);
Congregational-American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions's Wheelock Academy (Choctaw, 1832);
Methodist Episcopal Church's Quapaw Mission (1843); and
Bloomfield Academy for Chickasaw Females (1852).
President Lincoln stated in his 3rd Annual Message, December 3, 1863:
"It is hoped that the treaties will result in...permanent friendly relations with such of these tribes...
Duty
to these wards of the Government demand our anxious and constant
attention to their material well-being, to their progress in the arts of
civilization, and, above all, to that moral training which under the
blessing of Divine Providence will confer upon them the elevated and
sanctifying influences, hopes and consolations, of the Christian faith."
Get the book, Three Secular Reasons Why America Should be Under God
In
1869, the Board of Indian Commissioners noted in its annual report:
"the religion of our blessed Savior is...the most effective agent for
the civilization of any people."
President Grant stated in his First Annual Message, December 6, 1869:
"I have attempted a new policy toward these wards of the nation...
The
Society of Friends is well known as having succeeded in living in peace
with the Indians in the early settlement of Pennsylvania...
They
are known for their opposition to all strife, violence, and war, and
are generally noted for their strict integrity and fair dealings.
These
considerations induced me to give the management of a few reservations
of Indians to them...The result has proven most satisfactory."
President Grant stated in his 2nd Annual Message, December 5, 1870:
"Reform in...Indian affairs has received the special attention...
The
experiment of making it a missionary work was tried with a few agencies
given to the denomination of Friends, and has been found to work most
advantageously...
Indian agencies being civil offices, I
determined to give all the agencies to such religious denominations as
had heretofore established missionaries among the Indians, and perhaps
to some other denominations...to Christianize and civilize the Indians,
and to train him in the arts of peace."
President Grant stated to Congress, January 1, 1871:
"Civilized
Indians of the country should be encouraged in establishing for
themselves forms of Territorial government compatible with the
Constitution...
This is the first indication of the aborigines
desiring to adopt our form of government, and it is highly desirable
that they become self-sustaining, self-relying, Christianized, and
civilized."
President Grant stated in his 3rd Annual Message, December 4, 1871:
"The policy pursued toward the Indians has resulted favorably...
Through
the exertions of the various societies of Christians...many tribes of
Indians have been induced to settle upon reservations, to cultivate the
soil, to perform productive labor of various kinds, and to partially
accept civilization...
I recommend liberal appropriations to
carry out the Indian peace policy, not only because it is humane,
Christianlike, and economical, but because it is right."
Get the book, Change to Chains-The 6,000 year quest for global control
Oklahoma
had missions run by Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, Mennonites, Quakers, Moravians and Mennonites, who had a
mission among the Comanches at Post Oak Mission and at Colony.
Catholics
had missions in the Potawatomi Nation at Sacred Heart Abbey, at
Anadarko on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation, and in north central
Oklahoma among the Osage, Ponca, and Otoe.
In
1884, one of the first missionaries to the Yupik Indians in Alaska was
John Henry Killbuck, great-grandson of Lenape Chief Gelelemend, who in
1778 made the first Indian Treaty with the United States and later was
converted to Christianity by German Moravian missionaries.
President Cleveland issued the Proclamation respecting Church property in Alaska, November 14, 1896:
"Whereas...the
Russian Empire ceded to the US the Territory of Alaska...the churches
which have been built in the ceded territory...shall remain the
property of such members of the Greek Oriental Church...
The
Cathedral Church of St. Michael...The Church of the
Resurrection...called the Kalochian Church, situated near the battery
number at the palisade separating the city from the Indian
village....Three timber houses...for lodging of priests. Four lots of
ground belonging to the parsonages."
As a boy, Herbert Hoover had spent several months living on the Osage Indian Reservation in Oklahoma Territory.
After
becoming a multi-millionaire in the mining industry and organizing the
feeding of Europe after World War I, Hoover became the 31st U.S.
President.
He chose as his Vice-President Charles Curtis, the nation's first Native American Vice-President, from the Kaw tribe in Kansas.
Hoover reorganized and provided increased funding to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The next President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had John Collier serve as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1933-45.
The
son of a successful Atlanta businessman, John Collier pressured
Congress to pass the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 which preserved
Indian identity by restoring native lands, improving reservation medical
services, and promoting development of business opportunities for
Indians.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment