All opinions count - North American Anthropology - facts and fiction?
Asked by
Here2_4 (
7152
)
October 28th, 2014
There have been some questions lately about anthropology in North America where I have contributed some facts, and also had a little fun for myself. I get the feeling it wasn’t fun for everybody.
I decided I would ask this question to make a gathering place for very amazing/interesting/obscure/new facts but I also want to see some fun imagination.
What if camels had flourished and survived in their place of origin, and populated well through the area now our U.S.?
What if the first human migrations began following rivers inland rather than the coast southward? It could have left South America generally unexplored until arrival of the Spanish maybe?
What if the human migration to the Americas had been familiar with certain mammals much earlier?
I still would like someone to make and post a rendition in any medium, or several, depicting tribal life had they salvaged and domesticated the remaining camel and horse populations preventing their extinction. Might they have gained a travel advantage, and enslaved Europeans who landed on their shores?
Have fun, and play. I welcome all input.
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36 Answers
The first North Americans were from Russia.
Sarah Palin can see Russia from her porch.
Funny. Maybe she could go for a walk that direction?
can we at least move further back in history?
They believe they have come up with a way to revive Passenger Pigeons.
Fat lot of good it will do, because they also believe that when the forests would no longer support the last 10,000 Passenger pigeons their extinction was inevitable.
Both tidbits were from NPR in the past few weeks. I’m tired of posting citations that are ignored.
I’ll ask my friend the archeologist/anthropologist that teaches at a local college.
But I know there were no wheels in the native population, except for a wheel barrow or two.
Plowing with ground sloths!
- The totem poles are just “story poles”. They are based on stories of a life of someone, or a legend… The symbols on the poles are the most relevant/important things of the stories.
- The Native Americans are one of the first people to use “anaesthetic”. Their anaesthetic was made of herbs native to their place. Even Europeans at that time still had to knock the patients unconscious.
- The raven is the most popular character in Native American folktales. They can take many forms, from a bird to a human. They can be evil, but they are mostly good.
- The Native Americans didn’t believe that death resulted from old age or disease. They thought it was caused by bad spirits. That was partly the reason why medicine men existed.
- Native Americans’ surnames were animal’s names. If they got married, the children got the surnames of their mother.
- If the European hadn’t invaded North America, the Native Americans today would probably stay the same as they were hundreds years ago. They didn’t bother to travel to the sea or try to reach places other than North America.
Hope that’s suffice
Updated: My knowledge comes from American Indian by Frederick Starr.
HOW did the apache build such sophisticated helicopters with little funding & resources?
Heap powerful medicine. Ancestors guide to spirit world, use flight of eagle, strength of bear, cunning of fox, armor of turtle, bite of wolf, and peyote make lift to sky.
Another tribe failed to patent their helicopter design, they should sioux.
They have little Hopi to collect.
Some people can’t tell the difference between “medicine man” and “witchdoctor”. They may do the same thing but “witchdoctor” is from Africa and “medicine man” is from North America. Some prefer to use “witchdoctor” to refer to “medicine man” because “witchdoctor” sounds more like a shaman.
Somebody correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the distinction between the two is witchdoctors claim to perform magic. Medicine men (and women) were healers. They used herbs, berries chanting, to heal both physically, and spiritually.
You heard of the Little River Band? Well, they started as the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin. But they were bad so they replaced their drummer and changed their name. True Story Sort Of
Then there is the Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California. Never knew the Indians had so much musical talent.
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians.
UMPqua… UMPqua… UMPqua…. I could listen to the rhythmic sounds of an UMPqua band any day!
Many years I participated in a wagon train from Tucson to Denver and back as part of a youth program. The wagon master told me we had real Native American scouts going out to determine such things as campsites from day to day. He proceeded to tell me our scouts were from the “Fugawee” tribe.
I told him “I’ve never heard of that tribe.”
He said, “You can always tell when they’re here. They’re always running around, saying,
We’re the Fugawee! We’re the Fugawee!
Say it out loud if you didn’t get it.
Ahhhh, yes, The Fugawee. I believe they can trace their roots all the way back to Moses.
@Here2_4 Does that have to do with the LDS (and others) who believe that some Native Americans are descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel?
Heyy, I haven’t heard anyone mention that in quite some time.
I thought that was an interesting idea, years ago when I first heard it. I no longer believe it could have any validity. Actually, I was only continuing the pun to extend to those poor suckers lost in their wilderness. Still, if just a few hundred years ago Columbus could be so messed up he thought he was in India, maybe other people, in hoards, could get wayyyy off track too. Don’t know how it would have been possible.
Well, it kinda makes sense that the Fugawee would be one of the lost tribes!~
(~)=(ba-da-bum)
Fugawee means “Where the hell are wee?” in Fugawee.
There are some who believe the ‘Knights Templar”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar had some footholds in the New World dating back to around the late 1200’s to the early 1300’s.
Wow, @rojo , that is a very exciting read. I never heard that story before. I had heard there were legends of white tribes, but never any history explaining how they might have gotten here.
More than likely just a romantic myth you guys.
Just because there is no historical record, it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!
Written records aren’t the only things that count. Is there any hard, physical evidence for it?
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