" The author, Hampton Sides, said, " America is an archipelago of tribes, a land where people form national families of kindred spirits." I believe we travel from one land to another, questioning from whence we came, and in the end, praying for where we go. This has been true for every generation since the beginning of time. I can write little of what came before me, just speculation and facts gleaned from history. Did Christian Reichart, with his elderly mother, wife, and one young son come in pursuit of a dream ? I highly doubt that romantic notion. Was he a " dreamer ? " One has to place that in the context of time. Are possibilities and dreams the same thing ? I don't believe they are. Dreams may come true as a result of hard work or luck, but more often they do not. Dreams fuel our aspirations. When all our aspirations have been fulfilled, do we stop dreaming ? Without dreams, what point is there to life ? It seems more likely he came to improve his condition, willing to take a calculated risk. Success or failure rested upon his shoulders. Successful people work toward the probabilities and dream of the possibilities. "
That first paragraph is an excerpt from the book I have begun to write. It is just a work in process, a thought, not yet completed. The notion of a " national family of kindred spirits " appeals to me. I believe it to be a very apt description of just what America used to be. That was back before the internet and mass media. In the region of the country where I was born and raised we had a few scattered Indians, Native Americans they are called now, but no great tribes. No, our tribes were small non-descript ones that were overtaken and influenced by the first white men to come ashore in America. We " Americans " purchased the land off the natives. Whether the trade was fair of not is left to history. You can't really negotiate after the fact, If you do in each case it will seem unfair to one side or the other.
In my neck of the woods there were no great Indian wars, no tremendous battles between the natives and an invading force of white men. No they were too busy fighting each other. They were a archipelago of tribes, quite literally, but never shared a kindred spirit. They never did form a " national family " like the white man did. Had they done that they could have easily beat back the invading white men, kept them some settling on their shores. At the very least they would have delayed it because I also believe it was destined to be. The Europeans were always about expansion. Since the first great migrations of the " cave man " crossing the land bridge it has been so. All the great explorers were Europeans. Yes, other cultures had their explorers, but name those that did not come from the European continent. Yes Scandinavia is in Europe, northern Europe to be more precise. Different groups living on Islands surely migrated from one island to another. No other way to explain how they got there, but apparently they quit exploring at some point.
The notion of a nation of family kindred spirits did strike a chord within me. I have always had an awareness of a strong kindred spirit with the others in my town. But it was more than that really, that kindred spirit did form a " family " of sorts. We were related by blood and by tradition. It is with a sense of sadness and loss that I realize that " family " is nearing its' end. It is being overtaken by time, left in the past as a remembrance. Some years back a " tribe " was formed to remember this period in history. Many want to be in the " tribe " these days. It is a connection to that kindred spirit that prevailed before the tribe was overtaken. And that tribe of kindred spirits was overtaken in much the same way their ancestors overtook the Indians. The land was purchased, deals were made and it was gone. There was no stemming the tide, it was an inevitability. And so now, like a gathering of old Indian chiefs, this tribe gathers to remember. There has even been an effort to record and preserve the language. Soon all that will be left are artifacts and stories. There will be no tribal members that have first hand experience in the life of the tribe. It will be showing what was and saying: this is what I was told.
I see this progression in the country as a whole. The " kindred " spirit that made us all Americans is being replaced. No longer are we concerned with America as a whole, now we are becoming an " archipelago of tribes " that Hampton Sides wrote about but without forming a national family. We are dividing and sub-dividing into " tribes " and ones that don't get along with each other. One tribe demanding goods from the others. Where will it all end ? It ends in collapse. Just as the Indians have faded into the past so will the Americans. And for the same reason, they failed to work together.
There has always been much talk of the American dream. Dreams are the fuel of aspiration. Dreams breathe life into our ambitions. I believe we should work toward the probabilities, not the possibilities. That was the reason my ancestor stepped ashore at Castle Garden New York in 1856, to pursue a possibility. Beyond that, he had dreams. We need to redirect our efforts as Americans, on America. For it is America that provides the possibilities. Dreams are best left to dreamers, success comes from work. Pursue what is possible ! What is the American dream ? Fulfilling what is possible, that is the dream. Getting everything you want ? That's a fantasy.
That first paragraph is an excerpt from the book I have begun to write. It is just a work in process, a thought, not yet completed. The notion of a " national family of kindred spirits " appeals to me. I believe it to be a very apt description of just what America used to be. That was back before the internet and mass media. In the region of the country where I was born and raised we had a few scattered Indians, Native Americans they are called now, but no great tribes. No, our tribes were small non-descript ones that were overtaken and influenced by the first white men to come ashore in America. We " Americans " purchased the land off the natives. Whether the trade was fair of not is left to history. You can't really negotiate after the fact, If you do in each case it will seem unfair to one side or the other.
In my neck of the woods there were no great Indian wars, no tremendous battles between the natives and an invading force of white men. No they were too busy fighting each other. They were a archipelago of tribes, quite literally, but never shared a kindred spirit. They never did form a " national family " like the white man did. Had they done that they could have easily beat back the invading white men, kept them some settling on their shores. At the very least they would have delayed it because I also believe it was destined to be. The Europeans were always about expansion. Since the first great migrations of the " cave man " crossing the land bridge it has been so. All the great explorers were Europeans. Yes, other cultures had their explorers, but name those that did not come from the European continent. Yes Scandinavia is in Europe, northern Europe to be more precise. Different groups living on Islands surely migrated from one island to another. No other way to explain how they got there, but apparently they quit exploring at some point.
The notion of a nation of family kindred spirits did strike a chord within me. I have always had an awareness of a strong kindred spirit with the others in my town. But it was more than that really, that kindred spirit did form a " family " of sorts. We were related by blood and by tradition. It is with a sense of sadness and loss that I realize that " family " is nearing its' end. It is being overtaken by time, left in the past as a remembrance. Some years back a " tribe " was formed to remember this period in history. Many want to be in the " tribe " these days. It is a connection to that kindred spirit that prevailed before the tribe was overtaken. And that tribe of kindred spirits was overtaken in much the same way their ancestors overtook the Indians. The land was purchased, deals were made and it was gone. There was no stemming the tide, it was an inevitability. And so now, like a gathering of old Indian chiefs, this tribe gathers to remember. There has even been an effort to record and preserve the language. Soon all that will be left are artifacts and stories. There will be no tribal members that have first hand experience in the life of the tribe. It will be showing what was and saying: this is what I was told.
I see this progression in the country as a whole. The " kindred " spirit that made us all Americans is being replaced. No longer are we concerned with America as a whole, now we are becoming an " archipelago of tribes " that Hampton Sides wrote about but without forming a national family. We are dividing and sub-dividing into " tribes " and ones that don't get along with each other. One tribe demanding goods from the others. Where will it all end ? It ends in collapse. Just as the Indians have faded into the past so will the Americans. And for the same reason, they failed to work together.
There has always been much talk of the American dream. Dreams are the fuel of aspiration. Dreams breathe life into our ambitions. I believe we should work toward the probabilities, not the possibilities. That was the reason my ancestor stepped ashore at Castle Garden New York in 1856, to pursue a possibility. Beyond that, he had dreams. We need to redirect our efforts as Americans, on America. For it is America that provides the possibilities. Dreams are best left to dreamers, success comes from work. Pursue what is possible ! What is the American dream ? Fulfilling what is possible, that is the dream. Getting everything you want ? That's a fantasy.
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