Let those who have eyes -see, Let those who have ears -hear! A thousand pardons to my Native American brethren.
Shock’n’Awe was the fierce chief of the 99% tribe. These people were hunters and gatherers but were having a hard time of it due to an unseasonably hot summer followed by an extremely cold winter. Shock’n’Awe was a greedy man and tried to devise a way in which he and his friends could continue to do well in these trying times. At last he hit upon a plan.
Shock’n’Awe told his people that the god of Peace and Prosperity wished to help them in their time of need. But, in return, this god required nothing less than 25% of their bounty for the year. Hearing this, the people were fearful that their families would not have enough for the cold winter months to come but were reassured that this god would not abandon them in their time of need.
A handful of warriors went through the villages, collecting offerings and chased those few who refused to pay out of the camps and into the wilderness. The rest gave diligently, until one day a small boy, Red Feather, happened on a late night gathering of Shock’n’Awe and his warriors.
In the light of a great bonfire the men danced and gave praise to their leader for providing them with all that they needed without contributing anything themselves. Indeed, they would eat and drink their fill, chanting war songs and planning battles against other nations they wished to invade, bringing even more wealth to the chosen few.
The boy told his family of the gathering and they forbade him from speaking his words, in fear of angering the gods. When winter came many were cold and hungry and they begged their chief for provisions from the surplus. Shock’n’Awe rebuked them for misusing what they had gained from their daily toil. Many of the weak and elderly died during that season.
In the mean time, the warriors went out and destroyed many peaceful nations, conquering them and pillaging their wealth. Of course these profits could only be shared amongst the most deserving warriors. The 99% tribe continued to do whatever it could, just to get by season after season. At the beginning of the next hunting cycle Shock’n’Awe repeated his demand that the people pay homage to the god of Peace and Prosperity, thereby demonstrating that they would remain loyal and trusting.
Hearing this, the people grew restless and a handful of elders challenged the chief and his warriors. They were secretly killed and their bodies were taken into the hills to be left for the coyotes to devour. The people were told that the elders had angered the gods and were banished from this world for their lack of belief. The villagers were fearful and resigned themselves to their yearly sacrifice.
On yet another warm evening, young Red Feather noticed that several of the warriors were leaving camp. Cautiously he followed them until he saw a great bonfire at the edge of the moon-bathed woods. Shock’n’Awe and his men danced around the fire, howling to the moon and boasting of their ability to take what they wanted from anyone anywhere. The boy ran home, determined to share this news.
When he spoke to his parents the next morning, again, in great anguish, they urged him to keep quiet about his observations, fearing the wrath of the gods. They told themselves that these warriors only represented them and their best interests.
As the years went by the old warriors grew fat and lazy, rounding up poor young boys and forcing them to fight their battles in faraway lands. Red Feather was taken at the age of 18 years and given a knife, a spear, and a tomahawk, all of which were shiny and new. He was told that the villagers from all over his nation wished him to do well in battle and that they had given of themselves to provide him with the best weapons. Red Feather wondered at this, knowing how poor the people really were.
Between battles he visited his family and thanked them for the fine weapons he had received but they knew nothing of these things. Again he was sent out to do battle against distant tribes.
Meanwhile, his father went to the remaining elders and questioned them about their forced contributions, saying it was not their intent to provide only for those who made war on others. It was decided that enough had been given to the god of Peace and Prosperity and that if anything were to be given it would go towards educating the young to live in harmony with the land, securing only what they needed to survive.
When Red Feather returned from battle he was told, along with all of the other young warriors, that the god of Peace and Prosperity had been angered and would not be appeased until all disbelievers were killed or banished from the tribe.
Shock’n’Awe stood on a bluff overlooking them and commanded their attention. “These non-believers, he ranted, “will be the undoing of all things good. They are as poison to the blood of the nation. Only a great and powerful chief would know these things.” The warriors were then ordered to move through every village and kill or drive off those who would stand against them.
By now, the young man realized that the warriors would go hungry without the offerings of the 99% tribe and their weapons would not be replaced if lost in battle. And, if he chose to defy his leader, he too would fall victim to the weeding out of the non-believers, or worse yet, become one of the peoples who barely made a living from the land.
Despite his reluctance, Red Feather joined in the raids on the villages of his tribe, being told who to round up, and who to kill. The deaths of his people sickened him but he was torn between disobeying his chief and going against the will of the gods. He knew nothing about defending the rights of the people to choose their own destiny.
On the second moon of the sweep for protesters, Red Feather was ordered into his old village. His mother, father, and sister stood in defiance of the demands being made of them. Red Feather stood in silence as they were killed.
In the year that followed there was a noticeable reduction in the rations of the young warriors. Weapons were becoming old and were seldom replaced. The tribe, as a whole was struggling just to get through another horribly cold winter. Many of the elders were dead and therefore were unable to teach the young how to hunt or forage for nutritious food. Shock’n’Awe had become an old man and spent most of his time in his teepee, being waited on by young women slaves from conquered tribes. He and his council had become fat and lazy with little regard for the well-being of the tribe or their defense.
Ten moons later Red Feather was told to gear up for a battle against a new army of invaders, an evil empire of non-believers coming from the east. These people had white faces and their sticks shot out flames that killed from a great distance. They would have no mercy for a nation of ruthless invaders.
A thousand young warriors took up the fight, believing their cause to be a just one. The god of Peace and Prosperity would surely be on their side. The army of Shock’n’Awe, however, was soon decimated. Most of the young braves were either killed or enslaved and the tribe was driven from its land.
There seems to be a noticeable paucity of women and children in this 'warfare' ... the 'peaceful' tribes of the Algonquian Confederation could never go to war without the council of women elders' approval. Whenever more than half of any population is ignored, the future is bleak. We let 'educators' teach us that individualism is 'survival of the fittest' but cooperation reigns. Democracy (small d) being the way of nature, all war is war against children. Of course, your version is the way of historical warfare. Legend often speaks to a lost, more advanced and idyllic time.
Yes, some interesting moral dilemmas presented here. There also is the parallel to our time and our commander-in-chief's propensity to go to war and use the naďve young to do the fighting. We are also “killing” some of our best elders by forcing them into early retirement.
Two things were out of place. To “tithe" means to give 10%. Red Feather would be very unlikely to hunt in the night, except perhaps, during a full moon. However, if he was a warrior seeking to kill his enemy, he would strike at night when they were sleeping.
