Gary,
I posted something about the Mound Builders and their decision to return
to hunting and gathering on the NativeNet recently; perhaps that was
what was referred to. Here is the relevant text from that post:
> From: lee@cavern.vortex.com (Lee Flier)
> Date: Sat, 8 Jun 91 20:04:46 PDT
> Newsgroups: gen.nativenet
>
> [in reply to a post by Lyn Dearborn]
>
> I'm very glad you did mention the Mound Builders, because this is an issue
> that seems to have died out in the public interest ever since it was proven
> that the highly advanced Mound Builder societies really were local Natives
> and not some "lost race" that is now extinct. It's as if, in its collective
> guilt, the dominant culture couldn't deal with this cold fact and so decided
> to bury the Mounds, literally and figuratively.
>
> Therefore (and this also serves as a reaction to Gary's post on the
> excellent "Spirit and Nature" program), there is a question that you just
> don't see thrown around that often when discussing Native Americans, and
> one about which I personally am intensely curious:
>
> WHY did the Native people of North America utterly ABANDON this so-called
> "advanced" culture?
>
> The reason I think this question is not asked very much is because the
> dominant society is afraid of the answer. No drought or other single
> natural phenomenon could have so swept the ENTIRE continent that it
> forced the whole population to abandon these centralized, technological,
> European-style cities and return to small hunting, gathering, and
> occasional subsistance farming communities. Therefore, this radical
> and unilateral change in lifestyle had to have been made by CHOICE.
>
> What this would imply is that the Native people knew something that
> Europeans don't - that "civilization" is a dangerous game, fraught
> with social and economic imbalance and unhappiness. Perhaps this
> realization was brought on by a "fall" similar to that of the Roman
> Empire, or a revolt of the lower classes. Or perhaps it was achieved
> less tragically; it is possible that the holy people of the tribes
> foresaw such a fall unless the people returned to the Earth. In any
> case, to ponder this one question is to ponder the very validity of
> the whole economic and social structure on which European (and there-
> fore white American) civilization was built - a civilization which
> is utterly dependent on the notion that the European technological
> form of "advancement" is the absolute crown of creation. As such,
> it's no wonder the question of the abandonment of the Mounds has been
> buried along with the mounds themselves.
>
> Why does a centralized lifestyle like this one invariably die out
> while tribal lifestyles have flourished for thousands of years?
> The obvious reason is that centralized government and technological
> advancement rely on the exploitation of land and resources, which
> cannot continue forever. However, less obvious but equally important
> is another reason: man becomes decadant and unable to make good
> judgements in such conditions. Why?
>
> It seems to me that as soon as one moves beyond hunting, gathering
> and simple farming for one's livelihood, he has in effect made a
> statement that he no longer trusts in the earth, or trusts in the
> Great Spirit, to nurture him. When a people believe they can control
> their own environment, and depend on a paternalistic centralized
> government or corporation for the distribution of goods, they have
> become out of touch with the Earth, God and themselves.
[remainder of message deleted]
It is of course entirely possible that the Mound Builders chose to
"reconnect" with nature after their lifestyle proved to be an
ecological disaster, as you suggest.
It does need to be pointed out though, in terms of your New Mexico
example, that the Anasazi Pueblo cultures cannot be really be taken
in the same context as the Mound Builders. Many of these societies
left their cliff dwellings due to drought or other climactic change
that can be directly accounted for, since the Cliff Dweller culture
was a REGIONAL culture that was only to be found in the Southwest.
Also, the Anasazi culture is not really much different from the
rest of Native culture as we know it on this continent, except for
in their dwellings. The cliff dwellings gave the APPEARANCE of a
highly centralized economy, but really they were only built because
the peaceful Pueblo peoples didn't want to go to war with their
aggressive northern neighbors and so they built homes that would be
good protection from enemies. Within the fortresses of the cliff
dwellings it seems to have been "business as usual" for a well-
balanced North American tribe - no class system; unpretentious,
utilitarian artwork; simple subsistence farming, hunting and gather-
ing. In fact, the present-day Hopi, Zuni et al are living in a manner
not too dissimilar from their Anasazi ancestors' and are definitely
the closest of any tribes to maintaining a pre-white-contact life-
style. If these people's lifestyle was abusive toward the environ-
ment I hardly think it could have survived this long!
What makes the Mound Builder phenomenon different is that there are
mounds virtually ALL OVER the North American continent - in the North-
east, the Southeast, and the Midwest particularly. There is no single
event in terms of climate change that could have prompted such a mass
exodus from a well entrenched way of life. Moreover, the new life-
style that was taken up by the North American Indians was so radically
different from the old that their descendants were pretty much
unrecognizable. Their art, agriculture, housing, forms of government,
religion, the whole shebang, just disappeared. This is a very different
case from the Anasazi. Quite clearly, it was a voluntary move, whether
or not it was originally brought on by ecological problems.
I am currently doing quite a bit of research about the Mound Builders
and would be happy to pass on the best of my findings, and reference
material, as it develops. I do agree that this is one of the most
important questions of our time. We may very well be on the brink
of having to make a decision similar to the Mound Builders', but I
can't say how confident I am that we would make a choice as wise as
theirs was.
= Lee =