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> To the best of our knowledge, the forests of the region were actively managed via fire for thousands of years. "Native Americans" arrived here about 30,000 y
by mike_d 3y ago
> To the best of our knowledge, the forests of the region were actively managed via fire for thousands of years.
"Native Americans" arrived here about 30,000 years ago. For all the time prior to that forests were actively managed by controlled burns conducted by nature.
The idea that they somehow had some advanced knowledge that Europeans lacked has no scientific basis, they simply didn't have the modern technology to stop a fire started by lightning.
- nullc 3y ago> they simply didn't have the modern technology to stop a fire started by lightning. Or as much fixed and immobile infrastructure that would be endangered by fire-- if there is nothing you care about nearby, why not set a fire to aid in hunting or to clear out plants you can't eat in favor of ones you can? Just because they intentionally set fires that doesn't itself make it environmentally good-- it's an extraordinarily racist view that the indigenous people weren't capable of environmental destruction just because they were less effective at it than industrial civilizations. The noble savage protector of the land is a racist fantasy of people raised on a diet of Disney movies, not reality.
- 2devnull 3y agoRight. For some reason people have figured out that “noble savage” is racism, but there’s a bit of latency when it comes to “ignoble white man” flavor of racism.
- p_j_w 3y ago>forests were actively managed by controlled burns conducted by nature. This is, by definition, not a controlled burn.
- mike_d 3y agoIt is, just controlled in a larger macro sense than what humans are capable of.
- ortusdux 3y agoWhat they knew was that it was easier to hunt and forage in forests after fire had removed the underbrush. They knew that they would be back next year chasing dear, so they decided to light a fire on the way out to make it easier. No advanced knowledge needed. As time went on, the practice became a ritual.