Losing our history
05/05/22 01:39
In 1607, English settlers established a colony on a small island near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The called the tidal river that flowed by their chosen site the James River and they named their settlement Jamestown. The settlers chose the site because the river offered protection from attack as well as safe harbor for ships. In those days, rivers were vital avenues of communication as well. According to most historians Jamestown was the first successful English colony in North America. It has been described as the birthplace of democracy in America. It was the site where, in 1619, before the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony, the first General Assembly was held, basing government on the rule of law and individual freedoms.
That version of history ignores the democratic principles already at play in indigenous communities. And, when I was a student, little was said in our lessons about Jamestown about relationships with the Powhatan people, which was complex and often violent. It is also true that a few months after that first General Assembly a ship arrived at Jamestown carrying captives from Angola, establishing slavery in the colony.
There are many things about early settlements that have remained hidden from the formal histories we teach. That is a reason why preservation of the sites, careful archaeological excavation, and continuing research is essential to learning the truth of our history. In 2013, archaeologists excavating the site of the original fort at Jamestown discovered evidence of cannibalism during the brutal winter of 1609-10, known as the Starving Time. The search for the truth of our history is on-going.
However, that search is now being threatened by the river that was the reason those colonists chose the site for Jamestown. The tides on the James River are becoming higher and more damaging. The water table is rising. Storms are more frequent and more severe when they come. Dangerous flooding is common, occurring several times each year. The Jamestown site is often closed to the public for safety reasons.
According to Katherine Malone-France, chief preservation officer at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “there is basically a five-year window at Jamestown.” Waiting ten or fifteen years will mean the permanent loss of irreplaceable historical evidence. The Jamestown site has been placed on the list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places. The danger that threatens the survival of the Jamestown site is climate change. “There are multiple challenges and they’re all related to climate change,” says James Horn, president of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation. “Essentially, we can’t get rid of the water.”
Once, when discussing the threat of nuclear war in a classroom, a teacher commented that the destruction of our planet and the loss of all human life would do more than cause human extinction. “All humans die,” he said. “But until now, the history has been maintained. We have kept records and told stories. The threat of nuclear destruction is more than the threat of human death. It is the threat of the loss of all memory - the loss of the stories we have kept sacred for thousands of years.
Although we have lived with the threat of nuclear war for all of our lives, our awareness of the global climate crisis is somewhat more recent. For most of our lives we have lived as if our expanding consumption of the earth’s resources could somehow continue. We have only recently begun to understand that our behavior, including the rapid consumption of fossil fuels, threatens the survival of human life on this planet. And now we are learning that this threat is not somewhere off in the future. Experts are telling us that the challenge is present right now. We may lose our opportunity to learn more of the truth of early European settlements on our planet if we don’t act right now.
Work to repair the 100-year-old sea wall at Jamestown is expected to start soon. Plans are being developed to overhaul the drainage system and install protective berms with pumps to lower water levels. These projects will cost tens of millions of dollars and the funding is not in place. It is likely that a good portion of the fort and surrounding area will be underwater within 35 years.
We are losing our history. We are losing our capacity to learn the truth of our past. Our story is being erased before our eyes.
It isn’t just one site, though Jamestown is particularly important because of its ability to teach us about the multi-layered and conflicting stories of how settlers came to this continent. If we lose access to ongoing archaeological research at the Jamestown site, we lose an important opportunity to learn the truth about our history.
When we read the biblical prophets, we discover that there was a turning point in their narrative. In the beginning of the books of the prophets, they are warning of coming disaster for Israel. Disobedience of God’s laws; failure to establish justice for widows, immigrants and children; and the consolidation of wealth, resources, and information are cited as the reason that the people face disaster. At some point in the narrative, however, the predictions of doom are replaced with descriptions of the actual destruction. Prophets are no longer warning about the future, but rather describing the present.
We are at such a turning point in the history of humans on this planet. Scientists have been warning us of catastrophe that will result from human-caused climate change. Now those disasters are no longer in the future. Rising sea levels, increased desertification, and more powerful storms are already upon us. We feel the heat in the summer and breathe the smoke from fires. We wade in the flood waters and witness the erosion of the land and the melting of the glaciers. Climate change is no longer our future. It is now our present. We are losing our history right now.
It remains to be seen whether or not the story of human habitation will continue on this planet. The choices we make right now have great impact the outcome. May we, like the people of old, listen carefully to the prophets and heed their warnings.
That version of history ignores the democratic principles already at play in indigenous communities. And, when I was a student, little was said in our lessons about Jamestown about relationships with the Powhatan people, which was complex and often violent. It is also true that a few months after that first General Assembly a ship arrived at Jamestown carrying captives from Angola, establishing slavery in the colony.
There are many things about early settlements that have remained hidden from the formal histories we teach. That is a reason why preservation of the sites, careful archaeological excavation, and continuing research is essential to learning the truth of our history. In 2013, archaeologists excavating the site of the original fort at Jamestown discovered evidence of cannibalism during the brutal winter of 1609-10, known as the Starving Time. The search for the truth of our history is on-going.
However, that search is now being threatened by the river that was the reason those colonists chose the site for Jamestown. The tides on the James River are becoming higher and more damaging. The water table is rising. Storms are more frequent and more severe when they come. Dangerous flooding is common, occurring several times each year. The Jamestown site is often closed to the public for safety reasons.
According to Katherine Malone-France, chief preservation officer at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, “there is basically a five-year window at Jamestown.” Waiting ten or fifteen years will mean the permanent loss of irreplaceable historical evidence. The Jamestown site has been placed on the list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places. The danger that threatens the survival of the Jamestown site is climate change. “There are multiple challenges and they’re all related to climate change,” says James Horn, president of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation. “Essentially, we can’t get rid of the water.”
Once, when discussing the threat of nuclear war in a classroom, a teacher commented that the destruction of our planet and the loss of all human life would do more than cause human extinction. “All humans die,” he said. “But until now, the history has been maintained. We have kept records and told stories. The threat of nuclear destruction is more than the threat of human death. It is the threat of the loss of all memory - the loss of the stories we have kept sacred for thousands of years.
Although we have lived with the threat of nuclear war for all of our lives, our awareness of the global climate crisis is somewhat more recent. For most of our lives we have lived as if our expanding consumption of the earth’s resources could somehow continue. We have only recently begun to understand that our behavior, including the rapid consumption of fossil fuels, threatens the survival of human life on this planet. And now we are learning that this threat is not somewhere off in the future. Experts are telling us that the challenge is present right now. We may lose our opportunity to learn more of the truth of early European settlements on our planet if we don’t act right now.
Work to repair the 100-year-old sea wall at Jamestown is expected to start soon. Plans are being developed to overhaul the drainage system and install protective berms with pumps to lower water levels. These projects will cost tens of millions of dollars and the funding is not in place. It is likely that a good portion of the fort and surrounding area will be underwater within 35 years.
We are losing our history. We are losing our capacity to learn the truth of our past. Our story is being erased before our eyes.
It isn’t just one site, though Jamestown is particularly important because of its ability to teach us about the multi-layered and conflicting stories of how settlers came to this continent. If we lose access to ongoing archaeological research at the Jamestown site, we lose an important opportunity to learn the truth about our history.
When we read the biblical prophets, we discover that there was a turning point in their narrative. In the beginning of the books of the prophets, they are warning of coming disaster for Israel. Disobedience of God’s laws; failure to establish justice for widows, immigrants and children; and the consolidation of wealth, resources, and information are cited as the reason that the people face disaster. At some point in the narrative, however, the predictions of doom are replaced with descriptions of the actual destruction. Prophets are no longer warning about the future, but rather describing the present.
We are at such a turning point in the history of humans on this planet. Scientists have been warning us of catastrophe that will result from human-caused climate change. Now those disasters are no longer in the future. Rising sea levels, increased desertification, and more powerful storms are already upon us. We feel the heat in the summer and breathe the smoke from fires. We wade in the flood waters and witness the erosion of the land and the melting of the glaciers. Climate change is no longer our future. It is now our present. We are losing our history right now.
It remains to be seen whether or not the story of human habitation will continue on this planet. The choices we make right now have great impact the outcome. May we, like the people of old, listen carefully to the prophets and heed their warnings.
