I frequently slag off on academics for their craven pandering to grievance theater and identity politics (see previous post). We shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that there are still a lot of folks out there in academia fighting the good fight, seeking truth and a better, deeper understanding of frontier history.
During the decade before the U.S. Civil War, a different conflict made a big impact on the future of the Oregon Territory. It’s known as the Rogue River Indian War. But unlike the Civil War battlefields in the eastern U.S. or American South that receive hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, you’ll be hard pressed to tour — or even find — those battlefields.
Now a series of archaeological investigations is resurrecting this Northwest history.
And we also must remember that grievance theater and identity politics are the province of a minority of people who use it to seek empowerment through victimhood. It does NOT broadly represent the point of view of First Peoples, who generally have a longer and more nuanced view on things.
The cultural resources director for the Siletz Tribe visited several times. Robert Kennta said for tribal folks, the history of the Indian war “is not that old.” His grandmother’s father lived through it.
“That’s very fresh in our family stories,” Kennta said, “how he by some miracle was able to survive the wars as an orphan boy spending that last winter in a kind of hollowed out sugar pine snag, just scraping by.”
Kennta said it’s difficult to be reminded “of all the suffering people went through on both sides.” But he and other tribal visitors came to support the excavation.
“It’s part of that reconciling of the past with where we’re at today and understanding what your family has been through and your whole community has been through,” Kennta said. “In some ways, it can help you navigate toward a healthier future.”
I believe that. A deeper understanding is key to a healthier future. Hats off to them that are seeking it.
Breaker Morant says
When I was 36, I went back to college because I had had my ass kicked financially(and emotionally) in the hog business. I chose to major in Geography-with the GIS component-which was a risky choice for the job market, but my philosophy was, that for once in my life, I was going to cater to my strengths and see where I could take it. It led some interesting ways, but I am still farming as that was always my plan, if I could dig out of my mess.
I am a conservative and I expected to just keep my mouth shut and grind my teeth when the professors spread their liberal BS. However, I was very pleasantly surprised at how little of that I saw. It helped that I had a previous degree so I only needed to take relevant classes for my major. I did not have to take the “Global Understanding/Diversity” type classes that were required of my peers.
Even the avowed Marxist professor wasn’t bad about it. I know that there are major problems with the academic career path, but at 36 (and now 49) I can see that that probably would have been the right path for me to follow-I did not understand that at age 20.
Bottom line is that I have more respect for the Academic world than I did before-with full understanding of the diversity/sensitivity crap that has infiltrated that world.
I worked part time for an archaeology professor and got to process some scary good Soviet topographic maps of Oman (from the late 1970’s)-And I mean that-they were scary good. As an aside-the terrain in Oman is much more varied than I would have thought, especially along the coast.
JimC says
Great stuff Breaker — thanks for sharing that. Paths not taken, right? We’re at the time of life when you contemplate that stuff a bit. But I’d say we done pretty darn good. And there’s more to come.
Pat_h says
Totally off topic, Breaker, but I’m glad you are still farming.
I’ve raised cattle for a couple of decades in addition to my desk job and while I am more and more an office hermit every day, I’m glad I at least theoretically do. I envy those who can make that their full time job.
Keith West says
It sounds like Robert Kennta is a very wise man.
JimC says
Right? Refreshing.
Pat_h says
FWIW, in the misty dawn of time when I was in upper education, while I was a geology student, I took piles of history classes and was, at least back then, pretty close to a history degree in addition to my geology degree. In that period of time, at UW, I never ran into what I’d regard as a left wing revisionist history professor. We did have some that had very distinct views, but their views were well worth listening to as they were well thought out.
Carrying that on, I really didn’t even run into left wing thought much while I was a law student. I can’t say that the thinking there was a clear, and there was some thought in some areas that was left tinged. After I got out, however, and only shortly after that, the school started employing one prof who I’d regard as radically anti ranching and I frankly started loosing some respect for that part of my alma mater at that point.