The Great Canyon State

Native Americans: Background

On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. Because he thought he had reached the Indies, he called the inhabitants of the region Indians. Until the day he died in 1506, Columbus continued to believe that he had reached Asia, although others knew better. In 1499, Amerigo Vespucci had an idea that a new continent had been discovered, and in 1507 a mapmaker labeled the new land America.

Europeans brought diseases against which Indians had no immunity. The great killer was smallpox. Other devastating illnesses included influenza, measles, and chicken pox. The ststistics are staggering. When Columbus landed on Hispanio;a in 1492, more than 3 million Indians resided there. 50 years later, only 500 were still alive. There is historic evidence that once Europeans learned that smallpox was killing Indians by thousands, they begin to intentionally infect them. The Native Americans took a revenge of sorts. They gave the Europeans syphilis.

(facts are borrowed from A Pepole and a Nation. A History of the United States. Boston: Houghton Mufflin Company, 1991, pp. 11-14.)

Prelude

In DC we visited the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indians. Mr Smithsonian, a Briton, did not inherit anything from his father, a duke, because he was a bastard – Mr Smithsonian, not his father. He made a career and became a wealthy man. Being mean and revengeful, Mr Smithsonian left lots of his money before dying not to his family or his country, but to the US which he had never visited - for cultural puprposes. For quite some time, the US government could not understand where the catch was and refused to accept the gift. In the long run, after many heated debates and calling each other names, officials reluctantly agreed to accept the British money.

…Our guide in the Museum, native American Ken, introduced himself as half-Pueblo and half-Navaho (‘nah-vah-hoe) and said that the only foreign language he spoke was English. According to Ken, if we compare the history of America to one hour, say from 10 to 11 am, then Christopher Columbus arrived in America at 10.50.

We always associate native Americans with horses, or horses with native Americans. However, Indians became horse-savvy, presumably, only in the 16^th century, due to Spaniards.

In recent years, casinos opened almost in each reservation, and life of native Americans is now changing dramatically. As every native American get revenues from the casino located at their reservation, they drive expensive cars and started to drop their education. This is how Americans expiate their original sin of exterminating Indians.

Before we move on, I must say a few words about the museum. It is very differrent from Russian museums . It is VERY spacious. Our museums have more exhibits and fewer gift shops, cafeterias, and restrooms per square meter.

The Grand Canyon

We crossed 5 or 6 climatic zones, We drove along the famous Freeway 66 (it used to connect Westeern and Eastern coasts. We stopped at the reservation’s restaurant to eat traditional Indian food and ended up eating a Navahoburger (no kidding!). Some jerk had run over a skunk, a for a few miles we enjoyed a nice smell in the van. (After a Navahoburger I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a skunkburger at our next stop.) On our way back, we sang Russian songs, and our wonderful African-American driver Eugene now knows them all.

As for the Canyon itself… What can I say? I have nothing but epithets to describe it: It’s scenic, dignified, sombre, red, proud, prestine, timeless, unyielding, and undivulgeing. It’s GRAND!