The pictures speak for themselves. Many Native American men upon contact with Europeans were well over 6 feet tall. Regions such as Montreal, Delaware, Virginia, New England, even Missouri. I myself am 6'3", although I wish I was taller, like 6'7", the height of a basketball player. It is said that some of the first settlers to Long Island, New York, the 6'7" Native men made an English farmer, surname Smith, pick up an Ox as a test: if Smith could walk around his property carrying the Ox without dropping it, which he did, then Smith was "okay" by them. This incident was like an "ice-breaker" between early colonial and Native relationships in that area (Long Island.)
Native people were : farmers, fishers, villagers, and conducted commerce by trade, etc. They weren't so much "nomads" as history books claim, as much as having Summer homes (settlements) and winter homes. They were opportunistic about their real estate, although they did not attach any monetary value to anything; to the ancestors, all of creation was sacred and had it's value/ place. There was a great Algonquian Alliance throughout much of the whole country; in many parts of what is today the United States and Canada. They did not live in "savage" times. For instance, the Powhatan Confederacy of Virginia were Algonquian people, the Lenne-Lenape of Delaware/ New Jersey area, again Algonquian, Shawnee of Missouri-- Algonquian, Ojibway of Manitoba-- Alqonquian, the people of Long Island, New England states and Quebec, and maritime Canada-- all for the most part Algonquian people. For instance, meeting sites at Turner's Falls in Massachusetts in pre colonial times hosted people as far away as the Ohio River Valley. All inter-related and good relations. Much like the homigeny of the Han Chinese people for instance. Everywhere in North America, the mound-building and pyramid-building culture existed, power places of great spirit.
Whenever I see drawings depicting early encounters of Native people with white European colonizers, the contrast between the two different groups of people is striking. Native people are always depicted more in shape, towering over the Europeans. Take this picture for example. I think this is from the Montreal area. Look how dignified the Native group is, compared to the European group- some of the faces on the Europeans look horrified or worried-- they know that compared to their new Native American neighbors, they are incompetent, lawless and weak:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qByUyKvWL...by_Vernier.jpg
The picture below depicts a Native Warrior from the Powhatan Confederacy, supposedly next to the infamous John Smith. The Native man towers in height and strength over the treacherous John Smith:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...h_Pamunkey.jpg
And what about the Jamestown massacre? The colonists probably stole the Native's food supplies, and more than likely desecrated some of their sacred places along the way (it is known for sure this is what happened with early Pilgrim/ Native conflict in New England.)
Germ warfare. In some cases 80-90% of the Native population declined as well as entire villages (east coast). There is scant evidence that the "black plague" in Europe was intentional. If powers-that-be formulated the Black Death before they even went to the "New World", it is possible that they knew what they were doing, ie, unleashing intentional germ warfare.
Also, Native people never sold any land for a few beads and some Wampum (purple shell-- purple, the holy color of chiefs and kings). They saw this as an exchange of friendship, only to quickly learn that the colonists were back-stabbers. Shiny tin cans and buckets would have been considered an interesting substitute in place of sacred objects such as quartz stones, because they reflected light in certain ways that was conducive with the ancestral spiritual beliefs of Native people. Early treaties that were signed were not viewed as treaties. Native people did not realize what it meant (at first.. and there were many firsts in many different areas!) to the European governments--- how could they! Later, treaties were signed at gun point, if at all.
And lastly, the oral tradition is a valuable format for transmitting information from one generation to the next. In fact, in North America, Native people have a reputation for being "great orators." Native flood and earthquake legends which the geologic record of our modern times has now confirmed, retain the memory of these past events which occurred as far back as 5,000-6,000 years ago! For instance, the same earthquakes and floods that broke Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket from mainland Massachusetts, and shaped out Long Island of New York into it's modern shape, are the very same floods and earthquakes that were experienced in other regions of the Atlantic seaboard; such as the island of Crete (North Africa, Mediterranian), the catastrophes that annihilated the Minoan culture on the island of Crete, and the list goes on, such as the Azores islands, etc. The modern volcanic activity on the island of Iceland, as well as some of the Virgin Islands in the Carribean which sometimes go off today, are a remnant of the volcanic activity that rocked the Atlantic seaboard in ancient times. When I stare out onto the Great Blue Hill in the distance, from which Massachusetts gets it's name, I wonder what lay beyond that mountain other than ocean so long ago.
There will come a time when the curse that the Europeans brought upon this land will be lifted. The plague will cease to exist, but first people need to become morally straight with themselves and their neighbors. A higher code of ethics needs to be planted and left to bloom in people's minds and relationships. Focus on the creative narrative, on the life process. Good advice. Thanks, Rob, for shooting it straight.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin
