Early American Settlers Were Friends With Indians

I love the diversity of people God has made. Everyone is created in God's image and should be treated with dignity and respect. When America was first founded, the Pilgrims and Indians became friends.

Many of the Early American settlers bought property from the Indians. The Early Americans who first settled in America were a peace-loving freedom desiring people. Yes, they were peaceful and believed in the cause of freedom so much that if necessary, they would fight to keep it. With the Early Americans, much like today, there were other people who came into our country. Many of them were not seeking freedom or trying to build a community. Quite a few came over to find gold. These people were really like Adventurers. Their goal was different than those who came over here to start a country where we could have the freedoms we have today.

 One such incident was that of the California Gold Rush. Many knew that there was gold to be found here. Many came in from different countries. I have read, but don't know for sure, that these miners were cruel to the Native Americans. Supposedly, these miners had many Native Americans killed. They wanted them exterminated. This is awful, if it really happened. But.... the people who were doing this horrible crime were not the Early American settlers who founded our country. They were people who came over here to find gold. They were greedy. They wanted to get rid of anything that got in their way of finding gold (I want to be careful to note that probably not all the California Gold Rush miners were like this).

 In every group of people there will be some bad. That's why we need the standard of God in our communities. We can say whatever we want to or do whatever we want, but, we are accountable to God after death. We will be judged according to His standard.

 On a good note remember David Brainerd. He was one of my favorite Early American History figures. He made friends with the Native Americans and even translated the Bible into their language for them! David Brainerd was a friend to the Native Americans around him. He truly loved them. When he was 28, he was found dead from tuberculosis. He was praying while he was dying. (On another interesting note, I believe that David Brainerd was engaged to one of Jonathan Edward's daughters.)

 There was also a couple named the Whitmans who preached and served the Native Americans, I believe in the Northwest part of the U.S. A terrible plague broke out and was killing the Native Americans, but Marcus and Narcissa Whitman were resistant to the disease. They nursed many Native Americans back to health because they were in a place where they could help and not get sick. Some of the Native Americans became suspicious though, because of the fact that they weren't getting sick. They thought the Whitmans were the ones making the Native Americans get the disease, so they had the Whitmans killed.

  https://www.whitman.edu/alumni/be-connected/whitman-traditions/marcus-and-narcissa-whitman

Today In History - November 10, 1975 - The Sinking Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

 Forty years ago today, a large 729 foot, ore-freighter ship sank. No one really knows why the ship sank. All 29 crew members died that day.

   The ship was on Lake Superior weathering a severe storm. The ship was named after the president of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee.

   A song was written by Gordon Lightfoot to commemorate this event. Here are the words that he wrote along with the song on a video
  

The ship was on a destination to Detroit.

Sources:

This website has some good pictures of the Edmund Fitzgerald:
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/11/10/fitzgerald-anniversary

http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald-36/

History Of Four Thieves Oil

I thought this was kind of interesting, seeing that essential oils are a hot topic right now. There are many positive qualities in these essential oils and they can do a lot with just a drop or two of oils.

One of the most popular oils is called, Four Thieves Oil. I am going to give a brief overview of the History of how we came up with Four Thieves Oil.

The story comes originally from Wikipedia, and bear in mind that there is a lot of speculation in this story. We actually do not have concrete proof that this event really happened, but it is nice to think it did.

During the time period of the Black Plague, there were these grave robbers who would dig up the graves of the people who died, and those who also died of the Black Plague. But these thieves never got sick. They did get caught though, and were going to go to prison. But something interesting happened which changed the course of events for the Thieves, and which also ended up giving us a recipe using essential oils that can serve as an antiseptic.

   So what was the secret of these Thieves that kept them from catching disease and from not getting sick while they dug up the graves of the dead?

   In order to make their sentence more lenient, they gave their secret away. They put together a combination of oils and used it to protect themselves from getting sick and dying from disease. So, they got their punishment a little lighter after telling what their secret recipe was.

   The oils used were clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, lemon, and rosemary. When combined in the right amounts, you get 'Four Thieves Oil'.

   This url actually has the recipe. You can find it on there and make your own. http://www.easy-home-made.com/thieves_essential_oils.html

   Of course, if you are looking for a place to buy essential orders from, you can go to my essential oil website and 'shop' for them. http://www.mydoterra.com/susanseifert1

The Native Americans And Early Americans Were Friends

   There has been some erroneous teachings that seem to indicate the our country, the United States of America, was founded upon conquest. But that just isn't true.

   When my children were in school, I took their subjects very seriously. We learned together about math and science. We learned literature, and we even learned about History. We learned how the Pilgrims got along with the Indians. They were friends with the Indians. Think about the story of Squanto, and also of Samoset. They were Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims, and the Pilgrims in turn, became their friends. I believe it was Samoset who secretly learned how to speak English by watching how the Pilgrims interacted with each other. He surprised them one day by greeting them in their own language! The Pilgrims also invited the Indians to the first Thanksgiving feast in America, which lasted for a couple of days.

  One of my favorite people in History was David Brainerd. He was an early American who lived among the Native American people. He truly loved them and he ministered the Gospel to them, in their own language. I believe David Brainerd was going to marry one of Jonathan Edwards' daughters, but he died of tuberculosis when in his late 20s. He died while he was praying for the Indians who were his friends.

Roger Williams* strongly disapproved of those who were trying to confiscate land from the Indians. He believed in fairness in how the Indians were being treated.

  Our country was founded upon those who feared the Lord and respected life, even the lives of the Indians. Yet, we have to keep in mind that although the Pilgrims came over here peacefully, the Puritans came over here peacefully, and many others did as well, along with them came the Adventurers, who were looking for gold and wealth. Many of these people were ruthless people who lived crude lives, and didn't regard the lives of others. But they were not the ones who established our country. The ones who established our country had good work ethics. They were fair. They worked hard and built communities. The Adventurers did not do so. Yet, the Adventurers were the ones who brought crime with them and carried out evil deeds against people.

    I remember reading in a Johnny Appleseed book about such a man. A slave had run away from his home, and wanted safety. If the slave got caught, his owner was going to rip his tongue out. The slave did get caught and I guess he had to bear the punishment. That does not represent the hearts of those who founded our country. Slave owners like that one should not be allowed to live.

   So, the point of what I am writing is this; America was not founded upon conquest. America was founded by people who worked hard to build healthy, strong communities. Other people lived among them as well, who did harm to other people, but they were not the ones who established America. Early Americans did not conquer the Native Americans and steal their land. Many of the Native Americans sold the land to the early Americans at a cheap price. Not all Native Americans trusted the early Americans either. Some of them were ready to fight at a moment's notice.

   When learning about the Pilgrims, a story I remember was one of where they found the Indians food in a tent. They stole it and ate it. Then they felt bad because of what they did, and they tried to make restoration for it.

    Yes, America became a great nation and was founded upon good principles. Many would lie and teach that America was founded by those who stole from the Indians. That is not true, and I would challenge anyone who thinks so, to go back to some old History books and read them. Some of the newer ones have been revised with the intention of rewriting History.


*http://www.history.com/topics/roger-williams
Note: In early America, 'separation of church and state' had primarily to do with what happened while the Pilgrims and other groups who migrated to America lived in England. They were under the rule of a king who legally had the right to run the church. The king was not a true believer in Jesus Christ, yet, he was the one to make the rules and call the shots when it came to the church. That was the main reason why many came over to America. They did not want to have a church run by a king. That is how 'separation of church and state' came into existence. Separation of church and state does not mean that religion cannot be in the government. It simply means that the government cannot rule the church. That is why separation of church and state is important.

He Is Risen!

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”  And they remembered his words,  and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Recorded in the Holy Scriptures in the book of Luke, chapter 24, verses 1-12 English Standard Verseion.

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman - Missionaries in Early America

Today, I want to share the story of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. Both Marcus and Narcissa were born in New York State in the early 1800s. Marcus studied to be a doctor, and Narcissa helped out at home with her many siblings.

   At age 11, Narcissa has a conversion experience and at some point later in her life, she wanted to be a missionary. Marcus also wanted to be a missionary, as well. Narcissa wanted to be a missionary, but the missions board did not allow single women to be sent off as Missionaries. It was at this time that Marcus and Narcissa met, and both had the same vision to be missionaries, so, two weeks later, they were married.

   They ended up at Waiilatpu in Oregon, starting their new life together as missionaries. Those who were living there were the Cayuse Indians, and they were the ones whom the Whitmans served, at least during that time.

  Narcissa had a baby girl, but the life of this little girl was short, for she drowned in the Walla Walla River at the age of 2. After this, Narcissa stayed more to herself and continued to write letters to her family back home.

   The Whitmans took in the children of a family who lost their parents. At this time, many white people were coming also to live in this area. Unfortunately, the white people brought diseases with them, such as the measles. The Whitmans seemed to be resistant to the measles, so they helped the Indians who were suffering and dying. But the Cayuse Indians were suspicious of them because they were not getting sick. They may have assumed that the Whitmans were really trying to kill them, and as a result, the Whitmans were killed by the Cayuse. Both Marcus and Narcissa's lives ended in 1847 at the hands of the Indians they were trying to help.

Sources:
http://www.nps.gov/whmi/historyculture/narcissa-biography.htm
http://www.whitman.edu/alumni/be-connected/whitman-traditions/marcus-and-narcissa-whitman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Whitman