Aboriginies First Sights White-man

[Anonymous]

There is a reserve North of Barrie, called Rama. It is a prosperoust community with a casino as it's main employer, and an ice rink better than the adjacent city of Orillia. I haven't seen dysfunctional reserves.

[Blurt]

You are a moron....

Well, then, the matter's settled, innit?



No doubt your views on anything stem from that magic book of yours, don't they?



You know, the one filled with stories about supernatural beings venerated by desert peasants native to the Fertile Crescent?



Moron, indeed.

[Anonymous]

There is a reserve North of Barrie, called Rama. It is a prosperoust community with a casino as it's main employer, and an ice rink better than the adjacent city of Orillia. I haven't seen dysfunctional reserves.

Reserves furthest away from urban centres tend to have more social problems..



That's what I've heard anyway.

[Gaon]

Yes, sure.



Except that tribal cultures, contrary to our "advanced" civilization, have certain things going for them that we have lost, and lost at our own peril.



They retain a strong affiliation to their community as a whole; we prize unbridled individualism.



Theirs is an organic spirituality; our religions are divorced from our surroundings.



They see their connection to their environment as a life-giving one; we see our connection to ours as a profit-making one.



They have no desire to spread, like a virus, outside their native land; we will not be happy until we've conquered the universe.



We could learn much, and possibly even stave off our own annihilation, by heeding tribal wisdom.



Our Eurocentric blinders will not let us see this, though.

You have a romanticized view of the tribal culture..



The rest of the lefties and the natives share your image of peaceloving treehugging hippies.

There is a false narrative of indigenous cultures being in perfect harmony with nature.

[Blurt]

Who claims it's false?



Someone invested in a different narrative?

[Gaon]

Who claims it's false?



Someone invested in a different narrative?

Who claims it's false? People that believe that indigenous cultures are in perfect harmony with nature without knowing anything about the history of those cultures.

[Blurt]

No, those would be people who say your claim about the narrative being false is false, not true.

[Gaon]

No, those would be people who say your claim about the narrative being false is false, not true.

That is true. The people that fall for the romanticized narrative of indigenous groups would have to believe those of us that don't buy their fairy tales are falling for a false narrative.

[Wazzzup]

Who claims it's false?



Someone invested in a different narrative?

Who claims it's false? People that believe that indigenous cultures are in perfect harmony with nature without knowing anything about the history of those cultures.

There's a lot of hollywood mythmaking going on.  A lot of people see entertaining movies like dances with wolves and Thunderheart-- and absorb the narratives created as if they are real.

[Zetsu]

They had no metal... no clothes, no permanent dwellings... just dirt, flies, and shortened lives.

It seems like even farm animals have better living standards, at least they don't have to starve and eat tree fibers as a staple diet.

[Gaon]

Who claims it's false?



Someone invested in a different narrative?

Who claims it's false? People that believe that indigenous cultures are in perfect harmony with nature without knowing anything about the history of those cultures.

There's a lot of hollywood mythmaking going on.  A lot of people see entertaining movies like dances with wolves and Thunderheart-- and absorb the narratives created as if they are real.

That's what I meant by a romanticized view of indigenous cultures.

[Bricktop]

Yes, sure.



Except that tribal cultures, contrary to our "advanced" civilization, have certain things going for them that we have lost, and lost at our own peril.



They retain a strong affiliation to their community as a whole; we prize unbridled individualism.



Theirs is an organic spirituality; our religions are divorced from our surroundings.



They see their connection to their environment as a life-giving one; we see our connection to ours as a profit-making one.



They have no desire to spread, like a virus, outside their native land; we will not be happy until we've conquered the universe.



We could learn much, and possibly even stave off our own annihilation, by heeding tribal wisdom.



Our Eurocentric blinders will not let us see this, though.

That is a rather racist observation. Why not simply use the word "white" instead of "Eurocentric".



On this matter I think our peers have summed up your perspective admirably. Your perception that primitive tribal life was in some way morally better than our own is simply not supported by fact.



As has been stated, aborigines live shorter lives, suffer poor health, are abused by their elders and tortured in the name or primitive superstition.



They simply failed to evolve. During the 30,000 years of their habitation of the Australian continent, Egypt built pyramids in the desert, Europeans mastered metallurgy and science, Cambodians built the largest city on Earth, China built a wall thousands of kilometres long, Incas built huge temples and developed an accurate calendar, Native Americans wove ornate blankets and built tepees whilst the Australian aborigine, despite the riches of the land they lived on, wandered around catching lizards and using sticks for tools.



How do you integrate a primitive stone age tribe with deep cultural traits based on the most basic human need to survive into a world of space exploration, instant global communication, houses, cars and politics?



You cannot. You do not have to demean or denigrate to accept reality. You won't change a Quebecois into a Mayan priest. And you don't insult him by admitting the fact.

[caskur]

Yes, sure.



Except that tribal cultures, contrary to our "advanced" civilization, have certain things going for them that we have lost, and lost at our own peril.



They retain a strong affiliation to their community as a whole; we prize unbridled individualism.



Theirs is an organic spirituality; our religions are divorced from our surroundings.



They see their connection to their environment as a life-giving one; we see our connection to ours as a profit-making one.



They have no desire to spread, like a virus, outside their native land; we will not be happy until we've conquered the universe.



We could learn much, and possibly even stave off our own annihilation, by heeding tribal wisdom.



Our Eurocentric blinders will not let us see this, though.

You have a romanticized view of the tribal culture..



The rest of the lefties and the natives share your image of peaceloving treehugging hippies.

Most indigenous have been romanticized as "noble savages" but the truth and the evidence is that they were just as nasty, warring and conquering as any other groups of humans.  They just didn't have boats and other technology that allowed them to take that conquering mindest overseas like many Europeans did.



As far as succeeding in white countries--IMO They should either carve out an area, make their own country and sink or swim like Brick said.  Or do what many ethnic groups did and assimilate into the larger culture.

They do have reservations.... Very mean white people fly out to the missions, pick up the sick, fly them to hospitals, then fly them home again all on tax payers dollars.





You don't hear about that in docomentaries do you?

[Gaon]

They have no desire to spread, like a virus, outside their native land; we will not be happy until we've conquered the universe.



We could learn much, and possibly even stave off our own annihilation, by heeding tribal wisdom.

Spreading out away from Earth and through the universe is the only way to avoid annihilation and extinction.

I can think of a people from the Middle East that did that.

[caskur]

There is a reserve North of Barrie, called Rama. It is a prosperoust community with a casino as it's main employer, and an ice rink better than the adjacent city of Orillia. I haven't seen dysfunctional reserves.

Reserves furthest away from urban centres tend to have more social problems..



That's what I've heard anyway.

Over the years, social workers from North America have been in my groups and told me the indigenous of their areas had alcohol and child sex abuse in their communities... stuff most normal people want to vomit over.