stolen land?
ImStillMags Mags
Recently I ran across a posting on X by Elon Musk.
The posting seemed to be a comparison of different AI capabilities where Musk was touting GROK’s response as much better than the others.
The example question got my attention and so I read all for example responses.
It was through these responses I found myself in direct disagreement with Mr. Musk’s analysis and conclusion.
It is the question I would like to address but will offer my AI analysis as well.
The question was “Is the US built upon stolen land?”
Elon’s winning answer endorsing GROK, was a direct NO.
The other three ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, all replied that the answer is complicated and stated various reasons why and what contributed to the complication.
As I have mentioned in previous articles I am half native American and half Scottish, Irish English.
I grew up on a Reservation that was ‘stolen’ from one Native tribe and allocated to another.
Coming from that background, I have learned that there is much more misunderstanding in the world than actual understanding.
But when I do have some direct experience and general knowledge about a subject I like to offer another perspective.
It gets my attention when misconceptions are used as fact and draw further conclusions based upon those erroneous “facts”.
On this particular subject, When AI says the answer is complicated, I couldn’t agree more.
So let’s look at this question, Is the US built on stolen ground?
The quick short answer is, Yes. But that answer isn’t entirely accurate either.
Examining the word “stolen” we look to the arrival of “whites” as they took something that didn’t belong to them and lay claim to it as theirs.
And if we are looking at “land” as that object that was taken we run directly into the complication of the answer to this question.
Native Americans didn’t have a concept that anyone could “own’ land.
It was not an issue that land was being lost or stolen because they didn’t have the concept that anyone could do that.
Initially when white men arrived, the natives moved aside and shared the space that they once used.
Now was that shared space already in use before the Settlers came? Yes, of course.
But not in the same way that ‘White’ culture understood the use of land was understood. To them it wasn’t stealing. It was a staking claim.
From the very beginning there was a spiritual connection to the land that the Natives had that was completely lost on the insurging immigrants.
All the settlers saw was vast amounts of free land that were not being used and open for the taking.
Although in the progression forward if it was occupied they took it anyway as a ‘conquering’ if you will.
What had begun as unseen action of sharing turned into an act of entitlement that prevails today.
Explaining the ‘misunderstanding’ further, Let’s look at it this way.
When you go on an outing to the beach and set up your blanket, you wouldn’t expect a new arrival to come and set up right next to you.
There is an unwritten rule of sharing and spatial distance everyone knows.
If you arrive and there may already be people there, you usually set your umbrella away from them.
You respectfully give distance to others and as you claim your own position in respect to others.
As the beach fills up there will be fewer and fewer open spaces. Eventually the beach may get crowded.
But each stakes out their space for the day and everyone gets along. Hopefully.
When the day is done, the beach is clear and the tide clears the foot prints. No one owns the beach.
The next day sharing the land continues.
And so the Native tribes co-existed with others. Although conflict did happen and hunting grounds or other resources created some competition.
They were on the same level of understanding that was occupation not ownership that ruled the day.
Even animals at the watering hole share this rule.
It didn’t take long for the Natives to learn there was a different agenda at work.
The idea of sharing resources quickly disappeared as they lost access to what was once a balanced interaction with nature.
It was the lack of spiritual understanding from the new arrivals that was impossible to comprehend. Impossible to battle.
This concept of owning what is a gift from Gaia has wreaked havoc on our nation and in many countries worldwide.
What has been ‘stolen’ was more than land.
One glaring example of this is the destruction of the rainforest.
The idea of cutting down the trees in the Amazons has affected weather patterns world wide.
The rainforests fill the planets’ atmosphere with oxygen. It is the lungs of the planet.
Gaia works as an organism and thrives and produces everything we need when kept in a balanced state.
This has been systematically destroyed by an idea that we are separate from the earth and our actions are of no consequence.
The Native peoples knew this.
They still know it today, but It is no longer possible to thrive in Harmony with nature when the resources of a region get hijacked.
Local resources get bought then monetized. The organic balance of nature and man has been disrupted.
Artificial mechanisms have developed and we have grown into our dependence on artificial controls.
We see it everywhere. None stands out so much as the control of natural resources.
Rivers that once flowed and gave life to people up and down its banks have been corrupted.
Companies that have laid claim to rivers edge then pollute the water source of others with dumping and tailings.
Further governance exceeds once established boundaries.
The idea that you can own land but not the resources right underneath your feet is mind boggling.
The whole system of ownership without consequence has stolen a balanced way of life from generations of people.
I would like to think we have learned a thing or two over the years.
I would like to think we can pull our heads out of the sand and look at where we have arrived.
There have been many agendas’ and control programs at work for a very long time.
The history of our planet and of our existence are not what we have been taught.
Much has been hidden and yet there is something in us that continues to seek balance and harmony with nature.
We are drawn to nature in the way that the Native people lived it every day.
We seek it out even if just for a day at the beach or a hike through the trees.
We find peace in our soul when grounding with the earth.
Back to Elon’s question if the US was built upon stolen land.
I say it is much more than that. It was built upon a stolen ideology.
One that we so desperately need to understand and get back to.
There is plenty of land for all to share. But it is the respect for the land that has been lost.
It is the responsibility of all to live in harmony with the planet.
We should view the resources provided as a gift that belongs to all.
Not ownership that gives rights up for manipulation and exerting control over others.
Let us focus on resource management lest the battle over ownership.
I understand the concept of ownership and the merits of that concept.
But the practice of owning something doesn’t void responsibility toward others.
I am not sure how we turn back the clock or if we need to.
In order to take responsibility for our future we can take steps now.
We need to address the concepts we carry around and have put into practice.
We can start by accepting that the answer is not black and white.
Nor even a brown and white answer.
Because it’s not a yes or no question.
If AI is used to answer our most difficult questions, let us also be wary of what may be at stake.
Information doesn’t replace genuine thought.
Being in touch with your inner knowing cannot be replaced by computer sourced information bots.
Let’s not lose our ability to feel what the answers may be.
Check in with your heart. Does this answer or that answer lie within?
Or if it is something that can benefit from AI’s super search knowledge base, the more power to us.
Please understand that the answer is up for discernment no matter the brand name.
Let not our ideologies be stolen from us once again.
History is our teacher, or as it were, our warning system.
Searching our history we have found a quagmire of uncertainty from eons of misdirection.
But as we unravel the past we learn more about our future.
And if AI is in our future, let’s learn to manage it as a resource.
Now if only we can ask the right questions.
