Warriors and Weapons
by David A. Yeagley
FrontPageMagazine.com | January 26, 2001
URL: http://www.frontpagemag.com/columnists/yeagley/2001/dy01-26-01p.htm

A YEAR AGO, I had a religious experience. No, I didn’t speak in tongues.
I
didn’t see an apparition of Mary. And even though I’m Comanche Indian, I
didn’t commune with my ancestors or hear the eagles talk.

All I did was watch a TV infomercial produced by the National Rifle
Association (NRA).

There I was, sitting in my easy chair, eating chicken soup and watching
television. Suddenly, I saw an immense pile of guns, thousands of them,
being
bulldozed into a metal crusher.

The narrator explained. These weapons had been confiscated from
law-abiding
citizens, and were being destroyed. The government had first required
the
people to register their firearms, and promised that no confiscation
would
ever occur. Then the government broke its promise.
According to the voice-over, this happened in Australia, England, and
Canada.
The United States was next in line. On the screen appeared distraught
gun
owners, one after another. “They said they would never do this, but they
did
it! Don’t let this happen to you!” they warned Americans.

We Comanches don?t usually admit to being scared. But I was terrified.I
had a
sense that I was losing America (and, as an Indian, it wouldn?t be the
first
time).

I guess I?d always known, in the back of my mind, that there were people
out
there trying to take our guns. But those faces on TV drove the point
home
like nothing else had. They were the faces of a people betrayed.

Long ago, the government took away the Indian’s weapons and put him on
reservations. That is history. Indians know all about broken promises.

But why would the White Man betray himself? Why would the U.S.
government
take the weapons away from its own good citizens?

They say they?re trying to stop crime. But the more gun laws they pass,
the
more crime we get. A hundred years ago, we didn?t have gun laws and we
didn?t have much crime either.

In his book, More Guns, Less Crime, Yale Law School economist John Lott
shows
that, across the United States, over an 18-year period, “states
experiencing
the greatest reductions in crime are also the ones with the fastest
growing
percentages of gun ownership.”

So why does the government keep pushing gun control?

The warrior in me knows. He who takes my bow is not my friend. He who
takes
away my ability to defend myself is my enemy.

If the government takes our guns, it?s not because they are trying to
help
us. It?s because they are trying to control us.

Since my “religious experience” of watching that documentary, I?ve found
myself wondering why Indians have not played a bigger role in the gun
rights
debate.

Weapons are an integral part of our culture. In Indian country, it?s
taken
for granted that everyone shoots and hunts. Perhaps the use of arms is
so
fundamental to us that we don?t even think of it as a right that can be
lost.

Recently, I visited Indian friends of the Salish-Kootenay Reservation in
Montana. It was a few days before a funeral. Extra food was needed for
the
mourners. “I’ve got to go get a deer,” my friend Terry said, as simply
as
most Americans would say “I’ve got to go to the store.”

Among Indians, the weapon is a symbol of honor. In Comanche tradition,
the
young man grew up with the bow. Its mastery was a test of manhood. The
relationship of man and weapon was intimate and lifelong.

Every Comanche learned to fight and hunt. If you weren?t waging war, you
were
preparing for war. It was the duty of every member of the tribe to be
ready,
just in case.

In modern America, women seem to have turned against their own men over
the
gun issue, judging by the polls and the Million Mom March.

Indian women have a different mindset. It was the women who taught
Comanche
boys how to use their weapons. Long before anyone ever heard of Xena the
Warrior Princess, a woman called the “adiva,” or governess ran the
Comanche
training camps.

Americans nowadays seem to be forgetting what it means to be a warrior.
They
don?t value preparedness. They think the government will always be there
to
defend them from enemies and criminals.

But that?s not the Indian way. That?s not the way of a man.

I?m glad the NRA is out there spreading this message. It has earned this
Indian?s blessing for helping to keep the warrior spirit alive.

To show support for adding Dr. Yeagleys patriotism course to the
Oklahoma
public school curriculum, contact:

Governor
(***********)

E-mail Dr. David A. Yeagley:
(*************)

Dr. David A. Yeagley teaches humanities and psychology at Oklahoma State
University, Oklahoma City. His opinions are independent. He holds
degrees
from Yale, Emory, Oberlin, University of Arizona and University of
Hartford.
He is a member of the Comanche Tribe, Lawton, OK. E-mail him at (*********)

******** let me know if you wanthis contact info ….