5 ms·
Supposedly. In my readings the evidence is thin on this oft-repeated claim.
by downWidOutaFite 3y ago
Supposedly. In my readings the evidence is thin on this oft-repeated claim.
- lukas099 3y agoVery interesting, could you point us to some further reading?
- cameldrv 3y agoStephen Pyne has written a few books about this [1] and given talks (this one is very good [2] [1] https://www.stephenpyne.com/works.htm https://www.stephenpyne.com/works.htm [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zP7MD2y7T8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zP7MD2y7T8
- lukas099 3y agoYour video [2] does not support the claim that the early Americans did not use prescribed fire. Discussion starts around 50:00.
- not2b 3y agoThe (US) National Park Service disagrees with you, so much so that in some places they hire native elders to help them with controlled burns. They call the practices "cultural burning". They were done for many purposes, over millenia. See https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/indigenous-fire-practices-shape-our-land.htm https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/indigenous-fire-practices-...
- downWidOutaFite 3y agoThe small tribes of the northwest might have used fire for clearing land in their immediate area but there is no evidence that they were managing hundreds of thousands of acres of forests in order to reduce large wildfires.
- graphe 3y agoMost old growth trees are gone. He gave proof they used controlled burns. Where is the evidence for the claim it's only ""small"" tribes?
- edmundsauto 3y agoAccording to the research done by Charles Mann in 1491, the indigenous population used fire to drive prey into hunting zones. I believe he even presents the theory that is what created the grassland plains across the central US. He presents quite a bit of evidence from primary sources. I’m not a historical scholar and so maybe his evidence is “bunk”, but his work seems to be very well received in academic circles (unlike say Graham Hitchcock who is seen as more of a Malcolm Gladwell type).
- TheSpiceIsLife 3y agoGraham Hancock, I think you mean.
- labster 3y agoI’m surprised a study from before the Colombian exchange is still relevant in ecology.
- lamp_book 3y agoMost of the area in between the Mississippi and the west coast doesn’t get enough precipitation to support trees. I don’t think that was generally understood until Powell’s survey a couple hundred years later.
- lukas099 3y agoThere were lots of tribes though, so it probably added up to a humongous area.
- a_gnostic 3y ago[flagged]
- thaumasiotes 3y ago> The (US) National Park Service disagrees with you, so much so that in some places they hire native elders to help them with controlled burns. They call the practices "cultural burning". But that can only be justified by a raw appeal to public relations. No native elder has any relevant experience today.
- mock-possum 3y agoYeah it’s one of those things that kind of sits uncomfortably in the “native Americans were wise nature wizards and we have to unlearn our toxic western industrial capitalist beliefs in order to rediscover their hidden mystical wisdom to save the planet” territory Like it’s a good story, and it’s true to some degree, but the pageantry around the language people use when treating it is… I dunno it just still sounds like gross Cowboys-and-Indians prose.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mikewarot 3y agoNative Americans were wise natural wizards.... but it was the Native American Beavers[1,2] doing the work, not the people. [1] https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/services/environment/animals-and-plants/beavers/benefits https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/services/environment/animal... [2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-beavers-shaped-america-from-capitalism-to-climate-change/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-beavers-shape...
- decremental 3y ago[dead]