Learning from the Past

A Cheyenne peace chief, Lawrence Hart, worked for years to get land set aside as a national historical site where a terrible massacre in the1860's had occurred. This was along the Washita River near Cheyenne, Oklahoma. He testified before the U.S. Congress. The request was turneddown, due in part, he later realized, to the fact that his group had asked for too large of an easement area, objected to by local property owners. Hart also realized they would have a better chance of success if they could come up with private funds to purchase the ground.

Families and survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing then lobbied successfully and appropriately to have the land around the bombed office building set aside for a memorial there. Lawrence Hart was one of many Oklahoma leaders and citizens who helped to read the names of those killed in the explosion at a memorial service.

"The street in front of the building had been closed. And when it came time to open it again, the families of the victims of that bombing objected to it. They did not want that street to be open again ever.They made it known that that ground was special, that they considered it to be sacred geography," said Hart. "That, of course, left an impression on me.I knew what they were talking about." The opportunity came for Hart to petition the U.S. government again to set aside the Washita ground. "In my second testimony to Congress," Hartsaid, "I mentioned the fact again that the Washita site was very special ground for us; that we revered those grounds. And then I made the comparison that our feeling for those grounds was no different than the feeling of the families about the Murrah Federal Office Building site. Of course, Congress, in that context could understand it," said Hart. The land was set aside and is now operated by the National Park Service.

The reason Lawrence Hart worked so hard to have that ground set aside was not just because of this special feeling his people had for the ground, butin order that the stories of his people would continue to be told and notforgotten.

It took the U.S. government over 100 years to finally "get it," and make this small reparation. It took a committed peacemaker (a Cheyenne peacechief is committed to peacemaking methods at all costs) years of working, mediating, and working through the proper channels to achieve a small act of reconciliation.

Terrible acts were committed against each of these groups, just as terrible acts were committed on September 11. The complexities of the ensuing war against terrorism boggle the mind. I don't have space to sort it all out here. I do know this: now is not the time to make sweeping generalizations against groups of people, or to color things in broad strokes. We must continually work to understand the roots of this crisis, to not label each other, and to not be unduly swept away by blind patriotism. Like the survivors of these atrocities, we can learn from each other and move forward, looking for lasting ways to honor the stories and memories of the thousands who have died too soon.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

email this message to a friend   |   DW Home

Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org