Christopher Columbus - No Love Here

We are not big fans here in the Swamp of Christopher Columbus. By that I mean Me in particular. Despite being of partial Spanish decent I do not take any enjoyment in that Columbus stumbled onto the so called “New World”.

Map of the New World by Munster, Circa 1550 AD. Stolen from the Hargrett Library web site (http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/neworld.html)

The discovery by Columbus was more of an accident than anything and the advent of Europeans in large numbers to the America’s was a huge travesty since they came looking mainly for plunder of one nature or another. Even the puritanical Puritans on the Mayflower did not arrive on North American shores without at least some debt that required the plunder of the New World as retribution. And my Mothers People were never the same again.

Now, the so called New World was a tad backward compared with the European model. The natives did not use the wheel in too many things, they did not work with hard metals, they did not know how to forge iron but they did work in gold and silver into jewelry. There is no doubt about their IQ as we pretty much use their calendar today and some of their time tables were accurate right up to when computers became available to calculate large numbers. They had no knowledge of gun powder or fire arms of any kind, their disputes were handled on a more personal nature. As a result large scale warfare almost never happened unlike in Europe where warfare was a way of life for many peoples.

The Natives did know their environment and despite large numbers of population they did not degrade or deplete too much of the earth around them. The population of the Natives of the New World has always been in dispute, somewhere between 30 and 60 million. Since they were not immune to diseases native to Europe and Africa there were large die off’s of Natives spurred by first contact. In most cases the disease spread ahead of the European’s who observed and recorded what they say and wrote the history of the America’s. The Natives depleted by the disease were recorded as not being here at all.

And that folks is my rub. Most history of the Natives of the America’s has been written by those who came here and had no background on the culture and society that was present on “discovery”.

Many names for the People’s are derived not from their own name but from what the Spanish, French or English took to calling them. Ask the Navajo, the Sioux or the Blackfeet what they were called before their contact with Europeans. I know where my Mothers’ people get their name. The Apache’s did not call themselves Apache, that name was derived from the Zuni Indian word that the Spanish called the people. Seems the Apache did not care too much for the Spanish on their horses, wearing all that armor, pushing religion on everyone they came upon. So the Apache fought the Spanish, attacking them where ever they came together. And the Apache roamed almost the entire southwest so there was a lot of contact, none of it good. The word Apache is the word for Enemy which is what the Spanish called the people.

So, I guess I have an identity crisis in full bloom here. The Spanish is shamed by their involvement with the Apache side. And I can’t even tell you how much conflict there is from my Father’s side of the ledger.

So, I skip celebrating the Italian who came here for the Spanish crown and the Holy Roman Empire. IMHO his only positive contribution to the World at large was in being brave enough to continue west on the ocean in hopes the world was not flat.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

IHS and the MSM – The search for honest reporting

There is a lot of debate about Health Care Reform but there is only one reason that I oppose the kind of reform that is being pushed by BHO, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid (has a more evil trio ever combined arms, I don't know) is that it will transform our Health Care system over to a massive Government Run health care system.

Government run health care. Just mull that over a minute. Say it again and think about what it means. Government run health care. We have a history of that, right here in the USA. Let me explain, it's ugly and it's a very personal thing for me.

My Mother was born into the Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe. Part of the formerly great Apache Indian nation, they were kept in captivity for some 39 years outside of their original tribal areas (Florida, Alabama and Oklahoma). When finally "released" they were relegated to living on Reservations established by well meaning white people (well maybe, they were still carrying a grudge for my Mothers people). These reservations are nowhere near the size necessary for the Indians to return to their original lives (without the fighting and killing) and become self sufficient. They would require Government help to get by.

The Government, understanding this established many policies and agencies to 'help' the Indian with living in this strange new world. One of these over arching policies and agency is their Health Care policy and the Indian Health Service. Known as the IHS, this agency was established in 1887 to provide Native Americans (Indian Americans) with health service.

This agency operates clinics in 35 states around the country including Alaska. For well over 100 years the US Government has provided cradle to grave health coverage for the Native Americans in this country.

Why is this not touted in the press, why indeed is the Administration not advertising the fact that we have Government health care in full operation in the country today? Why not simply expand it to cover all 300 million Americans using the IHS as a template? Hmmmm, what could it be that the Administration, the Democrats and the MSM are all hiding from?

Let's take a look. Here is a startling series of facts. In the 1900 census there were 237,000 Native Americans remaining and there were 114,000 people counted of Asian descent. This is out a total of more than 62million Americans (see reference 1), so their portion of the population for both peoples was very small in 1900 (less than .1% for each).

What are they today?

Well the Asians account for 4.4% of the overall US Population (as of February 2006) or over 13 million (see reference 2). This is despite not having a US Agency dedicated to providing them health care. This is from them having to milk out health care the good old fashion way, from the free market system.

Over this same time the Indian Americans increased their population to a whopping 2 million or to 0.68% of the US Population (see reference 2). Stunning. It seems as if the US Government was trying to rid the country of its Natives! I mean you cannot survive as a distinct culture if you cannot grow your population. And this great health care service is slowing but surly eliminating the Indian Americans they are supposed to take care of.

This is why I don't support Government run health service. And it is more personal than you realize with me.

The Indian Americans in this country have infant mortality that is way higher than the average of the rest of Americans (2005 numbers, 6.9 All Races, 8.1 Native Americans, see reference 3). Death in the IHS Clinics is so common place that many pregnant Indian American mothers resort to extreme measure to stay out of them.

I am an example of that distrust and fear. When my Mother went into labor she demanded my Father drive her to the nearest Anglo (their word for anything white) or Public hospital. It was 80 miles away. On the way out of the little reservation town they drove past the Clinic she was supposed to go to, it was less than 2 miles from home. I was born in the back of a Rambler Classic sedan some 60 miles into that 80 mile drive. My chances of survival were better in that car alone with my little family than they were in the IHS Clinic.

This speaks volumes.

Why does anybody trust the Government to something as intimate, and important as you health care? They cannot do it better, that is a foregone conclusion.

Can they do it cheaper? Well, let's see. In 2007 the average resident of the US spent $7,421 dollars on health care (see reference 4). Seems like a lot but we have the best free market system in the world. That is a lot of money.

This is what you hear the Dem's saying all the time; they have to make health care more affordable!!! How many times do you hear them rant about the high cost of health insurance?

How much does the US Government spend on the Native Americans? Yeah, with the entire Treasury of the US behind it the Health and Human Services (which is the Department that the IHS is in) spends a mere $2400 dollars per Indian American. Cheap enough for you? If you are a senior, try buying all your Med's on that amount every year. You want a new hip, better bring one with you. Everything is rationed. Everything is planned by the bureaucracy. If it was not thought of last year, you don't get it this year.

Whatever you do, don't get sick after June. They just don't have the budget to take care of you for the full year.

You see none of this in the MSM. I have seen only passing comments on this, no big story or investigation. The Administration gets a complete pass and you know as well as I that they would simply blame everything on the Bush Administration. And that is partially true, as many, many Administrations are to blame. The one thing the BHO Administration does not want is people drawing comparisons between the IHS and that BHO desires for Universal Health Care for the entire country. Not a good track record.

Native Americans don't complain. They suck it up and take it. They are a broken people. They 'lost' the war for the great country they once lived in. To this day the best outcome for a Native American is to leave their culture behind. It is what my Mother did and why I was raised for the most part in the big City. Away from the reservation, away from the squalor and decay that is so prevalent on the reservations.

That is why so many Indian Americans run from their heritage; to get away is to survive.

No Government health care for me, if I had wanted it I would have stayed where it was free. Of course I would most likely be dead right now, but it would have been free.

BT: Jimmy T sends.

References:
(1) US Census Bureau, Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990
(2) US Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey
(3) CDC 2008, National Vital Statistics Reports, Table 6
(4) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, 2007 National Health Care Expenditures Data