First Americans, First Ecologists?

Townhall.com ^ | Wednesday, June 18, 2008 | Michael Medved

[Dixie Yooper]

The only way they could survive over a long period of time was to live as uncivilized small tribes and using common sense. Anytime they tried to exist as large civilizations such as the Mayans or Anastasie, their societies collapsed, probably due to environmental disasters they caused themselves by contaminating their water or food sources. Not being able to deal with raw sewage was probably their biggest downfall. I do have a great respect for the Inca civilization, but they were spread out over an enormous area. The Aztecs wouldn't have made it another 100 years before their capital city would have killed them with a plague.

[DManA]

All Americans ARE Californians. We are inundated with California culture from the day we are born. It comes at us from every media outlet we come in contact with. You cannot avoid it - more’s the pity.

[bamahead]

GGG?

[Antoninus]

Michael is 100% correct in this article. This was one thing that shocked me in doing research on the Iroquois and related semi-settled tribes in the Eastern Woodlands. They would build a palisaded village--sometimes with up to three rows of sharpened tree-trunks surrounding it--and then farm the surrounding area. They had no notion of soil exhaustion or crop rotation, so they would just farm the area until it wouldn't produce any more and hunt the surrounding game to extinction. At that point, they would burn the village down, pick up their stuff and move someplace else.

Theirs was an intriguing and dangerous life, but they were hardly stewards of the environment. That's just another myth created by the left to make ignorant white people feel bad.

[The Great RJ]

There is a book that compares photos of the Black Hills of South Dakota (sacred land to the Lakota) taken in 1876 by Gen. Custer’s expedition (the spring before the Little Bighorn) with the same view in 2002. One is immediately struck by the vast increase in forests. In 1876, forest fires set by natural or other means were not extinguished, nor were there human efforts made to replant forests.

[Antoninus]

Amen!! Not too long ago finished reading an anthology called, "The Francis Parkman Reader". And holy mackerel, you r-i-g-h-t! The Iroquois, the Shawnee, the Hurons... The horrific story of the mid-17th century French Jesuit missionary, and martyrdom, Isaac Jogues should be required reading

Parkman actually watered down the story somewhat. If you want the real stomach-turning reality of Indian life at first contact with Europeans, try reading the Jesuit Relations.

[PUGACHEV]

I recall reading a first hand account written by some French explorers in the 1700’s. They had hired some local Indians as bearers, but when the Indians saw a small group of women and children from another tribe, they dropped what they were carrying and slaughtered them at once. Afterward, they examined the women and commented on their differences as compared to the women of their own tribe. The explorers wrote that they were disgusted by the cruelty they witnessed, and annoyed at the delay, but they knew the Indians well enough to understand that this was what they could expect, and that there was nothing they could do about it.

[Red Badger]

Yes, but there’s a reason for everything. Today’s Californians are, in large part, the descendants of the ‘49 Gold Rush miners, Get Rich Quick schemers, the prostitutes, pimps and snake oil salesmen who followed them, the Great Depression Dust Bowl migrants, the Hollywood wannabe a star types, not to mention the Spanish treasure seekers and New World prisoner slaves of the Conquistadors. Not all “pioneers” were simple, good people looking for a new life in a new country. Many were just getting out of town, one step ahead of a angry crowd with a noose......................

[caseinpoint]

Environmentalists need to maintain this myth of aboriginal stewards in order to keep pushing a backward trend in our society. Truth is, environmentalism is a luxury of people whose needs are being satisfied to the extent they can go for one of those higher rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As they seek to go backwards to primitive times, they cannot admit even to themselves that their precious love of trees, streams, flora and fauna will have to be sacrificed to survival needs. These can only be preserved if a significant portion of the populace no longer live at the basic survival level. Capitalism is the environmentalists’ best friend but don’t try telling them. It would make their little besotted heads explode.

[Arkansas Toothpick]

Great commentary but don’t you all know that:

1. Blacks cannot be racist
2. Global warming caused by mankind is a fact
3. The Native Americans are pure as the driven snow

Some things just cannot be disputed.

[samtheman]

Human sacrifice was common south of the border (what’s now the border, or what’s now what’s left of what used to be the border).

[Dixie Yooper]

nor were there human efforts made to replant forests

You must be wrong! I thought all the forest's trees were planted by native Americans. They would dig a hole, lay a fish in the bottom of it, then plant a tree so it would become big and tall..... When I was a little kid, we tried that in my Mom's garden with corn and a bunch of Suckers or Carp that my brother had trapped. The next day, we discovered that one or more black bear had dug up everything we planted to get to the fish.

[Old Professer]

Myths are not so easily “busted,” go into any high school in the U.S. today and ask of the students whether they had heard both sides of this story and you will get blank stares.

Why it matters should be our focus.

Mankind can’t harm the earth for the simple reason that the earth has no feelings in a moral or physiological sense.

It’s just a rock, careering in space, programmed to do so until the clock winds down.

Mankind should rightly concern himself with the survival of mankind unless he no longer wants to wait for the clock.

[Dixie Yooper]

Human sacrifice was common south of the border

But there were no borders when the Native Americans were the caretakers of the Americas. It was all one big happy communal society like they told us about at the Pow Wow I paid $20 dollars to attend :)

[Vince Ferrer]

When Star Trek needed to fill out the Klingon culture, one of the people they seemed to model after was the Iroquois.

[Eska]

I live a mile from an old Yukon River Athabaskan Village. Wife and I have taught in a few Indian Villages over the years.

If you ever lived around Indians, you'd understand what you all think you are talking about alot more.

INdians just feel they are part of nature and it's not man's dominion to play around with nature, let it alone to take it's course. Respect it, or bad luck & hard times will come your way. They are natural greenies in the sense that when they see environmental problems, they view it like us whites would child abuse; just immoral to their world view.

I once had a native friend once tell me you White People want to put everything in a big pile to call your own. Ya, I said, it's called success. They don't think like us; at least the Alaskan Indians who are 50 years removed from the stoneage.

First year we taught at an Indian Village, (only white people there); it was tough. I went in there with the typical conservative white perception / value system of everything. I judged everything from my typical enthrocentric mindset. Had a tough time too; hated them people. Over a year, my mindset changed. I started seeing all the good that there was in village and stopped judging all the INdians like White People. There's all kinds of good in their world and the Native Way of looking at everything if one only opens their eyes to see it. I get along with Indians fine nowadays.

I does one good to live a year in a completely different culture where you are the hated minority; opens your eyes to what kind of a person you have been your entire life. Indians are OK, but if you judge them like white people; you will never figure them out.

[barb-tex]

Oh for the good old days when the white man shouldered his Burden. Before the American oil companies developed the Kingdom’s oil the Kind carried the national treasury in the trunk of his car. Those were the days ny friend!
barbra ann

[Eska]

Indians don't believe in fish & game management. They hunt all year long, poaching is a word not in their concept of language. They ignore whatever the govt sez and govt lets them be over this one. If you respect nature, nature will be good to you.

If you ever hunted with Indians, you'd realize they shoot everthing until outta ammo or targets. They don't waste much either, most us whites wouldn't eat alot of what they use.

You see they believe that animals purpose on earth is to feed man, as long as man respects nature, acts as the caretaker where he can, but for most part let nature take it;s course. Entire process to hunting, example, not talking about moose before going out on the river. They believe the moose allows himself to be shot to feed Indian's family. Moose knows his part in the scheme of things as long as Indian shows normal respect.

Everything was ok until us whites came along started owning/taxing/controlling the land. Before we came along, Indians would hunt an area down, then move on to better area. MOst tribal units/ families had traditional spring/summer fish camps, fall hunting camps, winter camps. They protected their land rights as it was starvation otherwise. Then we came along telling them they couldn't move around seasonally anymore. Didn;t go over too well. Govt had to take all their kids off them for 10 years to get them to stay put in small villages. Govt couldn't homestead the land; Indians would have just killed the homesteaders off. The previous goldrush people got along with the Indians, they had no choice.

Most white perceptions about real Indians are just misinformed, no joke. And believe it or not, I know some Indians who vote repub too.

[SunkenCiv]

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