PHOTO PROMPT © Jean L. Hays
I’VE SEEN THE SIGNS
When the Europeans came to North America, the natives did not own the land. They felt the concept to be silly. Land was like the air – ever and unending. Groups might squabble about who could live or hunt on some portion of it, but The Great Spirit had put it there for all to share.
The White Man soon taught them about ownership and possession. Corporations and governments, which also didn’t “own” the land, sold chunks of it to groups and individuals. Soon, the walls went up, and then the fences – first stone, then split rail, and finally, wire fences.
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Go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story.
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After the fences came the signs – signs meant “to keep all the other people out, and to keep Mother Nature in.” Click to hear the Five Man Electrical Band decry the restrictive commercialization of our land and society.
Archon's Den 
The idea that anyone can own the land is as absurd as the idea that anyone can own the air
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Sadly, Neil! But it’s the game that those who seize power make us play. 😯
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Power and ownership is addictive and soon the whole land will be ‘conquered’ and native pushed to the brink.
https://ideasolsi65.blogspot.com/2019/05/barbed-fence.html
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I think “soon” can only be seen in the rear-view mirror. 😦
Thanx for stopping by.
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I thought this was supposed to be flash fiction? No fiction here. Nothing to see here folks, move along…
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The facts are…. that I couldn’t think of any “Fiction” to fit the photo, so I decided to do a little historical/sociological comment.
You shoulda been here when I did my Led Zeppelin jab – Stairway To Senility. 😯 😆 😎
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I’ll check it! Thanks AD. Good to see you.
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What you have written is partially true. The Native Americans did a lot more than “squabble” over what they considered their own lands. They were incredibly creative in the cruelty dealt out to the conquered tribes, and blood was shed in copious amounts as one tribe pushed another out of one area to a less desirable one.
The nature of mankind is universally the same. Always, all through history, there are the conquered and the conquerors.
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I was being diplomatic – and desperately counting words – when I used that one. In my neck of the woods, Algonquins drove out the Hurons, and the Hurons drove out the Eries – and too many people with ‘White Man’s Guilt’ still believe in the “kind, gentle, wardens of Nature” myth. 😯
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Yes, and it IS a myth. There was plenty of war, bloodshed, disease and misery long before Europeans stepped foot on the shores of the “new world.”
I appreciate your explanation. I grew up for a time in Minnesota, where the Sioux and the Chippewa chased each other, fought, and massacred each other–so I understand exactly what you’re talking about.
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😀
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No one owns the land: it will still endure after everyone has gone.
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It will indeed.
Have you ever seen George Carlin’s comedy bit about ‘Stuff??’ 😕
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Not yet, but will look it up.
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Well said. And then, came the wire cutters… chop!
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