Anyway, articles from Krista and Pat came in to the relay system in
the Boston area at about the same time, both of them suggesting a new
title, so I'm arbitrarily choosing Krista's title for both articles.
However, it should be noted that neither Krista nor Pat had seen one
another's most recent articles when they wrote their own (not that
it necessarily matters, I suppose).
--Gary ]
Pat Crowe and I have different impressions of Native North America.
Sure, there were blood-feuds, and quarrels between brothers who
subsequently moved apart were probably how new tribes got started.
But blood-feud doesn't necessarily entail blood-shed. Murder within
one's own clan or tribe was not common, I'd be willing to bet.
(I doubt we could prove it or disprove it.)
And then there were raids on neighboring tribes in various places
and in such cases there probably was blood-shed. But it was
nothing like the wars of the empires. Here are my impressions
of peace and Native North America.
North America north of Mexico was an interesting place in
prehistoric times. The last glacier receded later than the
European glacier, so that the area was not highly populated. But
there were probably about 10 million people north of Mexico before
the European invasion.
Small pox and measles came to Mexico very quickly, in the early
1500s. There was much trade between the Aztec empire and the
people of the Southeastern and Midwestern regions of what is now
the US. Hence, the diseases probably preceded the white men into
the interior of the continent and by the 1600-1700s only about
1 million Native Americans were left north of Mexico. Due to wars,
incarceration, white expansion and more diseases the number dropped
to about 250,000 in 1890-1910. Today there are over 2 million
Native Americans in the US and Canada.
The paleolithic and neolithic peoples of America were a lot like
the peoples of similar cultures elsewhere in the world. They
hunted by fire and cliff drives, then with spears and atlatls, then
with bows and arrows. They also gathered fruits, nuts, vegetables and
grains, developing baskets to carry them and stone tools to prepare
them. There is little to no evidence of wars from those times.
Finding food and shelter, making clothes and staying alive were the
main priorities. But certainly story-telling, games, courting,
healing and religion played parts in their lives also. Defense was
more against predator animals than other humans. In time, in both
hemispheres, the large ice-age predators (mainly saber-toothed
tigers) died out, as did the mammoths and mastodons.
In the warm climates around the Mediterranean and areas of Asia,
agriculture began. In the Western hemisphere, the birth of
agriculture was in Peru and the warming climates of Mexico, as the
glaciers receded. In those regions of both hemispheres,
populations grew and became dense, too dense. In both regions war
became common and frequent and women became devalued as warriors
became more lustful for power. Empires rose and fell.
All this time there were other areas of the earth that were also
inhabited, but that did not share the same cultural pattern. In
ancient times, areas of North America developed agriculture and
became fairly populated, but didn't get into a war/empire lifestyle.
In the Southwest, it was the Anasazi/Mogollan/Hohokom/Pueblo complex.
In the Midwest to the East Coast, it was the Old Copper/Moundbuilder
complex. (There were other cultures throughout the continent, too.)
To make a long story short, both the Moundbuilders and the
Southwestern people were fairly peaceful. In the Southwest there were
some severe droughts and some wars did result. But such times were
the exception rather than the rule. The Moundbuilders were the
cultural relatives of the Aztecs and also had sun-kings and social
hierarchies. But they were not the ruthless warriors or brutal
human sacrificers that the Aztecs were. I think it's wrong to
excavate mounds, but those that have been dug up show no evidence
of war nor mass sacrifices. (Even when discussing the Aztecs, it's
good to keep in mind that only a select group at the top was
responsible for the brutality; most of the ancestors of the Mexican
Mestizos were probably simple farmers.)
I realize the Moundbuilders' habits are still a point of contention
among archaeologists. Some think there were wars. But I've
read equally good arguments that there weren't. One question has
been the apparent depopulation during the 1600s-1700s. But that is
explained by the possibility that diseases came north from Mexico.
The Moundbuilders are the ancestors of several modern tribes, but
the sun-king culture died out in the 1700s. The Moundbuilders had
always coexisted with the Woodland culture and phases of mound
building came and went while the Woodland culture accounted for the
lifestyle of most of the people in the Midwest and East. Compared
to Europeans and Asians, the people of the Eastern Woodlands were
peaceful. Much has been made of the Iroquois wars of the
1600-1700s, but those wars were caused by European expansion. Were
the Iroquois at war with the other Woodland people before the
coming of the French, Dutch and British?
It's an unknown. However, co-incident with the coming of the first
French was the organization of the League of Five Iroquois Nations,
the goal of which was to end the bickering among the Five. So I
suspect that prior to the unity, the Iroquois indulged only in
minor skirmishes rather than in full-blown war, as did the other
Woodland people. These skirmishes were probably just teen-age boys
being teen-age boys, with a little adult revenge occasionally
escalating the issues.
I haven't space to discuss other cultural areas, nor more modern
times, so let me just summarize. The Arctic and Sub-Artic people
were peaceful and still are. So were the people of the Columbia
Plateau. In both areas, women were valued about equally to men and
decisions were made jointly.
The Great Basin was a rather barren desert and people there were
hungry and irritable, but there were not wars, with the exception of
raids on the Pueblos that occurred periodically. But in some cases
the would-be raiders were befriended by the Pueblo people instead,
and joined them as a new clan.
Along the Northwest Coast was a culture unique in the world. The
society was not as egalitarian as other places and women were
somewhat subjugated. While there were undoubtedly some slave
raids, they probably didn't compare to European wars. The people
were fabulously wealthy and had rituals for shaming one another.
Perhaps the ritual shaming was a replacement for more violent
pursuits.
California was densely populated, but also rich with foods.
Californians were extremely peaceful and had deep respect for
borders with their neighbors. To maintain peace was a conscious,
almost religious value, as it was for the Pueblo people.
Gack, no space left for the Plains. Well, just keep in mind that
the Plains culture of the 1800s was very much affected by white
expansion that occurred from all directions into the interior of
the US. The wars for the Plains were a direct result of external
pressures from the whites and the Indians had nowhere else to go.
It is easier for me to forgive savage acts on the part of desperate
people than savage acts on the part of greedy or racist people.
Conclusion: Native Americans north of Mexico tended to be
peaceful most of the time. European invasion and
expansion severely changed their lives and cultures.
Krista (Sorry so long; could have been worse! :-) )