And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 4.0.1 >Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 23:09:52 -0500 >From: Louis Proyect <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Stampeding bison? >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Today's NY Times has an article titled "People Can't Agree on What's >Natural and What's Not," by Timothy Egan that repeats an often-heard >accusation against the American Indian, namely that they were just as >"wasteful" of natural resources as the Europeans. Egan writes: > >"A hundred years ago, after the Americans had wiped out most of the >bounteous bison of the West and removed the native people who had lived on >those animals, there came a great die-out of domestic cattle. A long, >bitter winter left cowboys without cows, and the Indians saying, 'Told you >so.' It was, many people still believe, nature's blow against the attempt >to erase much of the native West. > >"But what about the Great Plains tribes, who used to start big grass fires >to drive bison off a cliff? By some estimates, up to 90 percent of a herd >was wasted. It may have been natural or simply crafty and wasteful, no >different from Roman excess." > >Well, what about those Great Plains tribes? If you look at the chapter on >"The Prairie-Plains" in Alice Kehoe's "North American Indians: A >Comprehensive Account," you will find reference to bison being corralled, >not being stampeded off cliffs. John C. Ewers was Senior Ethnologist at the >Smithsonian Institution and an expert on Plains Indians. In his "The >Blackfeet: Raiders of the Northwestern Plains," there is an account from an >elder named Old Weasel Tail of how the Blackfoot hunted bison prior to the >introduction of the horse into their society: > >"Near the edge of timber and toward the bottom of a downhill slope the >Indians built a corral of wooden posts set upright in the ground to a >height of about seven feet. They connected the posts by crosspoles tied in >place with rawhide ropes. Around three sides of the corral they laid stakes >over the lowest crosspoles. Their butt ends were firmly braced in the >ground outside the corral. These stakes projected about three feet or more >inside the corral at an angle, so that their sharpened ends were about the >height of a buffalo's body. If the buffalo tried to break through the >corral, after they had been driven into it, they would be impaled on these >stakes. From the open side of the corral the fence of poles extended in two >wings outward and up the hill. These lines were further extended by piles >of cut willows in the shape of conical lodges about half the height of a >man, tied together at their tops. These brush piles were spaced at >intervals of several feet. On the hill just above the corral opening a >number of poles were placed on the ground crosswise of the slope and >parallel to each other. The buffalo had to cross these poles to enter the >corral. The poles were covered with manure and water, which froze and >became slippery so that once the buffalo were in the corral they couldn't >escape by climbing back up the hill. > >"Before the drive began a beaver bundle owner removed the sacred buffalo >stones from his bundle and prayed. He sang a song, 'Give me one buffalo or >more. Help me to fall the buffalo.' > >"Then men of the camp [probably swift-footed, long-winded young fellows] >were sent out to get behind a herd of buffalo and drive it toward the >corral. Another man stood at the top of the hill and gave a signal to the >women and children, who were hiding behind the brush piles, that the >buffalo were coming. As the animals passed them on their way down the slope >the women and children ran out of their hiding places. > >"Once inside the corral the buffalo were killed by men and boys stationed >around the outside of the stout fence. Then the camp chief went into the >corral to take charge of the butchering and the division of the meat. While >butchering, the people ate buffalo liver, kidneys, and slices of brisket >raw. Two young men took choice pieces of liver, kidneys, liver, brisket, >tripe, and manifold to the beaver bundle owner who had remained in his >lodge during the slaughter, but whose power had brought success in the >hunt. Each man who killed a buffalo was given its hide and ribs. The >slaughtered animals were cut into quarters which were divided among the >families in the camp. Each family, whether it was large or small, received >an equal share." > >In other words, the bison hunt was not a wanton destruction of wildlife, >but a calculated effort to supply the basic needs of the village. >Furthermore, NOT A SINGLE piece of the bison went to waste. The other thing >to understand is that the great risks were involved. If a hunt was not >successful, people might starve. The bison might detect the scent of the >hunter or an unusual sound might frighten them away. Blackfoot tales >include numerous references to repeated failures to get the animal into the >corral. There are none that recount driving them off a cliff, which I have >a feeling is a projection of our own wasteful practices on indigenous society. > >This NY Times article, which is actually a discussion of a book written by >a British social theorist who wants to apologize for European control over >the world and the consequent environmental destruction, is just another in >a series that would discredit the Indian: The Indian is a cannibal; the >Indian was not the original American, but Caucasians living near the >Columbia River were. > >The particular importance of this bison being stampeded off the cliff myth >is that it is a way for Americans to rationalize evil. Nearly everybody >understands that the Great Plains are an ecological disaster. With the >destruction of the bison and the removal of the Indian into reservations, >we have seen agricultural development that contains the seeds of its own >destruction. Cattle are a waste of grasslands. They foul the water >supplies, while requiring all sorts of chemical additives that are >destructive to our own health as well as their's. Meanwhile as cattle >ranchers across the entire Northern Plains face economic ruin, they find >themselves seduced by the cryptofascist message of the militia movement. >The only way to deal with these problems is at their root. However, this >means addressing the profit motive which is taboo in American society. >While nobody can talk about it in the mainstream press, this does not mean >that the problem will go away. Like any other chronic, possibly fatal, >illness, it requires radical surgery and the sooner, the better. > > >Louis Proyect <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW.... 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