“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

Very glad the site is back up and seeing the familiar names in daily readings. Change is often abrupt, this was not one I wanted to adjust to a new normal.

When discussing events and patterns in history I often use Oregon in the story telling for a couple of reasons. First, It was not considered claimed territory by any European nation and significant British and United States interaction with Oregon begins in the early 1800's. Colonization pattern is a repeat of successful practices used on the east coast since the 1500's. The second reason is I have had the fortune of knowing multiple individuals who had personal memories of living in various parts of the state since the late 1800s to present times. Those stories may not always match with official history, but have often been confirmed by reading old newspapers.

History is often a collage of events not a single trajectory. Overtime repeatable patterns become visible and it would not be unreasonable to expect those patterns to be attempted to be used on us in the future.

This article was highlighted in last week's Open Thread. What is interesting is the concept of whose Rules shall apply. The Colonists would apply the Rules of England to offenders.

A man without a tribe: The true story of Squanto Cape Cod Times Nov 19, 2020

The first visitor to the Pilgrims' settlement in Plymouth would make himself known, remarkably, by speaking English.

Samoset, an Abenaki sachem who was visiting among the Wampanoag and likely learned to speak the language as a result of long-standing relations with English and European traders, bid them “Welcome, Englishmen.” After establishing a modicum of goodwill with the colonists, he left and returned with Wampanoag Tisquantum, known commonly as Squanto, who spoke more fluent English.

That each of these men spoke English was hardly questioned before Squanto was introduced into the historical genre as a “special instrument sent of God” in William Bradford’s book "Of Plimoth Plantation."
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As a young man he was among 20 unfortunate men of Patuxet lured aboard the ship of Thomas Hunt in 1614 to be sold into slavery in Spain. He spent at least six weeks in the dank, dark belly of a ship, chained to his brothers, given just enough fresh water, raw fish and stale bread to keep them alive.

In Malaga, Spain, Hunt attempted to unload his cargo of stunned and bewildered Wampanoag men in the slave market with little success, due to uninterested brokers and the intervention of a religious order of friars. Squanto ultimately made his way to London, where he found himself living with John Slaney, a man who had great potential to afford him passage home. He likely did all he could to appease Slaney, who was a merchant and shipbuilder and also a grantee of the land patent issued to the Newfoundland Company. Squanto bided his time, charming his host and earning celebrity as a novelty. The presence of a Native man fascinated Londoners. Not only were Native men set apart by their bronze skin, chiseled features and dark eyes, but they were virtual giants to the small-statured Englishmen. Squanto’s faithfulness paid off. Slaney allowed Squanto to travel as a guide to Newfoundland, where he met Thomas Dermer, an English explorer who brought him home in 1619.
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Cast in the role of interpreter, Squanto was far more helpful to the English than he was to his own people. In fact, if we are to judge his effectiveness as an interpreter by his first and perhaps most important translation, he was an epic failure.
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To this day, this treaty is passed off as a harmless and friendly agreement. However, the authors, penning the document in English, took clear advantage of the language and cultural ambiguity to deceive Ousamequin, who was unable to discern the not-so-subtle threat to Wampanoag sovereignty.
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When the English celebrated their first harvest with a bullish muster performed by the colony’s militia, the repeated blast of muskets, considered entertainment by the settlers, was interpreted as a threat by the Wampanoag. Soon after, Ousamequin approached the settlement with about 90 warriors. The virtual army of Natives appearing without warning, contrary to the diplomatic efforts of Stephen Hopkins and Edward Winslow just a few months earlier, was a clear show of force on the part of Ousamequin and his men in response to the muster that likely created a very tense situation.

Bradford’s history makes only a brief reference to this harvest feast, with no mention of the participation of the Wampanoag. Winslow, however, does write about the uninvited dinner guests, “Whom for three days we entertained and feasted,” no doubt in another act of diplomacy to ease the strained confrontation, which could only be achieved by each side letting down its guard. For his part, Ousamequin and his warriors contributed to the feast: “they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others.”

But nearly 250 years later this event serves as the inspiration for one of America’s most popular holidays. On the third Thursday of November, American families gather together and celebrate a national day of unity and mutual gratitude inspired by a warped interpretation of that first harvest feast. The contemporary holiday perpetuates the myths of Wampanoag and Pilgrim relations.

The original Agreement between the Wampanoag and the English referenced from the Mayflower Society site March 22, 1621 or 1622.

Both Massasoit and Carver went through all the pomp and circumstance one would expect from the meeting of two great leaders. Massasoit had twenty men in his train as he approached and “…Captain Standish and Master Williamson met the king at the brook, with half a dozen musketeers.” Both sides saluted one another and Massasoit was led to a partially constructed house, prepared with pillows and a green carpet, to meet with the governor. Carver then made his own entrance “…with drum and trumpet after him, and some few musketeers.” Then proceeded more saluting, greetings, food and drink, after which the two parties got to the business at hand, and agreed on the following articles of peace:

• That neither he nor any of his should injure or do hurt to any of our people.
• And if any of his did hurt to any of ours, he should send the offender, that we might punish him.
• That if any of our tools were taken away when our people were at work, he should cause them to be restored, and if ours did any harm to any of his, we would do the like to them.
• If any did unjustly war against him, we would aid him; if any did war against us, he should aid us.
• He should send to his neighbor confederates, to certify them of this, that they might not wrong us, but might likewise comprised in the conditions of peace.
• That when their men came to us, they should leave their bows and arrows behind them, as we should do our pieces when we came to them.
• Lastly, that doing thus, King James would esteem of him as his friend and ally.

One of the tribes near the Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies was the Pequot. The tribe was nearly annihilated by the English and allied native American tribes in the 1630's. It took the survivors nearly 400 years to once again be a significant presence in their homeland.

The Pequot Museum & Research Center Virtual Tour (18.55 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRyUmvaDsL0]

Using local allies is a longstanding practice of the English and one the United States has incorporated in its foreign relationships.

Naragansetts entered into an Alliance with the Massachutes Bay Puratain Colonies in 1636. The following articles are from John Winthrops writings. (The Pequot War and Puritan Division 17.41 min video) Of course about 40 years later their tribe was attacked by the English colonists. Breaking alliance when profit is to be made is a bad habit that is hard to stop.

The Articles

1. A firm peace between us and our friends of the other plantations, (if they consent) and their confederates, (is they will obwerve the articles, &c.) and our posterities.
2. Neither party to make peace with the Pequods without the other's consent.
3. Not to harbour, &c. the Pequads, &c.
4. To put to death or deliver over murderers, &c.
5. To return fugative servants, &c.
6. We to give notice when we go against the Pequods, and they to send some guides.
7. Free trade between us.
8. None of them to come newr our plantations during the wars with Pequods, without one Englishman or known Indian.
9. To continue to the posterity of both parties.

Philippine is once again experiencing our focused attention.

Harris visits Philippines President Marcos: Human rights hypocrisy and war mongering World Socialist Web Site Nov 22, 2022
(EDCA = Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement)

The EDCA deal, which nearly died during the six-year term of Duterte, is a document of unbridled neocolonialism. It is an executive agreement that undermines the constitutional power of the Philippine Senate to supervise any foreign troop presence in the country.

The EDCA grants portions of Philippine territory to the control of the US military, but attempts to maintain the pretense of Philippine sovereignty by authorizing a single Filipino to access the bases upon requesting permission from US officers. All US personnel have extrajudicial immunity from local jurisdiction; they are not subject to Philippine law. Washington pays no rent for the use of bases, and if the US chooses to abandon a base, the Philippine government is required to pay for any “improvements.” Filipino staff working on the base are subject to American policing. There is no limit to the number of military personnel the US may deploy.

In her visit to the Philippines, Harris carried with her both the arrogant demands of US imperialism and its human rights pretensions. The most critical of Washington’s demands was for additional locations to be granted by the Marcos government for use as US military bases. The Pentagon had selected five locations in the Philippines that it wanted to have and drew up a list of the territory that it was requesting. Harris presented the list to Marcos.
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Harris left her meetings with Marcos and Duterte to address a conference on human rights and the rights of women. “Remember,” she told the assembled audience, “you are not alone in your fight for our god-given rights.” She said that she was particularly committed to fighting for the rights of women and girls to live lives free from violence.

Along with the rule of the Catholic Church and the brutal Japanese occupation during World War II, no force wreaked more violence on Filipino women than US imperialism and its military. The bases, whose return Harris is demanding, fostered entire cities at the core of whose economy was the prostitution that serviced tens of thousands of US troops.
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Harris boarded a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, the Teresa Magbanua, and, unaccompanied by any ranking Philippine civilian official, delivered a speech to this branch of the Philippine military as they stood at attention. The vessel was named after a Filipino woman who was a general in the Philippine-American war and led organized guerrilla resistance against the forces of US occupation, but Washington does not let such historical trifles interfere with its ambitions.

“You are on the frontlines,” she told them, “standing up for the international rules-based order.” She made clear whose interests she was summoning them to defend, declaring, “America’s prosperity relies on the billions of dollars that flow through these waters every day.” The United States rejected “China’s expansive South China Sea maritime claims,” she asserted. This was a fight “for national sovereignty.”

Haiti has been assisted by the Untied States for over 100 years.

The Colonization of Haiti in 1915 (11.25 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE8lGhPyV68]

Douglas Macgregor - November 25th - Utter nonsense in Ukraine (28 min)

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0BhWNWl0Q0]

What is on your mind today?