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| Image Borrowed from the Book of Common Prayer |
On January 24, 1848, James Marshall discovered gold in the American River, setting off the California Gold Rush. Prior to the discovery of this precious metal, 150,000 Native Americans lived in California. White settles in search of gold brought with them genocide through both disease and violence. In 1851, the California state government endorsed the extermination of Native people. Offering five dollars per head in some places, they invested a total of a million dollars in the systemic murder of men, women, and children. By 1870, only and estimated 31,000 California Natives had survived.
Lord have mercy....
I grew up in California.
I never knew this about my history. They never taught this in any history books that I read.
Lord, forgive our land. Forgive our history for the way we treated a people just because they were different, because we did not understand, because we were more concerned for profit than we were for what's right and decent.
Lord, I can't help but wonder what future generations of people will say of us in how we treat others.
Forgive us...
Lord have mercy...
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