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| George Buster Singleton |
(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Mother Nature pays for man’s
convenient memory,” was originally published in the Oct. 3, 1991 edition of The
Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
Over the ages, indigenous people have developed many
technologies and arts. They have devised ways to live in harmony with Mother
Nature without destroying the balance that is essential for man to live.
But the time has come in our society when I believe that we
no longer look at a balance with our surroundings. This is not only a problem
of our country, but it is also a worldwide problem.
I will try to limit this article to our immediate area and
the many things that we must do if we are to remain a healthy and happy people.
As I have stated before, no person, family, group or country
knows where they are going unless they know where they have been. Many of the
teachings of our ancestors have been forgotten and neglected. Many of these
teachings were tried and proven and were known to work very well in our
association with the environment. Even the histories of our families has fallen
by the wayside.
I had the opportunity to speak to a group of teenagers a few
months back. This group of 15 boys and girls were between 14 and 16 years of
age. I asked several questions about their families, such as, if they knew the
first names of their grandparents. Three of the 15 knew. None of the group knew
anything about where their ancestors had come from, such as Scotland, Ireland
or England. None had any idea what their ancestors did to support a family.
If we are to preserve our heritage, we must first recognize
that our heritage can be of great value to us and our children. This is why our
children should be told and taught about the past. They should be required to
know first hand the problems and hard times of their ancestors. And, too, they
should be aware of the good times that their early families enjoyed.
I believe with all my heart that many of our youth of today
have lost their identities. They have nothing to anchor themselves to; this is
because they haven’t been taught anything about their backgrounds and
ancestors.
The time is fast approaching when we will turn to our past
and dig with all of our might in search of answers that will determine if we
are to survive. There are many remedies that have been forgotten or cast aside
that would make our lives today much easier if we had held on to this
information and protected it. But we have become too factual. We take nothing
for granted any more; everything has to be exact.
Please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not
against today’s youth. I look at them and see what they are missing. It’s not
their fault; it is the fault of my generation and maybe the one that preceded
ours. They, and their children, must have the knowledge of their ancestors on
certain matters if they are to survive.
We don’t teach history like it happened because it’s
embarrassing. We don’t like to be told how our grandfathers and grandmothers
lived. The old traditional methods of birth control have been forgotten and
scorned at. Today, our population is growing by leaps and bounds and fear rides
the winds that our world won’t be able to support this growth in a few short
years. We send our children out into the world to learn about the facts of life
on a trial-and-error basis. There was a time when this was taught by father to
son and mother to daughter.
Our world of entertainment consists of mostly violence. Acts
of murder and violence are piped into our homes by way of television. This has
become a way of life with many of our people. I shudder to think what would
have become of me if my father had caught me listening to some of the filth
that is spoken over that great invention of today – the television.
Many hunters today give no thought to using the game that
they kill. Only that which is trophy material is given any consideration. And
many times, that which can be eaten is cast aside because it’s too much trouble
to take the time to care for the meat and prepare it. And, across our land,
many are hungry.
The pace of change is startling. We move farther and farther
away from the world of reality. We ignore more and more the laws that govern
the world of nature. We reach out more and more for something to hold on to or
to identify ourselves with; and as we reach, we know not of what we reach for.
Today, many of the young turn away from their elders,
breaking an ancient but fragile chain of oral traditions that we so desperately
need to hold on to.
So, as I step down from my stump, I feel much better. I have
written my thoughts. I know that we must turn soon and grasp all that we can
from the past if we are to survive the future. Possibly the words of a
little-known poet might say it best.
Of the past, for those who
Ignore, are doomed to wander
Forever on the winds of oblivion.
(Singleton, the
author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the
age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born on
Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County and served as the administrator of the
Monroeville National Guard unit from 1964 to 1987. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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