Who knew? Wampum belts of faith

What a wonderful example of imperialistic, murderous, genocide perpetrated by the Catholic Church... All I have to think about is Conquistadors "enlightening" the Native Americans to know that there is no god. The effect of European colonization of the Americas is yet another aspect of the church that has been white-washed to make our palates taste better. Wake up and realize that the Catholic Church (and all churches for that matter) are based on lies, power, and the disenfranchising of native people who didn't need to be liberated, enlightened, or anything else.

It's a shame the way the Abenaki got and get treated by whites from the moment of first contact till these current days of continued racism by Vermonts goverment.

on the count of three......let the church bashing begin........"the last acceptable prejudice."

and a comment on the belts......what beautiful expressions of faith in a loving God. "Who knew"?? Actually, many people knew.

As monkeycaller so demonstrates the double standards live on.

I go to college and everyone wants to liberate me, but yet that doesn't stop them.

monkeycaller, you don't know much history. The French had a much different relationship with the Native American population than the Spanish and Portuguese. The French explorers had respect for the native population. And the Jesuits in North America adapted to local customs, just like they did in the Far East. The Jesuits' mission was to spread the gospel in North America, and they did convert many of the native peoples to the Catholic faith, but they were open to their culture, and accepted cultural practices other than those that were clearly prohibited by Catholic practices, such as polygamy.

Read the history of the Jesuits in North America, and you will not read anything about colonial imperialism. They initially came to New France to serve French fur trappers, but they soon began evangelizing the Huron peoples who remained a free nation and allies of the French.

Oh give me a break you whiney complainers.

Highlandside.....you can reply all you want, but I won't be checking back, so rip away.
You need to study history. Go to the sources, like the many reservations and find out first hand.
The Jesuits weren't as accomodating and nice as you paint them to have been.
Believe all you read. After all, it's in black and white eh?

Highlandside HAS read history. I suggest others do, too. If you're looking for "reservations" in Canada, you won't find any, as the First Nations in our neighbor to the North have a different history with white folk than do Native Americans here — again, in large part to the French legacy.

Sounds like a real Abenaki chat room, filled with hate and backbiting.

thank goodness for the native americans that saved the lives of the pilgrims that first winter.

Why does this column always seems to have more stories about catholicism .
Not everyone who reads the globe is catholic. Mainline protestants stories are few and far between in this blog. The seven photo's to the right of this page are all catholic news stories from the archives of this blog.

Oh look, racism in a Boston.com thread. Something new.

Remember the French and Indian Wars? The Huron and Abnaki nations sided with the French against BRITISH imperialism. The First Nation was not oppressed in New France; that didn't happen until the British came with their ideas of empire. The early Colonists were primarily from England and Scotland, and after the Revolution they still maintained their feudal views about land and land ownership, and that's what drove the Native Americans off of their ancestral lands. But that did not happen under the short-lived French rule in New France.

If you read the story, the belts, which are beautiful works of art, were given to the Jesuits as gifts. You do not give a gift to your oppresser.

Museum spokeswoman Leslie Wright tells me that the Latin on the belts "dates to the time of the druids, who predated the Jesuits at Chartres."

Druids? Latin was spoken by the Romans who controlled France when it was still called Gaul. Yes the Gauls were Celts and the priests of native Celtic religion were referred to as Druids. However, Rome was intolerant of the druidical cults. When Caesar conquered Gaul he saw them as troublemakers to be eliminated. That policy continued when the Romans conquered Britain and destroyed the sanctuary at Anglesey.
I don't think by the time Latin was being spoken at Chatres that is was the Druids running the show anymore. I remember something about it becoming a shrine to Persephone but that may have been speculation.

I just want to see a picture of the belts, please!