Muddy Spirits and No Magic Water

by Allen Kinchen

Today I went to watch some of my Choctaw friends get dipped into the river by the white man .. Afterwards they fed us very good food and they sang their songs.. They have been very nice to us when we visit them .. I go for the food , it is different , but tastes good ....

----------I have learned the white men and women have their God they call Jesus .... They want us to forget our ways and learn about Jesus .. They say the dip in the river will make us different and we will not be bad no more .... I watched to see if there was any difference when my friends were dipped in the river .. I saw none , they were just wet. They say their God is over everybody , even us Choctaw ... They say that their God has a son and a spirit..

-----------They say our spirits are not real, but only their spirits are real .. They say we have too many spirits who can do nothing , and that their spirit can do everything..

----------- I laughed but I still ate their food ... I asked if they hated us , they said no .. I asked why did they kill so many Choctaw , they said they did not , but I know of at least one man among them who killed Choctaw ..

-------I pointed to him but he said now he is different . He said he was washed by the Magic in the water ,,and .. That he was not bad no more . I laughed at what he said ,, I knew he was lying .. He looked angry at me , he turned almost as red as me ...

------------I asked if any of them has ever seen their God , they said no .. I asked if any of them ever seen their spirit ,, they said no .. I asked if any of them ever seen the son ,, they said no .. I asked what can their God do for them .... They said their God can do everything ... I asked is their God good .. They said yes he is perfect .. I said why doesn't their God ever talk to them .. They said their God talks to them through their heart and minds ...

------------I said it is just like our Gods , they talk to us through our hearts and minds .. And the spirits shows us things through animals .....

------------- They said animals do not show them anything , that they have power over all animals and animals have no spirits .. I told them how stupid they were for not listening to animals .. Then they looked angry some more ,, but I ate their food anyway ..

--------------I knew they were trying to trick me , our Chief Moshulatubbe had warned us about them .... I know if we do what they say and listen to them then they will control us ... I said , why do we need to do as you say .. They said , because only their God will let us into their heaven ... I said maybe we don't want to go to your heaven ... Maybe Choctaw have their own heaven or place to go when we die .. They said their is only one heaven , but only they can go to it .. No one else .. I said what a terrible God , to only allow them to come into heaven . I knew they were lying ..

------------ I said why did they take all of the Choctaw land .. They said it was not them who did it , but also we had no papers to prove it was our land, .. I said , papers can lie , papers mean nothing , papers can be evil .... they said it is the way of the white man .... I said the ways of the white men are evil . To take something because of a paper ...

------------I asked if your God is good , why does he allow this to happen to the Choctaw . They said they are not the evil ones who do this .. It is those with no God who does this .... I said one day some whites have a God , other days they don't .. How can this be so ... I told them I did not believe their God was good ... They said their could only be one God over everyone,, white men , black men, or Indians .. I said I see some of those people here who own slaves.. So who does the slaves have for a God ?? They said the same God as everyone else .. I said how can they keep people as slaves and worship the same God.. Then they began to get mad , because several of them had slaves ... I said Their spirits are muddy , dirty spirits with bloody hands .... They said their waters are Magic to wash away all wrong .. I said how can you wash away all wrong by dipping into the river ... they said it is their way .. ---- I said Muddy Spirits , and No Magic Water and I left them ..