Original Post Date
2015-04-08 05:59 PM
Original Body
Image: Welcome to Mission Dolores, by David Yu https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidyuweb/4350186868/
THE OTHER CONQUEST
__________________
ENTER INTO HIS GATES
WITH SHARP SWORDS
WITH LOADED MUSKETS
AT OUR BACKS
AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE
WHETHER OR NOT
YOU WANT TO
That was the message
Sent to the indigenous
Again & again
By pioneers of the cross.
Wherever soldiers went,
Priests followed.
One used to intrude upon villages,
One used to intrude upon cultures.
One used to clear away villages,
One used to clear away customs.
One used to destroy ties to nature,
One used to destroy sacred sites.
One used to displace native clans,
One used to replace native gods.
One used guns, germs & steel,
One used the Bible & divine authority.
One used the words: "If you want to live,
come with us",
One used the words: "If you want to live
with us, you must be like us".
One used the natives to build forts
& armouries,
One used the natives to build Catholic
missions & Protestant praying towns.
One used to shout work orders,
One used to recite holy prayers.
One used to force people to bow before
the sword,
One used to force people to bow before
the cross.
One used to make slaves,
One used to make converts.
One used to conquer native lands,
One used to colonise native minds.
DISHONOUR AND MISERY
MADE BEFORE HIM
FEAR OF AUTHORITY
IN HIS SANCTUARY
That was the message
Sent to the indigenous
Again & again
By pioneers of the cross.
How they'd shown thanksgiving
To their lord, for this good
Christian land.
____________
W: 8.13.13
[ Inspired by the essay A History Of The Spanish Missions: Early Colonization Of The Bay Area and the documentary After The Mayflower. ]