Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id WAA25600 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 7 Mar 2002 22:03:15 GMT X-Originating-IP: [62.31.31.215] User-Agent: Microsoft-Outlook-Express-Macintosh-Edition/5.0.3 Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 21:55:56 +0000 Subject: RE: Rumsfeld Says.. From: Steve Drew <srdrew_1@hotmail.com> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Message-ID: <B8AD926B.2C2%srdrew_1@hotmail.com> In-Reply-To: <200203072104.VAA25436@alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk> Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 07 Mar 2002 21:57:58.0634 (UTC) FILETIME=[24C834A0:01C1C623] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Hi Jeremey
> Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 14:30:05 +1100
> From: Jeremy Bradley <jeremyb@nor.com.au>
> Subject: RE: Rumsfeld Says...
>
> At 10:18 PM 5/03/02 +0000, you wrote:
>>
>> Hi Vincent.
>>
>> Yes we do seem to anthropormorphise about 'native' populations. I see little
>> difference between their behaviours WRT the enviroment vs resource need that
>> we have today. The problem is when laws are drafted to support this Golden
>> Age. The saga of Kennewick man and the tribes that claim him as an elder is
>> a case in point.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Steve
>>
> Steve
> This is taking the dehumanising of "native populations" to the limits. Even
> as we emerge from the dark ages of an assumption of white supremacy it is
> unnecessary to anthropomorphise those who are clearly human. Also,
> generalisations on the behaviours of 'natives' are ludicrous. It would have
> been more accurate to have ended your second sentence after the third word.
> If you would care to rectify your misconceptions, check out Knudson and
> Suzuki's Wisdom of the Elders. You will find that there was a vast spread
> of practices in relation to resource use, most of them sustainable.
> More in sorrow than in anger
> Jeremy
My intentions were not to denigrate any indigenous cultures as such but
were concerned that with the guilt that is felt necessary to display by the
white culture that destroyed them, the arc could have swung to far the other
way. my reference to Kennewick man concerned the fact that although the
bones appeared to be Caucasoid and something like 9000 years old, that they
must be have been indigenous due to the fact that in North America, the
indigenous have been there 'forever" their words not mine. This is a
preposterous notion as I'm sure you'll agree. But they have some laws on
their side due to guilt appeasement in the USA and the science of human
dispersion suffers because of it. they also lose credibility if it is
Caucasoid, rather than Mongoloid.
It is fairly easy to be at one with nature when you are on foot, as hunting
is very difficult. That said, America appeared to lack the diversity of
browsers that one might expect of a continent its size, not to mention being
short of serious predators. In Europe they eliminated the lions, hyena's
etc... Archaeological evidence suggest that driving the herds of bison over
cliff was used, as the carcasses had been butchered but much had been wasted
when they examined the cut marks. Of course the herd could have run off the
cliff for other reasons, though given the lack of predators on the plains
that could tackle a herd of bison, it is difficult to accept.
The noble savage can be traced, IMO, to Rousseau, and that is the guilt that
we try to assuage to this day.
The destruction of indigenous peoples was a disgrace, but they were not the
beatniks that people like to think they were.
They were as me and thee, just without transport to conduct serious warfare.
Query. was there anything before the Europeans came that could have been
used as transport in Australia?
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