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[–] 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

They hunted herds of bison, surely anthropologists would understand that they could handle a single Mammoth.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    In theory you would think they could understand, but the image of "there was nothing here" and "the indigenous people were simple hunter gatherers incapable of much strategy or forethought" is very very strong even today.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

    Do people really think that? In school, we were never taught Native Americans were helpless foragers; quite the opposite.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    Yes.

    But also, I never said helpless foragers. The messaging on Americas indigenous peoples is that they are "strong and have potential" but that they were "naturally dominated by superior culture and knowledge". That they were here doing mostly nothing with all this land, and so it's right that it was taken. The saying goes "kill the Indian, save the man."

    Were you taught about continent spanning cultures and trade, heavy building, cities, intercontinental trade, farming, etc? Were you taught that the forests were purposefully grown, the herds intentionally tended, or just that it was an Eden and the strong people lived in it? Do you know anything of the languages or knowledge of the specific people who's land you are on?

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