Depends on who you're talking about. That was probably true for most of the east coast tribes, who were fairly civilised agrarian peoples on the cusp of bronze-age civilization and the West Coast tribes, who lived in a virtual paradise. It certainly wasn't for the plains tribes, who were barely sustinence level nomads until the introduction of horses. They had a brief golden age between the european introduction of horses and contact with colonists on a regular basis 150-200 years later, but certainly were worse off before european colonization(when they really couldn't feed themselves).
-Adam Brendan MacRae wrote: > Not sure about incest and cannibalism. I've never > heard of these things being prevalent. > > In any event, my point is that, in this sense, idyllic > is relative. I never said that the New World was a > peaceful paradise prior to the arrival of whites. My > view is that they were better off no matter what was > going on prior to colonization. And any harping about > what WAS going on is an attempt (in my view) to > denegrate their prehistory. A way leveling the playing > field by saying they were no better than anyone else. > Why else bring it up? > > That their "true" history is not the "stuff of > storybooks" means nothing to me. I don't believe in > storybooks, only what I've studied and read about. And > believing that they had a remarkable society is not > simply buying into fairytales. It comes from > understanding history. > > -Brendan > > > > -Brendan > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> Rape, incest, torture, and cannibalism are nothing? >> Sorry, but the view of the native American world as >> idyllic is the stuff of storybooks. >> Paul >> >> -------------- Original message >> ---------------------- >> From: Brendan MacRae <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>> Well, maybe not explicitly, no. But "idyllic" is >> what >>> most tribes would consider their existance prior >> to >>> arrival of whites. They may have had their >> internal >>> struggles but it was nothing compared to the >> onslaught >>> of white aggression. >>> >>> It just seemed like that was where that notion was >>> heading. If not, my bad. >>> >>> ;-] >>> >>> -Brendan >>> --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>> >>>> No one suggested anything of the kind. My >> original >>>> post was in response to a suggestion that life >> in >>>> North America was idyllic before the arrival of >>>> Europeans. >>>> Paul >>>> -------------- Original message >>>> ---------------------- >>>> From: Brendan MacRae >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>>>> --- William Robb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>> From: "Paul Stenquist" Subject: Re: PESO - >>>> American >>>>>> Fence >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> But the New York Times is probably the >> most >>>>>> liberal daily newspaper in >>>>>>> the U.S. They always take the side of the >>>>>> oppressed minority if they >>>>>>> can. On the other hand, they don't ignore >>>>>> inconvenient facts. >>>>>>> Considering the source I wouldn't call >> this >>>>>> "history rewritten by the >>>>>>> victors." The article about the violent >>>> cultures >>>>>> of the native >>>>>>> Americans appeared in the science section. >> In >>>>>> truth, it's history >>>>>>> rewritten by archaeologists. >>>>>> My father was a student of local history. >> His >>>> take >>>>>> on pre-European life in >>>>>> North America pretty much jives with what >> you >>>> are >>>>>> saying. His take on >>>>>> post-European life from the Aboriginal point >> of >>>> view >>>>>> was that the vilence >>>>>> shifted from internal to external and they >>>> really >>>>>> weren't any better off for >>>>>> the European invasion. >>>>>> >>>>>> William Robb >>>>>> >>>>> While slavery, copious killing, rape and >> virtually >>>>> every other form of barbarism was prevelant >> among >>>> the >>>>> tribes of North America, it was still the >>>> intrusion of >>>>> Europeans which caused their near total >>>> extinction. To >>>>> suggest that they themselves were at times >> brutual >>>>> toward one another is no defense for their >>>> wholesale >>>>> slaughter at the hands of whites. >>>>> >>>>> -Brendan >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> > ________________________________________________________________________________ >>>>> ____ >>>>> Any questions? Get answers on any topic at >>>> www.Answers.yahoo.com. Try it now. >>>>> -- >>>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>>> PDML@pdml.net >>>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>> >>>> -- >>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>> PDML@pdml.net >>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>> >>> >>> __________________________________________________ >>> Do You Yahoo!? >>> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam >> protection around >>> http://mail.yahoo.com >>> >>> -- >>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>> PDML@pdml.net >>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Yahoo! Music Unlimited > Access over 1 million songs. > http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
