Re: Amerind an offensive term (was: Early Amerind assimilation
Jeffrey L Baker (jbaker@gas.uug.arizona.edu)
Sun, 4 Aug 1996 22:13:07 -0700
On Sun, 4 Aug 1996, Stephen Barnard wrote:
>
> 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 not good evidence that the First Nations caused the extinction
of large Pleistocene mammals. The only evidence available is a) the
extinction occurred shortly after the arrival of humans in the western
hemisphere, and b) humans occasionaly killed large mammals (though I
am not aware of a single giant ground sloth kill site!).
In regard to a, the arrival of humans into this hemisphere also appears
to be shortly before some relatively drastic climatic changes. For (b),
in regard to mammoths, there are fewer than 20 mammoth skeletons in the
entire western hemisphere that have been found in association with
human artifacts. In a single cave in Texas, that was inhabited by
a sabretooth tiger, there are over 50 mammoth skeletons.
There is not a majority opinion on this topic. It is a much disputed topic,
and to state that only "some disagree" is to trivialize the lack of data
that supports your claim.
> It's clear that the "dominant society" has no monopoly on a tendency to ruin
> the environment through unsustainable practices.
So this gives us the right to ignore treaties and treat them like subhuman
populations?
Get a life Mr. Bernard! Your attitude is precisely why MB and Eric, and
so many other Native Americans are pissed off at Europeans.
Jeff Baker
|