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Not but 150 years ago there were still hunter-gatherers who thrived in the form of native american tribes: >Before our white brothers arrived to make us civili
by laotzu 11y ago
Not but 150 years ago there were still hunter-gatherers who thrived in the form of native american tribes:
>Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we didn't have any delinquents. Without a prison, there can't be no delinquents. We had no locks nor keys therefore among us there were no thieves. When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property. We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being was not determined by his wealth. We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another. We were really in bad shape before the white man arrived and I don't know how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.
-Lame Deer
- cafard 11y agoThrived sometimes, starved others, now and then died in violent conflict with other Native American tribes. Absolutely they got the short end of the stick from the US (and many other actors); but to pretend that the Americas were a peaceful utopia before the Europeans arrived is silly.
- laotzu 11y agoWho is pretending it was a peaceful utopia? That's silly. Counting coup (showing bravery in battle) would earn a man great prestige. Of course there was war between tribes and people went hungry at times, during a harsh winter for example. However, before the railroads and the gold rush expanded out West many Sioux tribes lived in relative homeostasis with their environment and had a nearly constant buffet of Buffalo.
- panglott 11y agoThe thing to keep in mind is that there were hundreds of Native American societies, and they varied considerably in their social practices. Slavery was fairly common on the Plains. The Pawnee still practiced human sacrifice in historic times. The Beaver Wars were unbelievably genocidal. It may be the case that some of the Siouan groups (such as the Quapaw) moved west was to escape social collapse and genocide. The enormous diversity of NAtive societies has been largely forgotten/erased through romanticization (itself a form of cultural domination) and sociocide).
- laotzu 11y agoMany of the tribes were non literate and had no form of written language which also contributes to the historical obfuscation. Many of those who did use a form of writing, such as the Mayans, had their historical writings deliberately destroyed by the Conquistadors and Inquisitors because their culture was seen as deeply heretical: >We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction. -Bishop Diego de Landa, 1562
- nir 11y agoOfftopic, that sarcastic tone really caught me by surprise - it sounds more like an older New Yorker than a Native American tribal leader.
- laotzu 11y agoIt is characteristic of his role as a Heyoka, or sacred clown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyoka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyoka