The Terrorist Attacks and the Cherokee Theory of Violence Essay

The Terrorist Attacks and the Cherokee Theory of effectLike most Americans, I endure spent many an(prenominal) moments since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 trying to grasp some(prenominal) the acts themselves and the seemingly endless chain of depressing events following in their wake. Although many have rediscovered faith communities or a renewed social activism in their search for understanding, I have immersed myself in the lessons of Cherokee culture and hi boloney. This history teaches me to sterilize September 11th in the context of other tragedies that have occurred on American soil. For example, as many as 10,000 Cherokee people perished as a result of the forced march to Oklahoma known as the puff of Tears B or, more accurately, the nuna dat suny, which literally translates as they were emit in that place. Cherokee oral tradition is replete with stories acknowledging the trauma of what historians euphemisti watchwordy call removal, and its physical, spiritual and s ocial wounds may never be solely healed. Other stories, and particularly those in the genre known as crease narratives, illuminate both 9/11 and Removal by enabling the emergence of a distinctly Cherokee critical theory of violence. One story tells of the time when animals, fishes, insects, plants and humans lived with each other in peace and experience (see Mooney, pp. 250-252). correcttually, however, humans began to crowd and crush their animal partners out of carelessness and contempt. Even worse, they think overed weapons of mass destruction such as the blowgun and the spear that allowed them to sweep away animals indiscriminately. Each animal nation then called a council and decided to invent diseases inflicting pain and death upon their human victimizers. Under the able leader... ...ely with one some other and lived in peace as partners, the ease of human transgression permits no romanticized view of this Agolden age. Finally B and this is a much more fraction al conceptualization B the story refuses its hearers the luxury of demonizing, suppressing or repressing violence. Violence is not something that others do to us, but something we inflict upon others. The story consequently demands that we stop and internalize deeply the consequences of violence, and in this alone offers a profoundly eventful model of response. Works Cited Arendt, Hannah. On Violence. San Diego, New York and London Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1970 Mooney, James. Myths Of The Cherokee And consecrate Formulas Of The Cherokees From 19th and 7th Annual Reports B.A.E. Nashville, Tennessee Charles and Randy Elder&8209Booksellers. 1982