"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
I like to watch Indian pow wow dancers (clips on Facebook), very colorful. And every time I reflect how much of their indigenous “culture” exists because of the white man: horses, sheep, modern housing instead of skin tents, cattle, colorful dyes, colorful glass beads, silversmithing, well I could go on but, sure, let’s acknowledge that some Stone Age tribes used to live on this land.
Thanks for the link to "No Parasran", Paco! That is an excellent read about the myth of the "Noble" savage ... there ain't no such thing.
The history of the Pacific Northwest mirrors the rest of the country; the most troublesome tribe was the Shoshone, who mostly lived in eastern Oregon. They were very much a warrior tribe, and the histories I've read are quite violent and bloody, with the settlers and other tribes. There were two separate wars between the US and the tribe after the Civil War.
More to the point, there was an active slave trade amongst the natives well before the arrival of the Europeans. One tribe, the Tlingit, raided other tribes for slaves to sell, and to work their lands. At least one crew of a European ship was captured by those slavers before slavery was outlawed.
Yeah .... no.
ReplyDeleteThe ACLU entered woo-woo land long, long ago.
I acknowledge we took this land fair and square.
ReplyDeleteIndeed we did!
DeleteIn fact, we merely followed the traditions of the previous owners, who stole the land from someone else.
Here's something of an historical correction to the Noble Red Man fetish from No Pasaran
DeleteI like to watch Indian pow wow dancers (clips on Facebook), very colorful. And every time I reflect how much of their indigenous “culture” exists because of the white man: horses, sheep, modern housing instead of skin tents, cattle, colorful dyes, colorful glass beads, silversmithing, well I could go on but, sure, let’s acknowledge that some Stone Age tribes used to live on this land.
DeleteI saw a pow wow when I lived in Arizona. Loved the dancing,, and the sounds of the drums and other instruments (very percussive).
DeleteThanks for the link to "No Parasran", Paco! That is an excellent read about the myth of the "Noble" savage ... there ain't no such thing.
ReplyDeleteThe history of the Pacific Northwest mirrors the rest of the country; the most troublesome tribe was the Shoshone, who mostly lived in eastern Oregon. They were very much a warrior tribe, and the histories I've read are quite violent and bloody, with the settlers and other tribes. There were two separate wars between the US and the tribe after the Civil War.
More to the point, there was an active slave trade amongst the natives well before the arrival of the Europeans. One tribe, the Tlingit, raided other tribes for slaves to sell, and to work their lands. At least one crew of a European ship was captured by those slavers before slavery was outlawed.