For many Americans, their primary personal identity is found in their alma mater – their high school or college – not in their family or ethnic identity. That is why the mascot issue is such a hot button item in many communities. Those four to eight years of their life seem to provide the only symbols by which many people can identify a personal identity – other than being “American.” That is why the emotional attachment is so strong – because the American social fabric is woven of such thin and transparent cloth. The experience of four years identifying with a mascot symbol is compared equally in importance, without any sense of shame, to the real identity of cultures formed over thousands of years. In our communities people who went to high school and identified with “Indians” draw on that identity and compare it to the emotional reservoirs of families who can trace their roots locally back 10,000 years – and can compare the two experiences without blinking.
I have consistently expressed the controversial view that the real success of the U.S. as a nation is predominantly based on the unique and substantial resources of the land and its varying geology, geography, topography and climate – rather than the actions of men. At this time, I would like to add that I believe the inherent spirit and social balance exhibited by the Native Nations that resided here for millennia provided a buffer of spiritual power that enabled America not only to survive the last five centuries, but to maintain a relatively free and easy life. Keep in mind that we were denied our religious, social and political freedoms, even while Americans were formulating the myth that the guarantee of those rights is what America stands for. Long after our peoples posed any threat to the American Nation or peoples, those freedoms continued to be denied to us. Our peoples still struggle with the moral, social and spiritual disabilities of having been stripped and denied our right to assemble, celebrate and worship as we believed.
The basic philosophy of the American Experiment has been a blend of Merchant-Roman-Christian ideology. What does that mean? Think of it as a three-tiered effigy. At its base, the underlying fundamental principle of America is its mercantilism and entrepreneurial spirit. The potential to get rich and consistently increase one’s individual stand of living. That is the bedrock of what draws immigrants to the U.S. And let’s be frank, America has always needed that influx. Let’s digress for a moment and ask “Why?”
Anytime one takes unrelated groups with varying ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds and attempts to meld them together into any purpose – the first thing that needs to be established is a common identity and goal. The goal is this case is easily defined. Freedom to pursue economic independence and wealth, and to practice one’s culture and religion without persecution. That is the stated, albeit often unrealized, expression of the American Dream. The identity for the Founding Citizens of this country was easily formed. They were all castaways from the systems of Europe, sincerely grateful to have conquered a new paradise. They carried forward with that sense of new purpose and freedom for a number of generations before they began to run out of steam. However, after awhile the novelty of that wore off and significant and divisive forces began to fester in the infancy of America. What brought it out of the doldrums and reinforced its identity was another wave of immigrants in the early 1800s. Newly immigrant Americans have always been the most enthusiastic patriots and believers in the promise of this Nation.
The institution of Democracy, completely plagiarized from two centuries of discussions about American Native institutions of government and social organization in Europe and America, resulted in a government that really was capable of allowing individual freedom for almost all its citizens (except those it purposely disenfranchises along the way). Additionally, and perhaps most important, the length, breadth and rich resources of the land provided every opportunity for that Dream to be realized.
Keeping unrelated and culturally diverse peoples united requires a common identity. That identity was concocted from a series of myths and outright lies to form the basis of the conceptualization of what America stands for. There is no dispute that for many immigrants the freedom to worship and strive for economic improvement is a dream come true, whether the facts of their identity are constructed from wisps of fantasy or not. Each time that the country has faced a period where its unrelated nature began to dissolve the bonds that held it together, a new group of immigrants has arrived to bolster its mythological premise and support it patriotic nationalism. America needs immigrants to infuse its blood supply with new and energetic support, and to continue the myth of its premise that it was founded for all.
Now let’s return to the discussion at hand. We have identified freedom from political totalitarianism as one of the elements that allows free enterprise to flourish. Though there are other forms of totalitarianism – including corporate economic power – the second tier of the American effigy is in its similarity to Rome. Particularly in today’s circumstances – the symbols of the Emperor, the Senate, and the Coliseum are highly similar to what moves and shakes America. The former two are evident as the primary combatants in our political system (the president and Congress), and the Coliseum represents entertainment and becomes a significant part of the cultural reality of our Age. Sports, media, movies, holidays, commercials, music, even eating establishments become the fabric of American culture replacing a true ethnic and cultural identify as a kind of pseudo-culture, totally devoid of common mores or values unless recognized as part of the game.
The final piece of the effigy, our Christian heritage, is an integral part of the American Myth. It revolves around a Divine Human and asks that we be like him, while at the same time assuring us, that because of our deviant natures, we can never be like him. Additionally it approaches it from the predominantly Roman Christian, rather than Hebrew-Aramaic point of view. The Romans imported the Christian story and ideals in much the same perspective we do today – fitting it in where it has a place, and disposing of it or ignoring it when it conflicts with the lower two tiers of the effigy – politics / the Nation, and economics /mercantilism.
This belief provides a convenient form of social control. On the one hand it asserts: “Your Savior was tolerant, peaceful, and energetic in his criticism of the status quo; of the mainstream; of the staid and conservative point of view. He tore off his clothes and jumped up and down on them to make a point with his nakedness. He associated with the lower strata of society in his daily life and threw off what he considered contrived social norms. He publicly berated the political and religious powerbrokers of his time.” Then, we are told – “But wait, he could do this because he was the Son Of Deity. No matter how hard you strive to be like him, you will never achieve it!” Talk about showing us cake and then serving us stale bread!
The result of this is a duality in our spiritual consciousness. On the one hand we exalt the Nazarene Carpenter for his virtues, but since we are told we can never achieve his perfection – we don’t even attempt it. We accept his beneficent forgiveness, and turn around and do the most unseemly things to others and to the world. We have taken his human characteristics and put them on an unreachable pedestal to be admired but never truly adopted into our social reality. We assume the mantel of the Pharisees of his time, ignoring his message and example, tentatively worshiping his unreachable perfection – and then attending to the business of the day. Because the only accepted study guide is a conglomeration of books that form a story more like a screenplay than a historical narrative, we have plenty of drama to distract us from the few real examples of his behavior—and conveniently ignore His politics and social consciousness.
This fits perfectly with the Merchant-Roman descendant civilization we exalt. We can look to the top of our effigy when we want to identify with our highest principles, yet we can also ignore it on a daily basic to pursue our Roman Mercantilism – where the bottom line always reflects the power of economy and Nationalism over morality, meaning or social responsibility.
But immigrants cannot, and will not, always be there to re-infuse the American Dream with new blood. Somewhere, the necessity for common purpose and commitment must arise. Common values are a necessary part of the survival of any human social organism. Christianity is not shared by enough Americans in common to provide guidance. Having been forcibly driven from our spiritual roots, American Indians still have enough understanding of the necessary elements that bind peoples together for survival to provide significant guidance for this Nation. Our people were far from perfect, yet we lasted far longer as communities and Nations than any of the more “permanent” civilizations that have since fallen into ruin.
Better to be a third-rate country with a contented and moral populace than the militant, puffed up and pretentious leader of the world. With our children suffering declining health, education, morality and hope from stress, suicide, substance abuse, violence and malaise, we need to do more than point fingers at those we think responsible. And as Native People are often told, “We can’t go back to the old days.”
This is just as true for the Americans of today. We cannot recapture the past no matter how grand we perceive its glory. We have to take what’s real – the smiles and future of our grandchildren – and serve their interests. Americans need to formulate a new common identity to sustain us as this new and changing world reshapes itself. There are guides to this process, if enough eyes and ears are opened.
James BlueWolf is a artist and author. He lives in Nice.
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