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Washington DC trip

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by Luke N. Whitten
This past weekend I visited Washington DC for a look at the nation’s capitol. I must say whenever you are there the history and feeling can overwhelm you. I had not been to Washington since about 2003 and that was only a quick trip with school. As I walked from museum to monument I could not believe the diverse culture that surrounded me. I could hear fluent Italian one second; walk a few more steps, and hear a conversation in Japanese. I certainly did not expect the fact that our nation’s capitol is such an international tourist destination.
Although I loved being in front of Lincoln as he looks across the mall… and seeing fine art made by some of the best artists ever to create… I must say I appreciated the “American Indian” museum. I use quotations because if I’m not mistaken, it should be called the “Native American” museum. Regardless, it was one of the more informative and interesting buildings I had ever walked through.
The building was divided into seperate floors which contained different parts of native american history and culture. There were lectures and movies playing at different times all throughout the day. Some exhibits gave me the chills as I read about native american spirituality and how much common sense it made to me as a human.

Some made me want to weep thinking about how Europeans completely replaced a culture and a people… all for the sake of manifest destiny and Christianity. No matter where I was in the building I constantly thought in my head that these were people that wanted to be close to God. They did not let possessions or greed get in their way (for the most part). These people lived off the land they were given… and tried to live peacefully with everything they came in contact with.
The rest of Washington was incredible as well. It was like I was meant to be there… and all the time I spent away living my life I was missing out on experiencing a place that pulsates with history and what man is capable of creating. You can’t help but to feel very small in a place like that… one that echoes nationalism and idealism rather than glorifying a single individual like a king. . Did the early natives have it right in the first place how they lived? Are we only moving in the opposite direction to an ultimate demise? Hopefully not… but you can’t help to wonder when the population is moving rapidly to a number that can’t sustain itself, a national debt that we can never pay back, and fighting a war that cannot be won.