Re: Amerind an offensive term (was: Early Amerind assimilation
Stephen Barnard (steve@megafauna.com)
Sun, 04 Aug 1996 11:06:18 -0800
Xina wrote:
>
> Very simple, most of the *dominant society* (read that as decended from
> European ancestors, not aboriginal to this country) dont give a damn about
> the country, just what they term in real estate as "highest and best use
> of the land". The AmerInd, Native, aboriginal (insert choice descriptive
> here) people for the most part find this idea abhorrent.
There is pretty good evidence that the early arrivals from Siberia were
responsible for the extinction of the large Pleistocene animals in North and
South America (animals like Mammoths and Giant Ground Sloths). Some disagree
with this, but that's the majority opinion among those who are in a position
to have informed opinions.
There is no disagreement that the arrival of aboriginal people to islands such
as Madagascar, Cyprus, and New Zealand led to the extinction of many
defenseless island species, such as flightless birds and pygmy elephants.
Indians in North America had the practice of stampeeding herds of Bison over
cliffs, killing as many as possible, and far more than could be consumed.
Today some Native American groups demand unlimited hunting and fishing rights,
even though they use modern weapons, steel traps, snowmobiles, nylon nets,
etc., justifying this by claiming that they only want to pursue their
traditional way of life. IMHO, if they want to pursue their traditional way
of life they should do it with stone-age tools.
It's clear that the "dominant society" has no monopoly on a tendency to ruin
the environment through unsustainable practices.
Steve Barnard
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