> It makes your culture a horrible place to be, but it doesn't keep humans from breeding successfully. I remember a Maori exhibit at the Auckland War Memorial

> It makes your culture a horrible place to be, but it doesn't keep humans from breeding successfully. I remember a Maori exhibit at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The gist was, they had these never-ending violence cycles based on perceived points of honor, but as you say they weren't a huge deal because their weapons weren't very good and most conflicts had few fatalities. Then they got guns from the Europeans and suddenly had an actual problem. At this point, some of the chiefs converted to Christianity for, according to the museum, the sole reason that it let them 'turn the other cheek' without losing honor (and thus their leadership position). I remember only a small amount from the rest of the museum, but that bit was fascinating.