{"id":31990,"date":"2013-07-25T16:47:27","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T16:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=31990"},"modified":"2014-03-06T18:51:44","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T18:51:44","slug":"janovic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=31990","title":{"rendered":"Researcher Seeks Jones\u2019 “Native American” Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

You people, you come along with books<\/i> that don\u2019t even make sense, your black book [the Bible] was written by a white king, that was written by a racist king at that, who sent the first Good Ship Jesus to Africa to bring back slaves. In the name<\/i> of Jesus, he brought your ancestors here. In the name<\/i> of Jesus, he killed and crucified my<\/i> ancestors, the Indians.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m declaring unto you\u2026 [i]f you can find any leader better than I, you let me go to him. I\u2019ll teach him some of the things that I only can do in the world today, through this great spirit, this great spirit of socialism. That\u2019s what the great Indian spirit was. They put the tribes<\/i>,\u00a0the collective above the individual competition\u2026 Well, I\u2019m reviving it. My Indian spirit has certain acumen that you won\u2019t be able to find anywhere.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve pulled plows \u2013 Indians and blacks \u2013 and were whipped on the back like a horse. If anybody should have feeling and empathy for horses, it should be we who have been Indian and black and have had a background of slavery.<\/p>\n

What are they afraid of? They got so much God, what are they afraid of? If you\u2019ve got so much God, why are you afraid of this little ol\u2019 nigger Indian? If you\u2019ve got so much truth in you, why are you afraid to hear me?<\/p>\n

Hear a little girl, an Indian girl of my background, speak of the horrors of what been going on in the name of rich rulers, the murder of a people, the giving of smallpox, blankets from the body of dead American soldiers to wipe out all the Indians of the Northwest. That\u2019s history, child.<\/p>\n

This is same problem we have with we who are black and Indian<\/i>. There\u2019s no solidarity. Your very best friend will do it and undercut, and until people realize the necessity of that kind of solidarity, we will never overcome.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jim Jones often identified himself with the oppressed people of America, sometimes figuratively, and sometimes literally. Some of his claims were likely for dramatic effect, or even made as theater. The problem, of course, as with many of Jones\u2019 claims, is discerning which were demonstrably false, which were true, and which fell in the gray area in between.<\/p>\n

I am researching the gray area of Jones\u2019 claim of Native American ancestry as part of a larger project on the Tribe of Ishmael and a connection with Peoples Temple members. In pursuit of this project, I have questions which I would like to have some feedback on. They include:<\/p>\n