Wednesday, December 2, 2009

how the French and Indian War affected a Lenape's life

I was walking but I didn’t know where I was going. This place seemed both strange and acquainted. In a distance, I could see a house. It’s my old house, where I lived before being pushed here , Pennsylvania . I ran to the house, as fast as I could. When I almost arrived, I saw my father. He was standing in front of the house and waving his hands toward me. I was extremely flabbergasted. I tried to slow down to think because he had died not that long ago. Who was standing there ? Why am I here ? Is this real or just a dream ?
Suddenly, I open my eyes and glance around. I’m still lying on the bed in my room. It happened that everything was just a dream. “Yes, of course it was a dream”, I tell myself. How could I see my father again when he was killed ? The dream is so different from what my real life is now. I sigh and try to recall all the things happened.
I was a girl born in an average family of a Lenape tribe and grew up like other children in New York. Although my nation was taken over by European colonists, I didn’t think that it would change my life. I was young to think of the colonists’ conspiracy, which they would do in the future. What had been supposed to happen finally happened, they ended up converting us to their God and trading with us. This state of being didn’t last long. Everything has changed since the Treaty of Easton, which was signed between the Lenape and the English in October 1758. We, the Lenape, moved westward as the English took our eastern land. I didn’t feel happy about this because I had to leave the land that I was born on and had good memories about. Nevertheless, I had no choice.
My life moved to a new page when I comed to this new land. My tribe was not peaceful anymore. The elders tried to share the land with the British colonists but they were not thankful for that. In the contrast, they always attacked us. I thought that was because some of the Lenape allied with the French, the enemy of British. However, we were just innocent normal people, why didn’t they leave us alone? My village usually lived in fearness. Everytime we heard a strange noise like many people were coming,we ran to find a place in order to hide. One time, my family were eating when the British suddenly showed up and attacked our village. Because of protecting my mother, my siblings and myself, my father was killed. I fell into the bottom of suffering. With us, his death was a big loss. I still can’t believe that the people who had converted us into their sacred God killed my beloved father.
The British are still destroying my village. I’m wondering when their attacks will be stopped. Maybe until the War ends. And in fact, the English is gaining the upper hand: they recaptured Fort Duquesne, captured the French island in Caribbean, took Fort Niagara,etc.. However, we really don’t care if they win or not, just hope that the peace will come back as soon as possible. We are getting more and more tired of them. In addition, the number of death villagers is also increasing. I don’t know where my life is going to. It is such an impasse !
If I was allowed to rename this French and Indian War, I would name it “ The Meaningless War”. To many Lenape and myself, the War didn’t bring us any benefit. Conversely, it took my father and innocent villagers away and made many people become homeless.

No comments:

Post a Comment