Post by Okwes on Jul 24, 2007 11:48:29 GMT -5
It's hardly Pocahontas: new exhibits portray Jamestown colonists as
killers and rapists
By James Langton in New York, Sunday Telegraph
England's first successful colonists in America have been branded as
rapists and murderers who imported slavery and oppressed the local Indian
population.
The controversial portrait of pioneer life in 17th-century Jamestown has
become a central part of this year's 400th anniversary of the colony,
whose settlement led directly to the birth of the world's most powerful
nation.
When the Queen arrives in Virginia as guest of honour in early May, she
will find that organisers have banned plans for a "celebration", instead
calling the event a "commemoration" after black and Indian members of the
organising committee branded Jamestown "an invasion".
advertisement
An exhibition by the US National Park Service, which manages the land on
which the original settlement was built, plays down the achievements of
the first 107 settlers, who brought with them the English language and the
traditions of English justice and common law that still underpin modern
America.
A critic for The New York Times, who visited the exhibition this month,
noted that the Queen would find "not the triumph of British influence, but
the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism". Edward
Rothstein warned that the "overall impact" of the exhibition was "only to
diminish a visitor's sense of English culture".
Organisers of the Jamestown 2007 events justify their decision to ban the
word "celebration" by saying: "Many facets of Jamestown's history were not
cause for celebration." Galleries at the exhibition place heavy emphasis
on the local Indians, who are described as being "in harmony with the life
that surrounds them" and living in an "advanced complex society".
By contrast, life in early 17th-century Britain is portrayed as offering
"limited opportunity" thanks to a "small elite" of aristocrats who made
sure "life was difficult" for most of the population.
The exhibition includes statues of two Indian chiefs and an African queen
who fought Portuguese invaders in what is now part of Angola. In fact, the
first Africans did not arrive at Jamestown until 1619 and were indentured
servants, like many poor whites. Ironically, the first African slave was
owned by a former black indentured servant in 1654.
After arriving on May 14 1607 in three small ships - the Susan Constant,
Godspeed and Discovery - the small group of men who were America's first
English settlers suffered such disease and starvation that after a year
only 38 were still alive. The expedition was organised by the Virginia
Company, a commercial venture created under a charter from James I. The
expedition's leaders included Capt John Smith, who was captured by Indians
and claimed his life had been saved by the 10-year-old Pocahontas, a
daughter of the local chief.
Pocahontas, who was portrayed in a Disney animated film, became friendly
with the settlers and eventually married a widowed tobacco farmer, John
Rolfe.
She had a son, Thomas, but she died suddenly at the end of a visit to
England in 1617 and was buried at St George's Church in Gravesend. The
True Story of Pocahontas, a book written to coincide with the anniversary,
claims that she was raped by at least one leading member of the colony and
was murdered in England, possibly to prevent her from telling her father
what she had learnt during her visit.
The authors, Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow and Angela "Silver Star"
Daniel, claim to be descended from Pocahontas's tribe and say the
allegations of rape and murder come from "sacred Mattaponi oral
traditions".
Among those who support the decision not to call the anniversary a
celebration is Mary Wade, a member of the Virginia Council of Indians and
the official Jamestown 2007 steering committee. She insists: "You can't
celebrate an invasion - whole tribes were annihilated."
While relations between the settlers and local tribes were initially
mixed, they broke down after the Jamestown Massacre on Good Friday 1622,
when Powhatan warriors slaughtered about 400 men, women and children in a
few hours. A further 20 English women were taken by the tribe as slaves.
Other events organised for Jamestown 2007 include a talk on the local
ecology which brands the settlement "the origin of environmental injustice
in America" and a recent conference looking at the influence of African
Americans on the colony, at which speakers accused the settlers of
creating "a holocaust".
However, Christian groups say the organisers are ignoring the strong
religious faith of the first settlers. They are organising a rival event,
in June, to celebrate the role Jamestown played in introducing Christian
common law and America's first Protestant Christian worship and baptisms.
Those involved will also celebrate the wedding between Pocahontas and
Rolfe as America's first inter-racial marriage.
Doug Phillips, the president of Vision Forum Ministries, which is
organising the rival event, said: "For America's 400th birthday, what
should be a celebration of gratitude to the Lord is fast becoming homage
to revisionist historiography and political -correctness."
He accused the Jamestown 2007 organisers of "belittling our nation's
Christian past and painting the Jamestown settlers as bloodthirsty
cannibals, environmental terrorists and worse."
*
The material in this post is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes.For more information go to:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/documents.htm
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
email for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
killers and rapists
By James Langton in New York, Sunday Telegraph
England's first successful colonists in America have been branded as
rapists and murderers who imported slavery and oppressed the local Indian
population.
The controversial portrait of pioneer life in 17th-century Jamestown has
become a central part of this year's 400th anniversary of the colony,
whose settlement led directly to the birth of the world's most powerful
nation.
When the Queen arrives in Virginia as guest of honour in early May, she
will find that organisers have banned plans for a "celebration", instead
calling the event a "commemoration" after black and Indian members of the
organising committee branded Jamestown "an invasion".
advertisement
An exhibition by the US National Park Service, which manages the land on
which the original settlement was built, plays down the achievements of
the first 107 settlers, who brought with them the English language and the
traditions of English justice and common law that still underpin modern
America.
A critic for The New York Times, who visited the exhibition this month,
noted that the Queen would find "not the triumph of British influence, but
the triumph of ambiguity, discomfort and vague multiculturalism". Edward
Rothstein warned that the "overall impact" of the exhibition was "only to
diminish a visitor's sense of English culture".
Organisers of the Jamestown 2007 events justify their decision to ban the
word "celebration" by saying: "Many facets of Jamestown's history were not
cause for celebration." Galleries at the exhibition place heavy emphasis
on the local Indians, who are described as being "in harmony with the life
that surrounds them" and living in an "advanced complex society".
By contrast, life in early 17th-century Britain is portrayed as offering
"limited opportunity" thanks to a "small elite" of aristocrats who made
sure "life was difficult" for most of the population.
The exhibition includes statues of two Indian chiefs and an African queen
who fought Portuguese invaders in what is now part of Angola. In fact, the
first Africans did not arrive at Jamestown until 1619 and were indentured
servants, like many poor whites. Ironically, the first African slave was
owned by a former black indentured servant in 1654.
After arriving on May 14 1607 in three small ships - the Susan Constant,
Godspeed and Discovery - the small group of men who were America's first
English settlers suffered such disease and starvation that after a year
only 38 were still alive. The expedition was organised by the Virginia
Company, a commercial venture created under a charter from James I. The
expedition's leaders included Capt John Smith, who was captured by Indians
and claimed his life had been saved by the 10-year-old Pocahontas, a
daughter of the local chief.
Pocahontas, who was portrayed in a Disney animated film, became friendly
with the settlers and eventually married a widowed tobacco farmer, John
Rolfe.
She had a son, Thomas, but she died suddenly at the end of a visit to
England in 1617 and was buried at St George's Church in Gravesend. The
True Story of Pocahontas, a book written to coincide with the anniversary,
claims that she was raped by at least one leading member of the colony and
was murdered in England, possibly to prevent her from telling her father
what she had learnt during her visit.
The authors, Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow and Angela "Silver Star"
Daniel, claim to be descended from Pocahontas's tribe and say the
allegations of rape and murder come from "sacred Mattaponi oral
traditions".
Among those who support the decision not to call the anniversary a
celebration is Mary Wade, a member of the Virginia Council of Indians and
the official Jamestown 2007 steering committee. She insists: "You can't
celebrate an invasion - whole tribes were annihilated."
While relations between the settlers and local tribes were initially
mixed, they broke down after the Jamestown Massacre on Good Friday 1622,
when Powhatan warriors slaughtered about 400 men, women and children in a
few hours. A further 20 English women were taken by the tribe as slaves.
Other events organised for Jamestown 2007 include a talk on the local
ecology which brands the settlement "the origin of environmental injustice
in America" and a recent conference looking at the influence of African
Americans on the colony, at which speakers accused the settlers of
creating "a holocaust".
However, Christian groups say the organisers are ignoring the strong
religious faith of the first settlers. They are organising a rival event,
in June, to celebrate the role Jamestown played in introducing Christian
common law and America's first Protestant Christian worship and baptisms.
Those involved will also celebrate the wedding between Pocahontas and
Rolfe as America's first inter-racial marriage.
Doug Phillips, the president of Vision Forum Ministries, which is
organising the rival event, said: "For America's 400th birthday, what
should be a celebration of gratitude to the Lord is fast becoming homage
to revisionist historiography and political -correctness."
He accused the Jamestown 2007 organisers of "belittling our nation's
Christian past and painting the Jamestown settlers as bloodthirsty
cannibals, environmental terrorists and worse."
*
The material in this post is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes.For more information go to:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/documents.htm
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
email for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.