I am reading a wonderful book by Christopher Ondaatje about East African explorations in the 19th century. Livingstone,Stanley, Burton,Speke,Baker and the quest for the source of the Nile. One is continually bombarded by statements crediting one or another white man with the "discovery" of some geological wonder or piece of land. I guess Blacks in Africa couldn't see Mt Kilamanjaro or Lake Victoria, or perhaps their eyes didn't count. Although I have English,Slavic and Turkish blood in my veins, I am also a member of the Western Cherokee Nation thru my father's family. I was taught that Columbus discovered America in 1492 for Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. I reckon us Cherokees must have thought we were still in Russia on the other side of the Bering straits. Back in 1970,I was travelling to Africa to spend some time in the Sahara and hang out with some Tuareg types.To get to Morocco,my first African nation, the plane landed in Madrid, Espana and I had to wait for a Royal Air Maroc flight to Marrakesh. I was ready. I went outside the main terminal and found a garden, where I planted a very small Cherokee flag and claimed Spain,by the grace of the Great Spirit for the Western Cherokee. Why then is Juan Carlos king of Spain and not me?