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Is this article missing opening context? First line: >Pecan nuts were already a dietary staple for Native Americans in various parts of what is now the United
by Arainach 8mo ago
Is this article missing opening context?
First line:
>Pecan nuts were already a dietary staple for Native Americans in various parts of what is now the United States before Antoine’s innovation established the basis for a commercial pecan industry
Who is "Antoine"? Is it a first name? A last name? It doesn't ever seem to say.
- wswope 8mo agoThe missing context is the title.
- ceejayoz 8mo agohttps://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-... A lot of slaves had no last name, or only their owners’.
- mathgeek 8mo agoNot to sound pedantic (I believe this is a very important distinction), but as far as I'm aware most slaves were not _given_ last names by their slavers. They often had (if taken into slavery) or were given (if born in slavery) their own names within their own cultures.
- Pay08 8mo agoI'm curious, do native African cultures often have multiple names?
- awesome_dude 8mo agoThe number of different cultures in Africa, each with its own set of traditions and ceremonies makes that a very difficult question to answer in a generalised way.
- Pay08 8mo agoFair. I was curious since English only started having last names in the 11th century, once the population has grown too large for local governments to effectively govern without some way to better differentiate people.
- themgt 8mo agoThis article from 2017 goes over the same story but provides better context: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/slave-gardener-turned-pecan-cash-crop/ https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/slave-gardener-turned-pec...
- pcrh 8mo agoThanks, that was a better-written article than the above.
- svat 8mo agoAt the bottom of the article, it says: > From When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery. Copyright © 2026. Available from Henry Holt and Co., an imprint of Macmillan Usually this means that the article is actually a book excerpt (often the first chapter of the book), and in this case we can find online the book's table of contents: Preface Introduction: Life as Testimony 1. Pecan Trees and the Roots of Stolen Botanical Knowledge 2. Sycamore Trees as a Path to Freedom 3. The Secret Lives of Willow Trees 4. Poplar Trees Bear Strange Fruit 5. The Sweeping Promise of Mulberry 6. A Haven for Community in Historic Oak Trees 7. Cotton Shrubs and Seeds of Subversion 8. The Gift of Apple Trees Conclusion: Black Botanical Legacy Reclaimed Usually the first chapter is self-contained, but in this case possibly there was some context about “Antoine’s innovation” in the Introduction that precedes the first chapter.