Columbus had a better publicist

Page 5

It's generally accepted that the Vikings then Columbus were the first to visit the shores of our beloved Turtle Island. Columbus 'discovered' all of our savages in the process of building monumental cities, developing complex social and political structures, creating amazing works of art, and suffering from the delusion that anybody who had a god that had written 'thou shall not kill' or 'thou shall not steal' might actually be worth inviting to stay for dinner.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the European population at the time couldn't read. And it showed. It's amazing how much trouble a simple boat can get you into.

Modern scholars, however, now concede that perhaps the Vikings and Columbus were not the first to darken our eastern (or western) shores. Evidence exists supporting the claim that, in fact, there were a multitude of non-Turtle Island residents sharing tea and bannock with our grandfathers and grandmothers in the last 5,000 years.

The following is a list of eight possible explorations of our noble land by people of non-Italian or Nordic heritage.

Hsi and Ho (c. 2640 BC)

It is argued that these two Imperial Chinese astronomers were ordered by their emperor to make studies of lands to the east of China. The two men sailed north to the Bering Strait, then south along the North American coastline, spending time with pueblo people in the Grand Canyon, and eventually journeying to Mexico and Guatemala.

Votan and Wixepecocha (c. 800-400 BC)

According to Hindu legends, Hindu missionaries sailed from India, and island hopping, made their way to Central and South America. Votan, a trader, lived among the Mayans as an historian, and his contemporary, Wixepecocha, was a Hindu priest who settled with the Zapotecs of Mexico.

Hui Shun (458 AD)

Official Chinese documents propose a Buddhist monk named Hui Shun, accompanied by four Afghan disciples, sailed from China to Alaska, then continued his journey down the coast by foot. Reaching Mexico, he preached Buddhism to Central Americans, supposedly naming Guatemala in honor of Guatemala Buddha. He returned to China after 40 years.

St. Brendan (c 550 AD)

Two medieval manuscripts tell of the journey of an Irish priest, who with 17 other monks, sailed west from Ireland in a leather-hulled boat. They supposedly travelled as far as Newfoundland and the Caribbean.

The Albans (8th century)

According to Farley Mowat's book, The Farfarers, these Scottish sea people not only settled Iceland and Greenland centuries before the Vikings, they also had thriving and extensive trade and business arrangements with the indigenous people of Baffin Island, Labrador, and Newfoundland.

Prince Madog AB Owain Gwynedd (1170 & 1190 AD)

Because of political conflicts with his brothers, this Welsh prince sailed west from Wales and landed somewhere in the Americas, where he built the fortified a settlement. After several years he returned to Wales, leaving behind 120 men. He crossed the Atlantic again in 1190 to discover the settlement had been destroyed and all his men had been annihilated.

King Abubakari II (1311 AD)

After learning from Arab scholars that there was land west of the Atlantic, King Abubkari, a Muslim from Mali, became obsessed with extending his kingdom across the ocean and ordered the creation of a fleet to sail to this unclaimed land. It is believed they landed in Panama, traveled south, and settled in the Ican Kingdom.

Johannes Scolp and Joao Vas Corte Real (1476 AD)

Portugal and Denmark arranged a mutual expedition to find the fabled sea route to China. The combined fleet sailed across the Atlantic, exploring Labrador, Hudson?s Bay, and the St. Lawrence. Failing to find a route to China, they quickly returned to Europe where their discoveries were ignored.

It seems everybody was trying to get here. A word of advice, next time you're at the beach, keep watching that horizon. No telling who's next.