We Were Not the Savages is a history of the near demise, from a Mi’kmaq perspective, of ancient democratic North American First Nations, caused by the European invasion of the Americas, with special focus on the Mi’kmaq. Although other European Nations, Spain for instance, were in on the slaughter this history relates in detail the actions of only one, Great Britain.
In Great Britain’s case it isn’t hard to prove culpability because British colonial officials, while representing the Crown, recorded in minute detail the horrors they committed. When reading the records left behind by these individuals one gets the impression that they were proud of the barbarous crimes against humanity that they were committing while they were, using brute force, appropriating the properties of sovereign First Nations Peoples. From my knowledge of what they did I can, without fear of contradiction from men and women of good conscience, use uncivilized savagery to describe it.
The following are some of the methods they used to cleanse the land of its rightful owners: Bounties for human scalps, including women and children, out and out massacres, starvation and germ warfare. These cruel British methods of destruction were so effective that the British came close to realizing their cleansing goal. All North American civilizations under their occupation were badly damaged, many eliminated, and close to 95% of the people exterminated. http://www.danielnpaul.com/WeWereNotTheSavages-Mi'kmaqHistory.html

Posted by: Terry | Jun 6 2016 14:27 utc | 4

“My conscious won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America. And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, raped and killed my mother and father. Well, shoot them for what? I am not gonna shoot them. They are little poor black people, little babies and children, women. … Why don’t you just take me to jail.”
Muhammad Ali on the Vietnam War (vid)

So beautiful and gripping, straight to the point.
I was just reading other quotes by Muhammad Ali earlier today, he was a very smart guy.

Posted by: Harry | Jun 6 2016 14:50 utc | 6

Thanks b.
Ali, sentenced to jail for “draft evasion” vs GWBush who was never under threat for desertion. Does anyone need better proof that the only part of America that is “exceptional” is white?

Posted by: Bardi | Jun 6 2016 14:59 utc | 8

Ali’s bold and principled statements on the Vietnam War joined those of Martin Luther King, who also presented a principled argument against the war and against the diversion of national resources away from the people to enrich the death industries. King, who was murdered by elements of the US government, has also received the treatment described by Lenin.

Posted by: jayc | Jun 6 2016 16:21 utc | 10

I personally avoided the draft and the Nam by enlisting in the USN for four years. Ali had the balls I did not have. He stood up and lost everything for three and a half years. Attacked by a government with no soul. Ali was not just about being black. Ali was about being a human being. Rest in Peace Mohamed. Your gentle grace and compassion will be missed in a world without compassion and without grace. PEACE

Posted by: ALberto | Jun 6 2016 17:15 utc | 12

Turkish President Erdoğan to attend Muhammad Ali’s funeral
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will attend the funeral of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, to be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Erdoğan will depart from Turkey late on June 8, according to information obtained from Turkish Presidency sources.
He will attend the funeral prayer which will be performed by Imam Zaid Shakir on June 9. Erdoğan will also participate in the commemoration and farewell ceremonies and was asked to speak, family spokesman Bob Gunnell said.

○ Erdoğan sparks outrage again after declaring childless women to be ‘deficient’ | Hürriyet Daily News |
Other gems from Erdoğan …

“Women who refuse maternity are lacking”
“No Muslim family should engage in birth control”

Posted by: Oui | Jun 6 2016 17:34 utc | 14

The Clinton’s want to cultivate the black vote as much as possible. The Clinton’s basically supported the Vietnam war.

Posted by: Edward | Jun 6 2016 18:02 utc | 16

Yep, yahoo but there both good.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sad-day-george-foreman-friend-now-gone-234442217–box.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-the–ali-summit–remains-a-transformational-moment-in-u-s–history-180346704.html
#16 I couldn’t believe he was there but you’re right any shameless thing they can do to finish what bigdog started.

Posted by: jo6pac | Jun 6 2016 18:07 utc | 18

Ali Bomaye! You have just delivered an excrutiatingly exquisite K.O. of an Obituary worthy of The Greatest. I am deeply moved and grateful to be a follow of this blog. Camagu!

Posted by: Odidi Bulelani Mfenyana | Jun 6 2016 18:19 utc | 20

Ali deserves all the praise he gets today, especially for his stand on Viet Nam and the draft.
Younger readers and non-U.S. readers might get the impression that he was admired as much here in the U.S. back in the day. I was to young to care about these issues in 1968, but – speaking from my mostly white, blue-collar Midwestern urban neighborhood, I have to say that I remember a distinctly different and much more negative opinion of him at the time. He always had his admirers, but I wonder how some kind of vote of popularity would have turned out back then.
I don’t bring that up to detract from Ali’s memory, but to emphasize how selective and seemingly schizophrenic the collective memory – at least as evidenced by the mainstream media – the U.S. has always been. It’s disturbing to read all the praise heaped upon him now knowing what (to me) the average Joe Sixpack thought of his outspoken manner, his conversion to Islam and especially his refusal to be drafted in 1968 America. It’s painful to describe it this way, but I would have to say it was a mix of racism and unmitigated loathing at this ‘unpatriotic’ uppity black man. That’s admittedly only an example of one particular segment of American society, but I don’t believe it was that uncommon at the time.
It’s important to realize when you’ve been ignorant, have some remorse about it, learn from it and move on. That’s decidedly different than selective amnesia and historical whitewashing, followed by making the exact same stupid mistakes over and over again as a society. There’a always hope since America can still occasionally choke out another great human like Muhammad Ali – it’s just unfortunate that we seem to be such dimwits at learning anything from them at the time.

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jun 6 2016 18:28 utc | 22

@22 paveway.. i agree with you and like what you’ve articulated there… it could be well summed up in edwards observations @ 16.. folks will ride any horse they think serve their own interests, however they have to do it..
i grew up in canada – born in the 50’s.. i experienced the vietnam fiasco as a 16, 17 year old meeting draft dodgers in vancouver.. these were good people opposed to a war that made no sense to them.. that was my first exposure to us foreign policy bullshit.. unfortunately it hasn’t let up – only taken different forms.. to me ali was a good man back then too.. i admired him for his position.. playing jazz music, i also witnessed a number of prominent jazz musicians convert to islam.. that made sense to me as well.. people need to be allowed to identify however they see it.. i admire anyone who has the balls to take a stand different from the crowd.. as for the clintons – seems like more business as usual, which really pisses me off – and… i don’t live in the usa.. erdogan showing up is more of the same bullshit as i see it.. the guy oversees the murder of innocent people in syria and he wants to honour ali? fuck that shit..
@17 alberto.. i think you are off track with your comment to oui and what they post..

Posted by: james | Jun 6 2016 18:46 utc | 24

So ‘our’ Vietnam pivot, as Zbigie and Kerry would phrase it, is all about peace love and beads and not about a back-up opium supply in the case that Afghanistan goes south on us?
PS – Ali stated that he got the idea for his ‘The Greatest of All Time’ shtick after watching WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Gorgeous George perform his act in Las Vegas. The crowd just ate it up giving Ali the gimmick he needed to help transcend sport.
http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/review-how-pro-wrestler-gorgeous-george-influenced-ali-dylan-brown-and-more/827228

Posted by: ALberto | Jun 6 2016 19:44 utc | 26

@ PavewayIV | Jun 6, 2016 2:28:35 PM | 22
Given memory grows from the aggregate glister of information that reaches our consciousness throughout one’s experience, it is little wonder no two memories are ever exactly alike, even in identical twins. One cannot not concur with your third paragraph, but there were reserved sets that those perceptions did not pertain and afforded M. Ali the benefit of agreement with his stance. Those places were few and far between but still there with their contribution to memories; one such fertile ground happened in the early (1964-68ish) anti-Vietnam War set where Ali was a natural moral alliance and the aspersions inflicted did not adhere to his character. Collective memories tend to be herd-like; individual memories tending to follow the speed and direction of the herd at any given moment – much intake of salt is required.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Jun 6 2016 20:50 utc | 28

1.
I have never been able to find Ali saying “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Congs.” Maybe he said that, maybe he didn’t. I suspect it is a PC euphemism for his actual statement, which shocked the nation on multiple levels: “They never called me ‘nigger.’ ”
2.
Virtually none of these MSM hacks writing about Ali today were there at the time and they don’t know what the fuck they are talking about. For instance, anyone who writes about Ali back in the 60’s and 70’s and who doesn’t even mention Howard Cosell doesn’t have a freaking clue. Unfortunately, his words when written down don’t come close to conveying what he was expressing on camera.
3.
Harry | Jun 6, 2016 10:50:28 AM | 6 “he was a very smart guy.”
Not according to his IQ, which the Army measured as 78. I could not figure out whether his low IQ contributed to his decision to spend his life in the ring, or whether taking so many punches to the head on the way to the top is what lowered his IQ.
But the fascinating thing is, assuming the Army’s assessment of his low IQ is valid, that Ali was so wise, suggesting that wisdom and intelligence are two different things. And that’s illustrated by the whole Cosell thing. This low IQ black guy would face off with the brilliant, Jewish, lawyer-turned-sportscaster, and would hold his own, not in terms of vocabulary but in terms of repartee that went right to the heart of the matter without 6-syllable vocabulary. You had to see it to understand how powerful it was.
More on their dynamic here
4.
ALberto | Jun 6, 2016 1:15:43 PM | 12 – “I personally avoided the draft and the Nam by enlisting in the USN for four years. Ali had the balls I did not have.”
I enlisted on my 18th b’day, humped a radio in a USMC Force Recon team, and was wounded in action. But I feel exactly like you do, ALberto: Ali had the balls I didn’t have. And he had perspective I didn’t have, what with him being lower class black and me being middle class white. And he certainly had more wisdom than I ever had. If only I had heard what he was saying.
When I got to VN, I said “Where’s all the white guys?” Ali was right – it was a white man’s war fought by poor people of color. It was the black guys I hung with in VN quoting Ali that made me realize how the USG had fucked us all, and was fucking the Vietnamese.
There were no easy choices for young American men back then, and I’m not sure there were any right choices given how little we knew about what was going on. But the ones who honestly stood up to the USG and went to prison, like David Harris, have the most respect from me. They were the real heros.
5.
james | Jun 6, 2016 2:46:14 PM | 24 – “i grew up in canada – born in the 50’s.. i experienced the vietnam fiasco as a 16, 17 year old meeting draft dodgers in vancouver..”
I moved to Vancouver a decade ago and I was shocked by how many VN era ex-pats are still here. Guess I shouldn’t have been, given how Jimmy Carter’s amnesty program was pretty much a bust b/c so few ex-pats chose to return to America. I was also impressed by how proud these draft dodgers are at their decision to flee their homes, their families, their country. But almost 60 years later the conversations are still difficult.

Posted by: Denis | Jun 6 2016 21:00 utc | 30

@ALberto
Intent of my post, how can the “people’s champ” have eulogies from representatives of leading nations suppressing the individual rights of it’s citizens. Gaddafi was the people’s champ across Africa to combat the old western colonial powers. See the role played by both Bill Clinton as president and HRC as secretary of state. Her joy at the demise of enemy of the state nr. 1 in 2011. What about Erdogan? Her is a representative of the Muslim Btotherhood and suppresses women’s rights. An ideal pair at the funeral of the champ? It’s a bad sign when the establishment comforts the family of Muhammad Ali …

Posted by: Oui | Jun 6 2016 21:30 utc | 32

Inspiration of the 1960s

The trouble was, in the years before lucrative sponsorship deals, running didn’t pay and few would employ him. In the years immediately following his protest, he worked security at a nightclub and as a janitor. At one point he had to chop up his furniture so he could heat his house. The pressure started to bear down on his family. “When there’s a lack of money, it brings contempt into the family,” he says. Moreover, his wife was facing constant harassment from the press and his children were being told at school that their father was a traitor.
Carlos remains politically engaged. Late last year [2011] he addressed Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York. “It’s the same fight as it was 43 years ago. We fought unemployment; for housing, education. It’s the same thing as people are fighting for today.”
[Source: The man who raised a black power salute at the 1968 Olympic Games]

Posted by: Oui | Jun 6 2016 21:48 utc | 34

@ 22
Growing up in Britain we were lucky that the great BBC boxing commentator Harry Carpenter was one of the first journalists to recognize the genius of Ali. The two men developed a warm personal rapport which came through in all Harry’s commentaries, interviews and in snapshots of happy times they spent together over twenty years. This documentary gives a fascinating glimpse into that friendship and I thank Harry that he taught me so young to appreciate the great man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mHdGjYuxv8

Posted by: Lochearn | Jun 6 2016 22:21 utc | 36

Its appalling that the Clinton(s) will be allowed to even attend the services, much less give a eulogy…Lenin was right (about most things)

Posted by: tSinilats | Jun 6 2016 23:06 utc | 38

@30 denis..
yes, i think that is the case – many draft dodgers made it to the bestcoast and spread themselves around much of bc. making a difficult decision to leave your country based on ethics is something they ought to be proud of too! canada can take all the people they find like this to my mind! they could have been cannon fodder for the military machine, but they decided not to be.. i never thought of them as traitors or anything like that.. the 70’s were a different time and world then today.

Posted by: james | Jun 6 2016 23:43 utc | 40

@41 jen
The Bill and The Hill had “worked to prepare” themselves “for a political life characterized by … practical political ability”. By their fruits we now know them, and Ali, still.
Predictably, Barack Obama tried to get some of the reality of Ali to rub off on himself, while not even mentioning the word ‘Vietnam’, in this the sixth year of his 13-year commemoration of that ‘glorious’ war, which “upheld the highest traditions of our Armed Forces.”

Posted by: jfl | Jun 7 2016 0:09 utc | 42

Ali’s most significant and heroic display of True Humanity was in unambiguously rejecting the selective righteousness and flexible logic of Christianity.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 7 2016 0:47 utc | 44

black on nam
*The draft is white people sending black people to fight yellow people to protect the country they robbed from the red people.*

Posted by: denk | Jun 7 2016 1:30 utc | 46

@47 yeah whatever. I forgot the godforsaken Jews. Too bad Ali never fought in Palestine. Nevertheless I don’t remember him subscribing to pantheism or showing up at wounded knee.
You pretty much made him Jesus Christ himself by your statement. Why not put a sock in it.

Posted by: Nana2007 | Jun 7 2016 2:36 utc | 48

Thanks b. It wasn’t his boxing that made him a great human being.

Posted by: ben | Jun 7 2016 3:12 utc | 50

46
*The draft is white people sending black people to fight yellow people to protect the country they robbed from the red people the interest of war str and the mic.*

Posted by: denk | Jun 7 2016 4:10 utc | 52

Ali showed courage when it would have been easy to get along with the establishment and take care of himself. He gave up his best years, as he was banned from boxing during his prime, for being true to his conscience. Compare that to most contemporary black “leaders” who have sold their people down the river for personal fortune. And they’ll be the ones basking in his glory. And compare that to the Clinton’s who have talked a good game but have ingratiated themselves with the elites by selling working people back to poverty. Of course they’ve made hundreds of millions for themselves. And now Bill gets to share in the glory of Ali and Hill gets her greed and ego satiated by being the establishment candidate for President.
There are no Ali’s anymore. Everyone’s in it for themselves and their fat bank accounts. And the worst are the two-faced black, hispanic and women politicians.

Posted by: ab initio | Jun 7 2016 4:55 utc | 54

I suspect the MIC tipped the balance in favor of passing and enforcing — which took years — the civil rights acts, to ensure Ali’s view wasn’t so widely shared as to jeopardize drafting poor black people into fighting the oligarchs’ wars or to make other societal models look more appealing. — dumbass @ 7.
Neatly stated. From a more ‘economic’ perspective: anti-racist (and other discrimination ..) legislation, which always appears to be ‘late’ and ‘following popular demands / sentiments’ (in this case .. 1964) was enacted to fit with ‘new-er’ economic models, ex. women to work, the tractor killed the slave trade, etc. rather than any genuine considerations re. equality. (Not that these were completely absent..)
Divide-to-rule, divide to create strife (Shia vs. Sunni, Serbs against Croats ..) is applied in some cases and all-equal-in the boiling-frogs-pot in *others.*
To accomplish the double-pronged strategy it was necessary to shift public discourse away from intrinsic characteristics such as ‘race’, ‘skin color’, ‘natural’ sexual genre/orientiation, outlier physical traits like size, looks, handicaps, aka the old ‘eugenics’ — to nebulous criteria like religion, culture, mind-sets, and that can be anything at all. Lodged sneakily, suspiciously, right in the brain!
Which gives the PTB more Orwellian power… And nobody realises it because, hey, I’m lesbian (say) and now ppl can’t bash me for it. Still be attacked (hate crime in a park) and work for tips only. Not to mention the new slavery prison industry (USA) for blacks.
Thx for the quotes from M. Ali. It was great to see them.

Posted by: Noirette | Jun 7 2016 15:54 utc | 56

Mohamed Ali’s refusal to kill and main in the service of government bureaucrats was an illustration of a universal principle that ‘religion is deed not word.”
Beware the serpent!

Posted by: ALberto | Jun 7 2016 18:39 utc | 58

Great set of quotations. The Lenin quotation eliciting the broad historical perspective was a masterstroke.

Posted by: Roger Milbrandt | Jun 7 2016 22:00 utc | 60

ninel @59
No, not even close!

Posted by: okie farmer | Jun 7 2016 23:56 utc | 62

Pay no attention to that racist IQ jive. Who ya gonna believe, the military machine and the psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists on it payroll, all doing their utmost for the criminal war effort, or your own lyin’ ears and eyes?
Posted by: jfl | Jun 6, 2016 7:21:52 PM | 39
Yep. My understanding of the nature of intelligence is that the ability to use deductive reasoning to sort fact from fiction, and thereby arrive at a verifiable conclusion, is a reliable indicator of high-ish intelligence.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 8 2016 2:11 utc | 64

cosell was an obnoxious loud mouth.
he rode ali’s socks to fame and fortune.
i avoided mon night football because of his mouth
he needed ali. ali did not need cosell for anything

Posted by: 5 dancing shlomos | Jun 8 2016 15:14 utc | 66

I was never very interested in professional boxing but have now seen more boxing on TV in the last few days than during the rest of my life. SBS broadcast an Ali doco on Friday (The Trials of Ali), and ABC.au broadcast 3 back to back on Sunday (We Were Kings, Thrilla In Manila, Facing Ali). Although I was always interested in what he had to say during and after his career, in a Trump-ish kind of way, I never fully appreciated, until now, what a world-wide icon he was.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Jun 13 2016 6:03 utc | 68