Charles Alexander Eastman, whose given name was Ohiyesa, was a Native American born in 1858 on a reservation. After you read his hope for civilization below, decide whether the way civilization has turned out would have pleased him or not:
Yet even in deep jungles God’s own sunlight penetrates, and I stand before my own people still as an advocate of civilization. Why? First, because there is no chance for our former simple life any more; and second, because I realize that the white man’s religion is not responsible for his mistakes. There is every evidence that God has given him all the light necessary by which to live in peace and good-will with his brother; and we also know that many brilliant civilizations have collapsed in physical and moral decadence. It is for us to avoid their fate if we can.
I am an Indian; and while I have learned much from civilization, for which I am grateful, I have never lost my Indian sense of right and justice. I am for development and progress along social and spiritual lines, rather than those of commerce, nationalism, or material efficiency. Nevertheless, so long as I live, I am an American.
(Quoted from page 194 of From the Deep Woods to Civilization, by Charles A. Eastman. Little Brown, and Company, 1916.)
For a brief biography of Charles A. Eastman, click here. For images of and relating to Charles A. Eastman, click here.
Yet even in deep jungles God’s own sunlight penetrates, and I stand before my own people still as an advocate of civilization. Why? First, because there is no chance for our former simple life any more; and second, because I realize that the white man’s religion is not responsible for his mistakes. There is every evidence that God has given him all the light necessary by which to live in peace and good-will with his brother; and we also know that many brilliant civilizations have collapsed in physical and moral decadence. It is for us to avoid their fate if we can.
I am an Indian; and while I have learned much from civilization, for which I am grateful, I have never lost my Indian sense of right and justice. I am for development and progress along social and spiritual lines, rather than those of commerce, nationalism, or material efficiency. Nevertheless, so long as I live, I am an American.
(Quoted from page 194 of From the Deep Woods to Civilization, by Charles A. Eastman. Little Brown, and Company, 1916.)
For a brief biography of Charles A. Eastman, click here. For images of and relating to Charles A. Eastman, click here.
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