What If The Indians Had Won?

[dgridley]

Just read an interesting article about what if the native American Indians had managed to stem the influx of Europeans and banded together for a "free" America..

Being military minded, we probably would have tried to stop the threat of Communism in Cuba and other places in our region. But, since it was more a war of ideology, we may not have joined in the fight to stop Communism in Vietnam. We probably wouldn't have gone to Afghanistan to stop the Russians. And, therefore, we wouldn't have armed the guys who later became the Taliban and Al Queda. We also wouldn't have been in such direct alliance with Israel, or gotten so involved when the Ayatollah overtook the Shah of Iran in the 1970's. But, in trying to stop Iran (also a war of ideology -- they were no real threat to us), we ended up arming Iraq. This allowed Saddam Hussein to invade Kuwait in 1990, which made us (being the do-gooders and greedy oil-lovers that we are) put troops in Saudi Arabia, the true Holy Land of Islam. Putting troops in Saudi Arabia is what made Osama Bin Laden form Al Queda, who were by then well-armed with weapons provided to them by the U.S. government 20 years before, when we were trying to stop Russia from taking Afghanistan. Oh, the irony....

http://www.rogerwallace.com/indians.html

What do you think? Would things have been like this, better, or worse? I guess then we'd have no Washington Redskins, tho we might still have the Cleveland Indians..

 

[itnashvillecom]

We would have known to generally mind our own business with foreign affairs and would have made sure WE were protected against economic ruin before spending so much money on taking over the world.

 

[dgridley]

Be a neat mini-series, wouldn't it?

Can anyone name any major American Indian politicians?

 

[holyroller]

What do you think? Would things have been like this, better, or worse?

It is impossible to say what would have happened. It would have been different, but who knows if it would be better or worse

 

[RogueWriter]

Total fiction allows the writer to jump to whatever conclusion he wants. Take, for example, the exceptionally violent movie Apocalypto ( sp? ) . The very end of that movie shows some European ships just anchoring off the coast.

Had that not occurred, that particular civilization could very well have expanded north to encompass the entire continent..... given time to develop the appropriate technology, THAT would have made for a wonderful environment for us to grow up in! Not!!

Unfortunately for north central and south american indians, they had no immunity to a variety of European diseases, such as smallpox, and some 90% of the populations died off after initial contact.

So, if you make a rough guesstimate that there were, in total, 100 million native americans around as European's arrived, within a generation or two, that number shrank down to perhaps 5 to 10 million, spread throughout a vast continent. Had the Indians gathered all of their warriors to fight and come in close contact with the Europeans, it actually would have facillitated the conquering of North America, by infecting and killing all males of, say, 16 years and up. North America would have fallen with a few years instead of decades/centuries.

The only way for the Indians to win, realistically, would have been for the exact opposite to be true, that Europeans received airborn, highly fatal and contagious diseases from the Indians, took the diseases back to Eaurope, and Europe, along with most of the 'modern' world, died.

But like I said, depending upon your political leanings, you could rewrite history any way you want if you change the facts to suit your needs. I could very easily have said that, hey, the Indian culture is so pragmatic, they would have developed a progressive civilization based upon strong Republican principles, and heck that might even be true in some fantasy world.

One thing that I am amazed with that is being carved is the Geronimo monument near Mount Rushmore. It will be, when completed, many, many times larger than Mount Rushmore, just magnificent.

 

[digitalballer]

Can anyone name any major American Indian politicians?

Do Hawaii islanders count? What about the 2 senators Daniel & Daniel. I'm sure a bunch of reps from OK have been Native Americans also.

What do you think? Would things have been like this, better, or worse? I guess then we'd have no Washington Redskins, tho we might still have the Cleveland Indians..

Worse. I can't imagine life without my Redskins

 

[Mike]

The one thing that'd be certain is that their culture wouldn't be diminished, brought close to extinction and a slew of other problems that native americans face wouldn't exist either. Increased unemployment, drug consumption, alcoholism, etc. are on the daily roster of tribes. Not because their genetic make up has addictive tendencies, but their seclusion and sociopolitical status is running them into a frame of mind where addiction is oftentimes the only escape.
We have a few indian reservations in North Dakota - the sole fact that the ones that owned this country are reduced to land that's assigned to them, is appalling. granted, they can open casinos and have some government funding, but - greed rules and the flow of money never really goes to the ones that really need it. There are countless tribes that live in third world country status - no running water, etc.
Having met a few and talked to some, they are just like you and me - just with a lot more history and tradition under their belt.

As a matter of fact; if anyone of you is watching the TV series "30 Days" - Morgan Spurlock just spent 30 days with an indian tribe. He made $25/day, because that's all the local tire store could afford to pay him. Their language is slowly becoming extinct, their traditions are being dismissed and who once were native have to move to the bigger cities to obtain jobs. The ones that move are slowly assimilating and with it, their culture dies.
All things considered, especially for someone that appreciates the true values of a really old culture, this is an incredibly sad development.

M.