by Jack
Let’s say my ancestors once lived in a cave and outside the cave was a huge volcano. Every now and then the volcano would erupt, spewing lava and doing what volcanos normally do. But, back then a volcano was the scariest thing around. My ancestors had no concept of what caused it to erupt because, well, they lived in a cave…what could you expect? They knew almost nothing about how the world or much of anything for that matter.
Because of fear from this powerful force, they finally came upon an idea, they would make a deal with the volcano. The Chief went to the witchdoctor and together they reasoned, maybe if we offered it some fish or some nice colored rocks or something it would like us and not throw lava at us? Logic said, we would like those things and so the volcano would probably like them too.
And it worked! From 3508 BC through 3479 BC the volcano was quiet. And guess what? A scientific theory on how to control volcanos came to be!
But, in late 3479 it started to rumble again and the people were once again afraid. The tribes witchdoctor thought, maybe fish, grains and colored rocks were not enough? So, improved offerings, trial and error, and a few more eruption, the offerings were up to human sacrifices! Ah, finally they found just the right combination, it was 23 maidens to be tossed into the volcano along with 500 pounds of dried fish, 6 really good songs and some drum beating once every year. The volcano was quiet and under control once again!
Over the course of centuries the volcano evolved into being a sacred volcano with lots of good stories to be taught each generation. Oh, and there were rules about how to treat the sacred volcano during the non-sacrificing season! The locals were comforted by the fact the volcano now sleep peacefully. Over time the human sacrifices slowed to a stop.
The people erected a sacred totem next to a sacred path that led to the top of the sacred volcano… rim. And all along the way there were sacred rest stops and sacred places to urinate and poop. All to be done according to tribal law and following the sacred rules as determined by their best scientist, the Witchdoctor/ He was now looked upon as a sacred witchdoctor and he who wore lots of sacred things to let everyone know how sacred he was, but I digress.
Eons passed and other people arrived to share their knowledge with my ancestors. Some of it was good, some not, but things began to change. Change sacred people and the locals had clashes with the new arrivals, but the new arrivals were clever and they carried guns which somehow defeated the sacred warriors with sacred clubs.
Churches were built, schools were built and soon came shopping centers too.
The sacred volcano just sat there watching all this unfold. The sacred path was paved with asphalt, so hikers could reach the top easier. The rest stops had outhouses maintained by Parks and Rec. A highway allowed lots of tourists to visit in rental cars. Then somebody thought it would be a good idea to build an observatory on top of the volcano because the air up there was so perfect.
Why not? The volcano deemed dormant. It had not erupted for over 2000 years and there was no good reason why a great observatory should not be put up there to explore the night sky and add to our knowledge, except for one thing. This was a sacred Volcano, did you forget? So the locals reasoned that since the Goddess of their Imabitkookoo tribe lived inside the volcano, she might be offended if a telescope was built next to her domain.
And so it was that the graduates from many colleges and other wise and learned people joined with the Imabitkookoo tribe and protested the construction. They blocked development in every way they could and this got a lot of media attention. People from New York came to help them protest and they all sang songs and hugged and just felt so good about honoring and respecting the ancient beliefs of the Imabitkookoo tribe.
Now maybe you are thinking, this sure sounds a lot like what’s happening in Hawaii? No, if you thought that, you would be wrong. This is just a made up story and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact my two kids are over there protesting with a bunch of Hawaiians to stop the building of an observatory. That would be purely coincidental. Doesn’t bother me one bit if they are. Nope… not one bit. Real proud of them. Smart girls they are, real credit to the family. Yup… noooo doubt about it.