Re: Aboriginal Overkill...Environmentalism

Matthew S. Tomaso (Tomaso@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU)
Wed, 3 May 1995 21:14:00 -0500

Some good points have been made which connect the contemporary political
representation of 'indigenous peoples' as environmentalists with the trope
of the noble savage, etc. etc. I would like to strongly reccommend to
anybody who is seriously interested in this issue that they:

1. Discontinue the practice of referring to Native Americans and 'the
indigenous' as if they are one single unified ideological community with an
homogeneous approach to the environment and anything else.

2. Give up the idea of generalizing about 'all of THEM' as if 'Them' has a
set meaning.

3. Read some geoarchaeology - especially the work of Karl W. Butzer, and
also Mike Waters. Read _Victorian Anthropology_ by George Stocking - Then
come back to this topic.

Cheers,
Matt
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Matt Tomaso, irreverent grad student.
TOMASO@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU
Anthropology. University of Texas at Austin.
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