November 17, 2008: Indians

[Coign]

It is nice that these kids are learning about other cultures but the myths they learn bug me.

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Picture a time when Native Americans lived in harmony with the land.

This has always bugged me. Indians for the most part did not "live in harmony with the land" any more than we do. They would slaughter hunt and start huge wildfires to chase game. The reason they did not have as much a impact on the land as we may have now is that there were just less of them.

But just because they talked to some bear spirit doesn't mean they didn't burn him out of house and home.

http://www.wildlandfire.com/docs/biblio_indianfire.htm

They changed their ecosystem to fit their needs just as we do today on a bigger scale.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Coign

The reason they did not have as much a impact on the land as we may have now is that there were just less of them.

That's true, but this website is written from the perspective of a modern person. The Indians may have burned the land, but it grew back. That mercury and dioxin in the nation's rivers will be there forever. You still can't go near Chernobyl. We have technology today that allows us to fuck things up on a much greater level than the Indians ever did. In comparison to today's human, the Indians did live in harmony with the land. So did the Pilgrims.