As I read Ned Blackhawk's book five miles to the East of the Wind River Indian Reservation as a 45 year settler, finding this interview on The Red Nation was enriching and will be a companion as I complete the book. The exchanges brought to this interview are of great critical thinking value to me in person exploration of conditioned White Dominance. The interrogation of it while reading this book, keepings reframing my mind. I am deeply grateful.
Greetings ! As an American African I found this interview most enlightening and informative. I look forward to more wisdom and knowledge from both of you. Be strong and live well !
I haven't read too much of the book yet but so far I'm enjoying a Native history that's not solely a castigation of the US and focused on the horrors of colonialism but is actually a rich account of Native peoples' agency and influence. I am confused about a few of the claims in the book, especially concerning relations with missionaries and the French, and about some omissions like any discussion of the settler ideologies that shaped European views and approaches to indigenous peoples (Doctrine of Discovery, the usual stuff...). Maybe that was omitted because it wasn't the focus of the book? Any thoughts from anyone watching?
The book is a unique masterpiece, and the American History Department deserves a rather thorough castigation. Thank you for one of the better interviews with Ned Blackhawk. And greetings from Madison!
One of the important moral issues we as humans face is whether any group of people has a claim of sovereign control over any portion of the planet, or a superior claim based on length of occupancy. My understanding of the cultural norms embraced by the tribal peoples who occupied the northern western hemisphere prior to the arrival of Europeans is that tribal governance did not allocate control over specific land or resources to individuals or families. The history of all groups reveals that so long as groups migrated from season to season or migrated to follow the movement of game animals, societal norms emphasized the sharing of resources to the benefit of all members. This type of communitarian structure weakened over time as hierarchy evolved. Warrior-defender groups eventually evolved into distinct subgroups with their own rituals and means of transferring authority. The knowledge bearers used their special knowledge of how the world works to become priestcrafts, exerting power based on their self-declared ability to communicate with the gods. With settlement in one place comes the need to establish formal rules (i.e., laws) for allocating control over land and natural resources. The migration of Europeans to the western hemisphere imposed on the tribal peoples already here a system of deeded land and landed aristocracy that caused so much misery among the overwhelming majority of people living in the nation-states of Europe and Eurasia. The opportunity of the "Old World" landless to escape the oppression of serfdom or sharecropping brought them west in numbers (and with advanced weaponry of warfare) that quickly overwhelmed the ability of even the most numerous and highly organized tribal societies. Not recognizing the destructive character of the European and Eurasian systems of land tenure, those who became European-Americans adopted the same type of deeded land system. Land speculation has been at the center of the economic system from the very beginning. George Washington became the wealthiest member of his generation from his speculations in "western" lands. In the early 1870s, the editor of a California newspaper named Henry George investigated the causes of conditions he found extremely unsettling. How, in a nation so vast and so rich in resources could there be such a huge problem of poverty and long-term unemployment. George's book, "Our Land and Land Policy," offers important moral and practical lessons for us today -- all of us -- trying to live cooperatively with one another under a system of law crafted not to secure equality of opportunity but to secure and protect privileges. Edward J. Dodson, Director The School of Cooperative Individualism www.cooperative-individualism.org
The insinuation that sedentary societies must necessitate hierarchical structures is not supported by the evidence, see the work of David Wengrow and David Graeber.
@@PiceaSitchensis I will review what Wengrow and Graeber have concluded. I recommend Gerhard Lenski's "Power and Privilege" in support of what I wrote. I do agree that if a tribal society maintains a stable population and, therefore, is not required to adopt intensified methods of agriculture and domestication of animals, the communitarian structure will survive over a much longer period of time. Another important variable is the extent to which the tribal society is not required to establish a warrior culture to defend against external threats.
@@cejannuzi The history of human migration and settlement covers roughly two hundred thousand years. Certainly, some groups were able to live off of the land for many generations. They came to practice horticulture, then agriculture, at very different times. Groups migrated not just for purposes of hunting but also when seasons changed and plant food sources became scarce.
As I read Ned Blackhawk's book five miles to the East of the Wind River Indian Reservation as a 45 year settler, finding this interview on The Red Nation was enriching and will be a companion as I complete the book. The exchanges brought to this interview are of great critical thinking value to me in person exploration of conditioned White Dominance. The interrogation of it while reading this book, keepings reframing my mind. I am deeply grateful.
Greetings ! As an American African I found this interview most enlightening and informative. I look forward to more wisdom and knowledge from both of you. Be strong and live well !
Thank you for this show! In solidarity
Thanks Nick & Ned ❤️ Solidarity
This book is absolutely brilliant! Currently reading it for a second time.
I haven't read too much of the book yet but so far I'm enjoying a Native history that's not solely a castigation of the US and focused on the horrors of colonialism but is actually a rich account of Native peoples' agency and influence.
I am confused about a few of the claims in the book, especially concerning relations with missionaries and the French, and about some omissions like any discussion of the settler ideologies that shaped European views and approaches to indigenous peoples (Doctrine of Discovery, the usual stuff...). Maybe that was omitted because it wasn't the focus of the book? Any thoughts from anyone watching?
The book is a unique masterpiece, and the American History Department deserves a rather thorough castigation. Thank you for one of the better interviews with Ned Blackhawk. And greetings from Madison!
History relating to contemporary implications! Solid air!
One of the important moral issues we as humans face is whether any group of people has a claim of sovereign control over any portion of the planet, or a superior claim based on length of occupancy. My understanding of the cultural norms embraced by the tribal peoples who occupied the northern western hemisphere prior to the arrival of Europeans is that tribal governance did not allocate control over specific land or resources to individuals or families. The history of all groups reveals that so long as groups migrated from season to season or migrated to follow the movement of game animals, societal norms emphasized the sharing of resources to the benefit of all members. This type of communitarian structure weakened over time as hierarchy evolved. Warrior-defender groups eventually evolved into distinct subgroups with their own rituals and means of transferring authority. The knowledge bearers used their special knowledge of how the world works to become priestcrafts, exerting power based on their self-declared ability to communicate with the gods.
With settlement in one place comes the need to establish formal rules (i.e., laws) for allocating control over land and natural resources. The migration of Europeans to the western hemisphere imposed on the tribal peoples already here a system of deeded land and landed aristocracy that caused so much misery among the overwhelming majority of people living in the nation-states of Europe and Eurasia. The opportunity of the "Old World" landless to escape the oppression of serfdom or sharecropping brought them west in numbers (and with advanced weaponry of warfare) that quickly overwhelmed the ability of even the most numerous and highly organized tribal societies. Not recognizing the destructive character of the European and Eurasian systems of land tenure, those who became European-Americans adopted the same type of deeded land system. Land speculation has been at the center of the economic system from the very beginning. George Washington became the wealthiest member of his generation from his speculations in "western" lands.
In the early 1870s, the editor of a California newspaper named Henry George investigated the causes of conditions he found extremely unsettling. How, in a nation so vast and so rich in resources could there be such a huge problem of poverty and long-term unemployment. George's book, "Our Land and Land Policy," offers important moral and practical lessons for us today -- all of us -- trying to live cooperatively with one another under a system of law crafted not to secure equality of opportunity but to secure and protect privileges.
Edward J. Dodson, Director
The School of Cooperative Individualism
www.cooperative-individualism.org
The insinuation that sedentary societies must necessitate hierarchical structures is not supported by the evidence, see the work of David Wengrow and David Graeber.
@@PiceaSitchensis I will review what Wengrow and Graeber have concluded. I recommend Gerhard Lenski's "Power and Privilege" in support of what I wrote. I do agree that if a tribal society maintains a stable population and, therefore, is not required to adopt intensified methods of agriculture and domestication of animals, the communitarian structure will survive over a much longer period of time. Another important variable is the extent to which the tribal society is not required to establish a warrior culture to defend against external threats.
Many of the original peoples were settled farmers. They weren't migratory hunters.
@@PiceaSitchensis I have begun reading Graeber and Wengrow. Thank you for the recommendation.
@@cejannuzi The history of human migration and settlement covers roughly two hundred thousand years. Certainly, some groups were able to live off of the land for many generations. They came to practice horticulture, then agriculture, at very different times. Groups migrated not just for purposes of hunting but also when seasons changed and plant food sources became scarce.
Thank you
gould.usc.edu/students/journals/rlsj/issues/assets/docs/volume32/winter2023/Fife-Solomon.pdf