Touch The Earth - Question #7
See - I told you I didn't forget! I took a little break after the whole " do geese migrate or not?" question, and when I came back, I found out that the next question was really hard!
Question #7: How did the indigenous people of your area obtain their subsistence from nature? What use have humans made of this land during the past two centuries?
First of all, this should really be two individual questions. I realize that in many places the two may be related, but where I live, the Native Americans were pretty much driven out of the area before 1800, so the humans making use of this land for the past two centuries were not the indiginous people.
Second of all, I kept getting sidetracked while researching this question because - the Native Americans were pretty much driven out of this area before 1800. I've had people tell me I'm too sensitive about stuff like this, but when I think about that, it just makes me sick. And then I get very angry when I think that an entire culture was so easily and thoughtlessly destroyed. And then I get furious when I think that these things are still going on today. And then I feel helpless when I start to think of all the bad things going on in the world. And then I have to step away from the computer and go watch TV or read or meditate or drum or basically do anything to get my mind off of the horrors of the world that I can't possibly solve. Then I come back a few days later and go "Hey - I really need to do my next TTE question. Wait - what happened to the Lenape?" And then the cycle begins again.
But then I realized that if I didn't get moving on question 7, I'd never move on to question 8 and find out where my garbage goes and how it gets there. I know you don't want to be kept in suspense any more than I do, so I'm going to make an effort to answer only the questions asked here and not get too sidetracked.
Anyway - question 7a: How did the indigenous people of your area obtain their subsistence from nature?
The indigenous people of this area were the Native Americans of the Lenape tribe. They were largely a hunter-gatherer society, but they also made use of agriculture. They hunted by bow and arrow - deer and bear were their primary source of meat. They also caught fish and shellfish. Corn was their primary crop, but they also grew beans, squash and tobacco. There were numerous edible plants growing in the area, so their diet also consisted of potatoes, peas, chestnuts, hickory nuts, grapes, plums, crabapples, cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. They did quite well. You know, until the genocide began.
Question 7b: What use have humans made of this land during the past two centuries?
Maybe I'm just feeling extra-cynical right now, but from what I can tell we've spent the past 200 years paving over as much of the land as possible. In the state of Pennsylvania, agriculture is still the number one industry. But I live in the suburbs, and pretty much every day there's a new housing development, a new parking lot, a new office park going up somewhere. I know, I know - if I'm living smack in the middle of suburbia, I'm part of the problem. And I know I talk a lot about not wanting to spend too much time outside....but that doesn't mean I think nature should be completely encased in concrete!
Well, I have thoroughly depressed myself now. I'm going to need another break before I start researching the final destination of my garbage. I know you're all waiting with baited breath.....just hang in there!