Re: The joy of Democracy

On Mon, 4 Nov 2024 21:48:18 +0100, D wrote:

I'll never trust a democrat when it comes to US history again! What else
has been hidden from me? In europe, indians are these sweet little
nature people who can do no wrong, and who were abused by the white man.
That's the only story around the european mainstream.

There is that Rousseauian noble savage spin in the US too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois

That's a long article but the gist is the expansion of the Iroquois
confederacy was as subtle as any European nation building. They are the
reason the 'Last of the Mohicans' was the last one. Quite a dew of the
tribes the European settles thought of as Plains Indians had formerly
lived in the eastern woodlands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfeet_Nation

That's an example. Given them guns and horses and the Blackfeet tried to
kill everything in sight. The only Indians killed by the Lewis and Clark
expedition were Blackfeet who were trying to steal their guns and horses.

Thoreau was enthralled by the artifacts he found in his wanderings around
the Concord area. He was also put off by the contemporary versions.

Long story short -- Indians are human. Among other things they managed to
hunt many North American species to extinction so they aren't exactly
ecowarriors.