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The history of Indigenous contact should be taught differently in light of the absence of written documentation. It should be done with logic, reasoning, and science of course. The way American society has been taught the history of the world has been intentionally fractured since the start of the 1900’s. Creation is what America was originally taught of human beginnings prior to this. Here, I still highlight the "pagan" acts and traditions of cannibalism as something that needs to be brought to light--given the lack of awareness to the very real cultural divide.

“It begins when the Flood subsides. Noah plants a vineyard, makes wine, and falls into a stupor in his tent. Ham . . . sees his father's nakedness and tells his two brothers what has happened.... When Noah wakes up and learns what has happened, he lays a curse not upon Ham but upon Ham's son: 'Accursed be Canaan. He shall be his brothers' meanest slave.' . . . Whizzing forward to the medieval versions we learn more about the nature of Ham's misdeeds. He mocked Noah's nakedness, and invited his brothers to do the same (which they refused). What is more, this is not the first of Ham's transgressions. When they had all been on the Ark together, Noah had insisted that everyone be sexually continent, but Ham, by the aid of a magic demon, slept with his wife…”[1] And the Curse of Ham was in effect.

The Tower of Babel in Mesopotamia was the next “Fall of Man.” I wrote an article awhile back where I clarify the results of Babel and its destruction on humanity. The world was a wicked place in the days of Noah. Compared to most European lifestyles they were observed as disgraceful, disgusting, violent, immoral, and unethical societies and in those days, it was something horrific. Dr. David Leston wrote that “archaeologists have unearthed bodies of people who lived in Mesopotamia, they have found evidence that cannibalism was practiced. In short, this was a very brutal era, in which humanity showed little to no regard for one another.”[2]

He goes on to mention that in “January 1996 National Geographic did a comparison between rodeo riders and their injuries, and skeletons uncovered from the time of Noah. They found striking similarities between the injuries of the two groups, suggesting that this was a very violent society. When people reject God and the boundaries and purposes that He has created for them, they become a law unto themselves, and society becomes weaker and more dangerous.”[3] The net results are the same as always--extreme anarchy and a violent world. So, God flooded the world and spared the only honest and Godly man alive at the time. It was Noah who God gave the task of rebuilding civilization.

It was right after the Flood that people would repopulate the Fertile Crescent (the middle east). This was a very fertile and agriculturally productive area which was quick to develop and fought over heavily. One of humankind’s early technological developments was the ability to design, manipulate materials and make structures such as buildings. It was mankind’s obligation from God to subdue the earth. He ultimately gave mankind all the faculties necessary to create great constructions. However, in man’s rebellion against God, this gift was used in ways to honor men and not Him—such as The Tower of Babel. This attempt at building a ziggurat mega-structure was humankind's next attempt at playing God. Just a note here—it will blow your mind to look at the similarities in the Mesopotamian ziggurat of biblical days and a typical ziggurat from South America.

In Genesis 11, the tower planners said “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” The planners of course were referring to making a name for mankind above God’s name. God saw this ability of men to centralize power effectively for the purposes of glorifying themselves. He then—in an instant—created world languages to confuse the masses and dispersed them globally. This is where Dispersion across the globe took effect. This effectively explains human migration in the ice age, world language and similarities in technology worldwide. 

The evidence offered by National Geographic parallels ancient cannibalism to what we see in Native North America (and globally). It makes sense that at dispersion why humankind had kept their basic tribal customs alive--without the cultural sustainability nor political liberty to sustain themselves after European contact. Cannibalism was a custom and ritual that was carried on and practiced by indigenous peoples since the beginnings… hence, the “Curse of Ham.”[4] Marshall Sahlins, an Anthropologist, viewed cannibalism as a variety of symbolism, cosmology, rituals, and traditions.[5] Sigmund Freud looked at cannibalism within the indigenous cultures as an underlying mental issue—psychoses.[6] Even serial killers have been known all throughout time have committed acts of cannibalism. I'm not saying this was the case, but it certainly represents something to take into consideration as a cultural practice.

The idea of the Portuguese in North Africa in the early 15th century having cannibalistic tendencies makes sense. Consider the technological example of human civilization and human capital, in whole, there was no advancement of “civilization” until after the printing press was invented by Gutenberg. Europe was still shut into Medieval living. It was still the Dark Ages, with pagan tendencies. I use the word “pagan” to describe non-Christian ritualistic practices.

It was mentioned that the “remnants of cannibalistic rituals could also be said to be found in explicit references, such as the [Catholic] Eucharist (in which worshipers consume ritual substitutes of the body and blood of Christ). Ironically, the early [Catholics] were called cannibals by the Romans because of the Eucharist.”[7]

This explains the blending of Roman Catholic customs and traditions (which do not traditionally exist within Protestant Christian sects), as well as the mixing of tribal spirituality and customs in the Dark Ages. Thus, the Old-World Portuguese carried their blended Catholic and old ritualistic tribal customs into North Africa—engaging in their old pagan practices of feasting on human beings.

So, it happened also that the Taino conquest of the Siboney tribe (just before Columbus first landed) was executed in utter completion. Columbus wrote that he had met one Siboney survivor who communicated that the Taino were relentless, violent, taboo, and cannibalistic.[8] An invasion by the Taino, statistically, would have been the complete genocide of one culture. This annihilation of a people group matches or even exceeds the largest estimates of destruction by European diseases and exposure.[9]

It’s a fair say that in the pre-Columbian world, wars, slavery, and complete annihilation may not have been uncommon after all. I mean, “one could legitimately argue that for many Amerindian people the expansion of the Huari, Aztec, and Inka empires was equally cataclysmic.”[10] Especially in comparison to what followed after European contact. In this, the idea that Christopher and his European counterparts brought the idea of war and violence to a civilization (or world) that was previously untouched and unblemished is historically bankrupt.

There has been scientific evidence, as suggested earlier, that makes cannibalism very widespread and indeed an ancient tribal global human practice. This would make sense considering the religious and sociopolitical foundations at that time.[11] It was part of the animistic tribal lifestyle that was inherited by the first generation of those original peoples dispersed at the Tower of Babel.[12]



Daniel L. Smith


Resources:

1. Braude, Benjamin. "The Sons of Noah and the Construction of Ethnic and Geographical Identities in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods." The William and Mary Quarterly 54, no. 1 (1997), 103. doi:10.2307/2953314.
2. Dr. Leston, Stephen, and Christopher D. Hudson. "From Creation to the Tower of Babel | The Age of Noah." In The Bible in World History: How History and Scripture Intersect, 31. Uhrichsville: Barbour Pub, 2011.
3. Ibid. p. 32.
4. "DNA and Native Americans." Book of Mormon Evidence. Last modified October 16, 2019. https://bookofmormonevidence.org/dna-and-native-americans/.
5. Harris, Marvin. "‘Cannibals and Kings’: An Exchange." The New York Review of Books. Last modified November 21, 2015. https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1979/06/28/cannibals-and-kings-an-exchange/.
6. Freud, Sigmund. "Totem and Taboo; Resemblances Between the Psychic Lives of Savages and Neurotics." Internet Archive. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://archive.org/stream/totemtabooresemb00freu.
7. Allina, Eric. "The Zimba, the Portuguese, and Other Cannibals in Late Sixteenth-century Southeast Africa." Journal of Southern African Studies 37, no. 2 (2011), 211-227. doi:10.1080/03057070.2011.579433.
8. Morison, Samuel E. Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus, 464. Morison Press, 2008.
9. Taylor, Alan. American Colonies, 38. London: Penguin, 2002. (Statistical Breakdown)
10. Santos-Granero, Fernando. Vital Enemies: Slavery, Predation, and the Amerindian Political Economy of Life, 6-7. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010.
11. Helmenstine, Ph.D, Anne M. "What You Need to Know About Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy." ThoughtCo. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://www.thoughtco.com/mad-cow-disease-overview-602185.
12. Genesis 6:5 & 6:6, The Holy Bible.

In present day America the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally spent hanging Christmas decorations and various lighting across the house and yard. These fun displays usually fit in the category of snowman, reindeer, or a big jolly old man with a white beard in a bright red suit with white fuzzy trim. We usually see images of this same person in stories or on the television magically hopping down chimneys and delivering gifts to sleeping families worldwide. This image has become something we’ve all been generationally born into, but where did this myth originate from? What is the truth behind this entire story?

“The real St. Nicholas lived from 270 to 342 and was known in his lifetime for fighting evil and promoting justice. He was credited with performing many miracles. His body was buried in the church in Myra, but in the 11th century pirates stole the bones and took them to Bari, Italy, where they supposedly are preserved in a Catholic church. About that time Nicholas also became a popular saint in Northern Europe. He was sometimes depicted with a staff, looking more like a Greek bishop.

The legend that has become the basis of the Santa Claus story is this:

A poor man had three daughters. Unable to give them dowries, he thought he would have to sell them into prostitution [something the extremely poor were sometimes forced into at that time]. Nicholas wanted to help but also keep his charity work secret. He went to their home one night but climbed on the roof when he found all the doors and windows locked. He dropped three bags of gold down the chimney, and the three young women had hung their stockings by the fire to dry. The gifts fell into the socks, and the tradition was off and running.

St. Nicholas Day, Dec. 6, still is celebrated in many countries, and often includes gifts for children and gift exchanges among adults. So, the real person who fought for social justice, elimination of poverty and protection of children has had his image corrupted by a friendly guy in a red suit who brings you generally more than you would ever want.”[1]

Robert Jewett, a Pauline scholar who teaches at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago mentions that ‘Early Christians opted out of conspicuous consumption. They saw it as an evil form of competition, similar to the notion of keeping up with the Jones's.’

A Material Cause
During the days of Paul the Apostle, greed was an easy reality to observe. The rich get rich and the poor get poorer. Arguably materialism in our times today is the only way to prove any kind of “flaunting success.” Continuing to buy and accumulate “things” has become the way Americans prove our worth to others.[2]

Historian Adam English writes that, “Nearly everyone knows that Santa Claus -- the obese, old gent who squeezes himself down the chimney every Christmas Eve -- is the American alter ego of St. Nicholas. Slimmer and less overtly jolly, St. Nicholas roams about Western Europe showering children with presents on his traditional feast day of Dec. 6. In the Netherlands and parts of Germany, children expect a visit from a white-bearded, ecclesiastically garbed "Sinterklaas" (his Dutch name), who decides whether they have been naughty or nice before handing out treats from his sack.

Dutch and German immigrants brought St. Nicholas to America in the early 19th century, and he began a process of assimilation, trading in his bishop's miter and crosier for a fur-trimmed red suit and cap. The Santa we now know was the creation of poet Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), the author of "The Night Before Christmas"; cartoonist Thomas Nast; illustrators like N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell; and the magazine ads for Coca-Cola painted by Haddon Simmons starting in 1931, in which Santa took a break from the arduousness of setting up junior's electric train by pausing to have a coke.”[3]
​
So, here we are in 2020 and most of American society relishes in the contemporary version of St. Nick. One has got to wonder how Christians should feel about the secularized and materialistic view on Christmas Santa Claus?

Ken Ham, Director of the Creation Museum and bearer of 6 honorary university graduate degrees mentions, “The mythical Santa is clearly founded in a man who honored Jesus Christ with his life and his possessions. Nicholas gave freely of his riches to benefit those who were less fortunate than himself. This is clearly a fundamental Christian principle, as we see care for the poor proclaimed throughout Scripture (e.g., James 2:1–17).

Is that the same idea we see in the Santa Claus celebrated today? The popular song extols children to stop shouting, pouting, and crying in order to earn Santa’s favor and his gifts. This is clearly not the attitude that we see in the biblically motivated actions of the original St. Nick—and a far cry from a biblical attitude of raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.”[4]

Hope, Joy, Blessings
Of course discernment is the key here when it comes to a good old fashioned secularized Christmas. Because even though Christ’s day has been cut down to a materialistic game of possessions, there are still hints scattered throughout the collage of the holidays. Bright stars, Gifts, Blessings of Joy and Hope. These are all principles of the day we know as Christmas. It is a day of blessing others. It is a day of healing and redemption. It is a day to reconnect and start fresh, knowing that there is divine light at the end of a dark road. Christmas is the day that mankind was gifted with the ultimate redemption on life by God Himself.

Other than the divinity of Jesus Christ, humanity has been blessed with the likes of the Apostles, the Christian Church, ministries of giving and selfless service, and much, much, more. Santa Claus, or St. Nick, was a man of Christ. He was known for much more than working with elves, magically transporting down chimneys, and riding a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer across the skyline. He was a man who knew how to live a life for Christ and serve the needs of humankind who ultimately needed it the most.


Daniel L. Smith
 

Resources:
[1] Allen, Martha Sawyer. "What would St. Nick do? : St. Nicholas - the real guy - was known for his battles against evil and for justice and the downtrodden. Somehow over the centuries his image has been corrupted into that of Santa Claus, who has been called the patron saint of greed." Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN] 4 Dec. 1999: 05B. Business Insights: Global. Web. 7 Dec. 2020.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Allen, Charlotte. "The Real Father Christmas." Wall Street Journal, Dec 06, 2012, Eastern edition.
[4] Ham, Ken. "Christians and Santa Claus: A Biblical View." Answers in Genesis. Last modified December 15, 2009. https://answersingenesis.org/jesus/birth/wintertime-worship-santa-claus-or-jesus-christ/.