DO NOT FORGET, NEVER FORGET
"Why me? Why should I know and remember?"
Now, with all of this seemingly grim information and boiling truth, you may try to seek refuge intermingled in the society in which we live in, you might try to want to forget the struggles of each and every indigenous person in California that were involved in the genocide and the cruelty of those who sought to do whatever possible for their so-called "progress" (and those who still do it today). Those who struggled, those who died, those who were torn between their two worlds of culture clashes. I admit, I personally before have gone through this, wishing that none of this ever happened at all and that we didn't have to think about these sort of things.
But we do.
We have to think about these sorts of things, to remember the mistakes we have made so that we vow never to make them again. For example, if a person woke up each morning purposefully forgetting the mistakes that she or he made the day before, would you think that they would be a more developed, mature, and open person? Would that be the kind of person that you would fully trust, that you would take advice from? Whether or not you think that person would be a "good person" or not, they will have made the same mistakes over and over again, never learning and continuing down the wrong path. We as people may do this sometimes, when we're constantly doing something we know we shouldn't but we pretend we were born yesterday.
But we weren't.
"But I don't want to be sad all of the time, I don't want to over-think about these things, I don't want to feel anything unusual that would make me feel different than what I usually go through."
Okay.
Do you think that these indigenous people thought these things when they tried to fight back, or did they acknowledge these thoughts and do whatever it takes to defend what was right?
I am not saying you are weak. You are in fact strong for being open to these things. You shouldn't let your feelings get the best of you to prevent you from the truth, what is supposed to be known. "But I'm not an indigenous Native American, I'm not brave, I'm not strong, why do I matter, why does it matter that I know these things?"
Good question.
Yes, most of us are not indigenous people. But, some of us are not women, some of us are not people of color, some of us are not an oppressed group of people. (Secretly, we all are.) But does this mean that we should not stand up for these people? Absolutely not.
We are privileged people to not have suffered through the terrible conditions that these innocent people had to face, knowing these truths would be very liberating for not only them as people, but ourselves as well. The truth isn't meant for us to wallow in it and feel trapped, it's so we can be free and do something about it. I mean really, you have internet connection so you must have other things to your advantage; we have countless advantages and privileges. And that is not a bad thing; it is our responsibility to use these privileges to our full advantage and instill change within our broken society.
This fire in your heart will not kill you. It will make you more human.
I should know.