Wednesday, March 28, 2007
One Country Many Nations
When the British colonists were making their moves on real estate west of the Alleghenies, some Indian nations made alliances with the British crown to prevent the American renegades from this illegal annexation of their territories. Two centuries later, the Americans bestowed American citizenship on all the indigenous nations in part as recognition of their contributions in World War One. Nowdays, one of these aboriginal nations that opposed the Americans who were violating British treaties, issues their own passports to visit Canadian relatives as well as for travel around the world. Another autochthonous people on the Mexican border, crosses regularly through US Customs without passports to visit relatives there.
Still, despite this well-documented history of layers of identity--from bedrock nations to the shifting sands of states--many Americans fail to appreciate the dignity afforded these nations by maintenance of their pre-contact cultures and their pre-constitutional systems of governance. As guardians of ancient, authentic philosophies, the fact they haven't abandoned this obligation for a perhaps less-demanding way of life should give us pause to think about what constitutes a nation, a state, a country, or a people.
Is it possibly more than a flag, a name, or a mythology?
Still, despite this well-documented history of layers of identity--from bedrock nations to the shifting sands of states--many Americans fail to appreciate the dignity afforded these nations by maintenance of their pre-contact cultures and their pre-constitutional systems of governance. As guardians of ancient, authentic philosophies, the fact they haven't abandoned this obligation for a perhaps less-demanding way of life should give us pause to think about what constitutes a nation, a state, a country, or a people.
Is it possibly more than a flag, a name, or a mythology?
