Sweet Home Allah Bamya: Appropriating Native American History for Islamofascism, Part 2

"I was about to fall down a Scholastic rabbit hole and tumble out into an alternate academic universe, but I didn't know it yet..."

Deafening Silence

March 27, 2007

"It is ethically wrong to use research to subvert the fair historical respresentation of other peoples, leaders and non-mainstream events."

Donald L. Fixico

Ethics and Responsibilities in Writing American Indian History

Google "Native Americans and Islam" and among the first hits to appear will be Muslim Wikipedia.  The homepage for Muslim Wikipedia defines it as "The open encyclopedia on Islamic subjects and the Muslim World from the Muslim Perspective."  The site's physical design closely mimics that of Wikipedia.

Perhaps too closely.  Also listed on the homepage is Important Notice: the Muslim Wikipedia is rebranding itself ...having secured the domain Muslim Wiki.  This change has come about because of the Wikipedia trademark."

Among the browsable categories listed on Muslim Wikipedia is "Native Americans and Islam."  In this section we are told that Muslim explorers landed in the New World well before Columbus.  The proof is all around us:

"The names of 565 places, 484 of them being in the U.S. and 81 in Canada, such as the names of villages, towns, cities, mountains, lakes, and rivers, come from Islamic and Arabic roots."

According to Muslim Wikipedia these places include Hazen, North Dakota and Mona, Utah.  This is because "These places were originally named by local people before Columbus ever set foot in America."

And furthermore:

"When the indigenous tribe names are examined in the U.S., it is understood that most of them derive from Arabic and Islamic roots.  These are names such Anasazi, Apache, Arawak, Arikana, Chavin, Cherokee, Cree, Hohokam, Hupa, Hopi, Makkah, Mahigan, Mohawk, Nazca, Zulu, Zuni."

(I believe the inclusion of 'Zulu' on this list speaks for itself.)

A large portion of the 'evidence' supporting Muslim Wikipedia's claims is linguistic.  Native American names and words are said to resemble 'Islamic' and 'Arabic' words and this 'proves' that Native American societies were influenced by Islam.

I decided to examine some of these claims.

The American Indian Heritage Foundation (AIHF) is an arm of the National Heritage Foundation.  A 501 (c)(3) charity, AIHF was founded in 1973 "to build bridges of understanding and friendship between Indian and non-Indian people."

AIHF's website offers a detailed discussion of Native American language structure.  It points out that few Native American languages have a written component; most are spoken only.  In addition, Native American languages use many sounds (such as glottal stops and nasalized vowells) not commonly found in English or other European languages.  This means that in most cases, written "Indian words" are attempts to represent foreign sounds using a completely unrelated alphabet. 

Simply put, most Native American words were never meant to be "spelled" in the first place.  Any similarity to 'Islamic' or 'Arabic' words is purely in the eye of the beholder.

Another non-profit organization, Native Languages of the Americas, is "dedicated to the preservation and promotion of endangered American Indian languages."  Their website explains proper word-comparison techniques succinctly:

Q: Are Amerindian languages descended from Hebrew, Ancient Egyptian, Scandinavian or Celtic languages?
A: No. The people who claim this are trying to prove that American Indians arrived in the Americas very recently (see Could Native Americans be recent immigrants? and Are Native Americans a lost tribe of Israel?) I have seen many websites claiming to "prove" that Amerindian languages are descended from Semitic or Germanic languages. 90% of these websites are deliberately lying, making up nonexistant "Algonquian" words that resemble words from Semitic languages. A quick glance at a dictionary of the Amerindian language in question will reveal these websites for what they are. The other 10% are using linguistically unsound methods--searching two languages for any two vocabulary words that begin with the same letter, essentially, and presenting them as evidence. Using this method, English can be "proved" to descend from Japanese--English "mistake" sounds a little like Japanese "machigai". In fact, if you randomly generate some vocabulary with a computer program, you will be able to find a few words with surface resemblance to any language you want. Real linguistic analysis requires dozens of vocabulary relationships which are regular and predictable, as well as similarities in phonology and syntax, to show that one language is related to another. Here's a good website by a Welsh speaker explaining the substantial linguistic differences between Mandan and Welsh, for example. No linguist has ever shown a relationship between any Amerindian language family and a Semitic, Germanic or Celtic language.

Q: But I don't know enough about linguistics to look at the phonology and syntax for myself. Can't I tell anything from vocabulary?
A: Yes, but you need to examine at least three languages to make a valid comparison, and you need to use vocabulary items that have not been hand-selected as the one word in the language that bears some vague resemblance to the other. The numbers one through five are a good place to start. If four of the five look similar, or you notice a pattern in the way they are different from each other, the languages are probably related. Let's look at some Germanic, Semitic, and Algonquian languages (spelled more or less phonetically):

German	eins	zwei	drei	fier	funf
Dutch	een	twee	dree	feer	feef
English	one	two	three	four	five
Hebrew	echad	shtayim	shalosh	arba	chamesh
Arabic	wachid	ithnan	thalatha	arba'a	chamsa
Maltese	wiehed	tnejn	tlieta	gherba	hamsa
Ojibwe	bezhig	nizh	nswee	niwin	nanan
Algonquin	pejig	nij	niswi	new	nanan
Cree	peyak	niso	nisto	newo	niyanan

As you can probably see even from this small amount of data, English is related to Dutch and German; Hebrew is related to Arabic and Maltese; and Ojibwe is related to Algonquin and Cree. On the other hand, if I had taken only the English word "seven" and the Hebrew word "sheva," maybe I could have convinced you English was related to Hebrew. And if I had shown you only Hebrew "shalosh" and Arabic "thalatha," you might not have noticed they were related. (With the larger data set here, you can see that the "TH" sound from Arabic does not exist in Hebrew or Maltese--it becomes a "sh" in Hebrew all three times, and a "t" in Maltese all three times.)

Never believe anyone who tries to prove linguistic relationships based on one or two words that sound similar.

The AIHFA website also offers an interesting, in-depth breakdown of the components of Native American languages, including phonology, morhpology and syntax.  Neither site claims Arabic as an influence or notes any relationship between 'Islamic' and 'Indian' words.

Let's return to the Muslim Wikipedia claim that "When the indigenous tribe names are examined in the U.S., it is understood that most of them derive from Arabic and Islamic roots."

The first thing that should be "understood" about tribe names in that most Native American tribes recognize more than one name.  Many simply referred to themselves as "the people" or "the human beings" and adopted additional names as they came into contact with other tribes and, later, Europeans.

To quote the AIHF website:

"Often Indian groups came to be known by a foreign term, such as the English names Dogrib and Yellowknife for Athabascan tribes in the Northwest or the naming of most Coastal California languages for the nearest Spanish mission."

Author Charles C. Mann gives other examples of multiple tribe names in his book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus:

• The 'Cherokee' actually thought of themselves as the Tsalagi.  'Cherokee' was a mildly insulting nickname given them by the Creek confederation.
• The six nations that the Europeans called the "Iroquois League" called themselves the Haudenosaunee.
• The name Comanche means 'people who fight us all the time' and was coined by a rival group.  The Comanche were also called the Nermernuh or Nemene.

These are just a few examples of a common phenomenon.  If tribe names are really derived from 'Arabic' or 'Islamic' roots, which tribe names are we talking about- names coined by rival tribes, European names, or names used by the tribes themselves? 

Once again, the Arabic is in the eye of the beholder.

I am not a linguist or a specialist in Native American history and I suspect that no one at Muslim Wikipedia is, either.  The Worldwide Web is full of 'alternative views' of history, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.  If Native American tribes themselves do not claim Islamic ancestry and linguistic relationships can be disproven using basic techniques, the history cited at Muslim Wikipedia should be viewed with suspicion.  Muslim Wikipedia's homepage says that it receives over 225,000 hits per month.  How many casual readers have taken its 'scholarship' at face value?

Read and believe at your peril.

References Muslim Wikipedia (Muslim Wiki) American Indian Heritage Foundation (AIHF) Native Languages of the Americas 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus/Charles C. Mann Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about American Indians/Edited by Devon A. Minesuah

Comments

[EduardoAlarcon]

Regarding American Indian Heritage Foundation (AIHF) is an arm of the National Heritage Foundation.

Web page: http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=SEC-LegalDocs&id=27515&v=Default

State of Maine
Office of Securities
21 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333-0121

IN RE: NOTICE OF INTENT
06-073

JAMES L. CLIFFORD
ALLEGATIONS
1. James L. Clifford (“Clifford”) (CRD # 1419478) is an individual who has been licensed in Maine as a sales representative or agent since at least 1985. His last known address is 955 Eastern Avenue, Holden, Maine 04429.
2. From December 4, 1997, to the present, Clifford has worked as a sales representative or agent at the Brewer, Maine, branch office of Investors Capital Corp. (“ICC”).
3. Pearl P. Schoppe (“Ms. Schoppe”) was a life-long resident of Orono, Maine, and the valedictorian of the 1936 graduating class of Husson College in Bangor, Maine.
4. In May of 1996 Ms. Schoppe established a living trust (the “Schoppe Trust”) with herself as trustee and with two of her relatives designated as trustees upon her death. The original trust document directed that upon Ms. Schoppe’s death, after payment of any of Ms. Schoppe’s debts, expenses and taxes, and certain distributions, the remainder of the trust property was to be held in trust for Husson College with income distributions to fund a scholarship program.
5. Ms. Schoppe was conservative with her investments. She essentially bought only certificates of deposits and fixed annuities.
6. In October of 1998, Ms. Schoppe, then age 80, amended the trust document to, among other things, change the trustee upon her death to Clifford. The amendment also changed the provision regarding the distribution of the remainder of her trust property. As amended, instead of the property being held in trust for Husson, the trust instrument dictated that the property was to be “distributed to the National Heritage Foundation F.B.O. Pearl P. Schoppe Foundation.”
7. The charitable purpose stated by Ms. Schoppe on the National Heritage Foundation application was “Assist students of the Greater Bangor/Brewer, Orono/Old Town, ME area who need financial aid to attend Husson College. To be paid out interest only 80% of interest to go to students, 20% of the interest to go back into the Foundation so foundation will continue to grow.”
8. Ms. Schoppe died on January 19, 2000.
9. On March 7, 2000, in Singer Island, Florida, Clifford and John T.”Dock” Houck, II, CEO of National Heritage Foundation, (“NHF”) completed the paperwork for “National Heritage Foundation Inc. FBO Pearl Schoppe FNDTN” to purchase a $150,000 variable annuity from Conseco Variable Annuity Insurance Company through ICC, using funds from the Schoppe Trust.
10. On May 11, 2000, Clifford sent an additional $50,000 from the Schoppe Trust’s checking account to Conseco to add to the variable annuity.
11. The subaccounts chosen by Clifford and Houck were largely more-risky growth funds, when Ms. Schoppe’s stated intent and investment history dictated the use of more conservative income-producing investments.
12. The variable annuity sold by Clifford to the foundation was unsuitable for the charitable purposes expressed by Ms. Schoppe. There was no tax benefit and no value to having a death benefit on the life of Mr. Houck to offset the higher costs and reduced liquidity of the investment.
13. Clifford received $12,600 in commissions on these transactions. In addition, Clifford has paid himself trustee fees exceeding $42,000.00 from the trust assets despite the fact that he appears to have provided little if any valuable services to the trust.
14. Since the purchase of the variable annuity in March of 2000, Husson College has received no scholarship money from the Pearl P. Schoppe Foundation.
15. Under federal law, variable annuities are securities and the offer and sale of variable annuities is regulated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
16. The NASD is a national securities association registered with the SEC under §15A and in accordance with the provision of §19(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
17. NASD Rules are filed with the SEC and promulgated under §19(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. NASD rules apply to “all members and persons associated with a member. Persons associated with a member shall have the same duties and obligations as a member” under the association’s rules. NASD Rule 0115.
18. ICC is a member of NASD and Clifford is a person associated with ICC.
19. NASD Rule 2310 requires that a member have reasonable grounds for believing that a recommended purchase is suitable for a customer based on the facts disclosed by the customer including the customer’s investment objectives.
20. By virtue of his training and experience, Clifford knew the requirements of NASD Rule 2310. Through his customer relationship with Ms. Schoppe, Clifford knew her investment objectives and the charitable purpose for which she established the Pearl P. Schoppe Foundation. Thus, Clifford intentionally or knowingly failed to comply with NASD Rule 2310. 32 M.R.S.A. §10313(1)(B).
21. By using funds of the Schoppe Trust to purchase an unsuitable investment, Clifford engaged in unlawful or unethical conduct in the securities business. 32 M.R.S.A. §10313(1)(G).
22. Pursuant to 32 M.R.S.A. §§10313 and 16702, the Securities Administrator may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, issue an order to revoke the license of a licensee or impose a bar on a licensee if the Securities Administrator finds that the order is in the public interest and that the licensee: (1) has engaged in unlawful, unethical or dishonest conduct in the securities business; or (2) has intentionally or knowingly violated or failed to comply with a rule under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that the Securities Administrator intends to issue an Order to Revoke Clifford’s Agent License and Censure Him or Bar Him from Association under 32 M.R.S.A. §§10313(1) and 16702(1).
If Clifford wants to request a hearing in this matter, he must do so in writing within thirty (30) calendar days of the date of this Notice of Intent. 32 M.R.S.A. §§10708, 16702(1).

Date: November 28, 2006 /s/ Michael J. Colleran
` Michael J. Collera
Securities Administrator
Date: November 28, 2006 /s/ Bonnie E. Russell
Bonnie E. Russell
Assistant Securities Administrator
Date: November 28, 2006 /s/ Willis P. Smedberg
Willis P. Smedberg
Investigator/Examiner
Last Updated: December 20, 2006 4:42 PM

Posted by: Eduardo Alarcon
19319 Inverness Dr.
Spicewood, TX 78669
(512) 217-6655
Eduardo.alarcon@sbcglobal.net

[eduardoalarcon]

The National Heritage Foundation/Congressional District Programs and their salesmen are under investigation by Federal and State agencies.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact the owner of the NHF, JOHN HOUK, at (561) 301-3891 or dock@nhf.org.
Posted by:
Eduardo Alarcon
19319 Inverness Dr.
Spicewood, TX 78669
(512) 217-6655
eduardo.alarcon@sbcglobal.net