Gen. Jim –POW- 56322 — 12/11/19
New Mexico is called the “Land of Enchantment,” and rightly so, it is beautiful and mysterious; the natives of centuries ago were mysterious & fascinating. Some still are. Deborah, my wife of 49 years is ½ Sioux. We together worked for over 10 years among the many tribes of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, & Utah. I’ve been intrigued with Native Americans my whole life. I’ve read hundreds of books –mostly non-fiction- about the tribes of North America and Mexico (where we worked with them also as missionaries).
In John G. Bourke’s book, “On the Border with Crook” (General in U.S. Army in the 1800’s), Bourke writes: “Dante Alighieri, it has always seemed to me, made the mistake of his life in dying when he did in the picturesque capital of the Exarchate 550 years ago. Had he held on to this mortal coil until after Uncle Sam had perfected the “Gadsden Purchase,’ he would have found full scope for his genius in the description of a region in which not only purgatory & hell, but heaven likewise, had combined to produce a bewildering kaleidoscope of all that was wonderful, weird, terrible, and awe-inspiring, with not a little that was beautiful & romantic.”
Bourke, who served as aide de camp to Brig. Gen. Crook – 3rd U.S. Cavalry in the S.W., 1869-96; died June 8, 1896 – describes the territories of New Mexico/Arizona. Mexico once owned this territory, and orthographically, it has never ceased to belong! We moved to N.M. in 1992 as a community of Christian believers from, first, California, later Oregon. We worked among both Mexicans and Native Americans, and also Anglos. We spent most of our latter years –2006-2017 working among the Navajos and Apaches, plus various other tribes, including the Utes in Colorado.
When Bourke described New Mexico / Arizona as a combo of hell and heaven, he got that right; it’s both beautiful and bedeviling (causing plagues, diabolical, bewitching, corrupt): spiritually and naturally! We’ve found the peoples of this territory both cordial and hostile. Being white, I got more hostility thrown at me than Deborah. Some Natives accuse me of “taking away our land!” I can truly relate to their feelings – the U.S. gov. did just that! The Mexicans were alot more friendly., although we had met some “Brown Berets” who were militants and believe they will take the S.W. back.
One thing we have found in all our years of mission work, people are basically the same. They are needy and are trusting in God – be they Roman Catholic or not.
It is a shame that the U.S. gov. acted the way it did to the Native Americans. We still pray for them and heaven will have its share of converted souls.