amen to that greg!

Well said Killdeer and Gregg.  

Fact-filled, Gregg.
I found the attempted use of the word "asinine" unnecessarily unkind, though.   :(  

Most of us dream of a life unfettered, where all we need do is furnish food, clothing and simple shelter for ourselves and our family, instead of funding a zillion other things and people.

There being predatory humans afoot, however, it gets more complicated and difficult than the dream started out. Dang humans anyway.  

I often hear people say that they were born a hundred years too late. While I like to play the dream game, I realize that if I were born a couple hundred years ago, I would not likely have the freedoms I have now. A female back then filled a narrow definition in most cases, and it would take a fair bit of rebellion, fighting and privation for me to live the life of a free hunter on the Middle Ground. No, I travel and do my stuff with a fair bit of freedom from fear. I can pursue many nontraditional (for females) paths and push myself as far as I want, not just as far as somebody lets me. I pay for it daily in my hours of work and the taxes paid, (thank God for trucks and highways and police and jails!). But then I see a picture of a tiny group of humans, separate unto themselves, and wish.  

Killdeer  

i admire the tribe and their ways, the modern world with its greed, power struggles, lies and deception sicken me. my wife is my better half, if it were not for her and my dogs i would come out of the woods in the morning, change from loin cloth to uniform, work, come home, shed the uniform and head for the hills again. i hate modern society something afull. i was born waaaaaay to late. life and death, eat or be eaten, provide or starve. i would trade my modern marvels and ways for simpler things.

Perhaps I should have tempered my opener or inserted a handy gremlin as well as used spell-check.

Your point is not lost on me.  Fantasy is good and it is a good fantasy.

Gregg,

It's nice to see some reality spelled out for the romantics here once in a while.

Can you imagine the bravery?

A chopper in flight, with it`s noise, and violence, and they stand at full draw... prepared to fight, facing something unknown.
Something unbelievable.

I can only hope that I have that kind of bravery in me somewhere.

Gregg,

Harsh opening line my friend bordering on disrespect to Mr Petersen  :(   I think you need to come over to my camp and shoot some pigs or something  

Gregg makes a good point that we sometimes forget. We want to think of native people as somehow innocent and pure. Call it the dances with wolves syndrome if you will, but it's historically inaccurate. Killie, your writing is incredible. I could read your stuff all day. If you'd right a book I'd learn to read gooder just for you.....

I still like the idea of shooting down a chopper with a bow though.

ass a. nine  

Apparently, my general understanding of the word asinine is in error or is not as literal as some people's.  It was not my intent to imply that Mr. Peterson was an ass.  I apologize that it was taken that way.

My great-great uncle Richard lived to be 98 years old.  He never owned a car although he was a man of considerable means.  When he was too old and feable to mount his trusty steed, he trained it to kneel so he could continue to live in an antiquated way.  What does this have to do with native tribes anywhere?  Not a whole lot, but it does highlight two points.

Uncle Richard wasn't good or bad, right or wrong.  He had lived long enough to fit in each category at least once.  Every persons opinion of him was unique.  I suppose he was "right and good" in his own mind, which is the only one that mattered to him.  Same as all antiquated people, natives, primitives, etc.

The "advantage" of technology is not always invited or wanted.  It is cumbersome to some minds.  I don't think that Killdeer, Ken or Dave are fantasizing.  What they represent is individuals that would prefer to live with their minds unencumbered by modern "advantages".  Sorry if this observation is incorrect.  

It applies to these heathen savages (intentional irony in the nomenclature) in this way, they do not have a choice and it is indeed sad.  Having the ability to see their situation from the outside in, I don't think they are going to benefit from modern society.  I don't wish them to see the days of highway traffic, punching a clock, taxes and such ilk.  Are they good or bad? Right or wrong?  It probably doesn't matter what we think based on our perception.  Their reality is different.  Use the advantage? I suppose they will - to their damnation.  Long live the free soul!

Isn't this a wonderfully frank and decent debate? Jedimaster you sum it up well.
All of us dreamers wish for a simple life where we can meet our physical and emotional needs without 'the system' yet we might choose to forget that the system is what keeps us safe from those predatory humans out there. Killy has it spot on about the roles of women 100 years ago, and in 'modern Africa'.I have been a home steader and an urban dweller; you trade the effort of one for the convenience of the other, neither is 'free'. I agree with Gregg that it is perhaps naive to imagine that things were peaceful and nice in the old days, perhaps more honest but history shows that brutality has always been part of our 'human success'. So like Killy I live in my urban home,use the internet, and dream of time out from all this 'modern progress'! We sleep with one ear open and hope that those rough men outside are friends and not murderers. chrisg

Hmmmmmm. I wonder what they pay a gallon for gas?

If they have oil, maybe we should use our technology to overthrow their government.    

Gregg -- A couple of points: Neither Inca nor Aztec were hunter-gatherer tribes; both were highly developed agricultural civilizations.  And I flew helicopters for five years. But yes, what I said would seem shocking, being said out of context without a full explanation of a very complex topic. So we reap what we plant, fair enough.

Thanks Dave.

I love this place!
Killdeer  

QuoteOriginally posted by Killdeer:
I love this place!
Killdeer      

This has been a very interesting topic. I have a simple saying. Half of my  ancestors came and took this land away from the other half of my ancestors. I personally wish I knew more about the first, only know that it was the Cherokee Nation.

Gotta give these guys in the photo great credit for their courage- standing their ground against a bird that big.
Kinda like lobster- crunchy on the outside; white meat inside....

Here in Idaho; the military used to; and might still- do a lot of practicing with helecopters. I knew one pilot and they would take pictures of elk as if they were Al queda army tanks. They had contests to see who could get the most photos.
He said that quite often when they would land; there would be arrows stuck in the bottom of the helecopter.
I never shot at one; but they practiced during elk season; and I can relate to the temptation.

those guys in the photos were standing strong!

i wish the cheif tribesman would run for office, bet that would cut out a lot of the goverment waste and taxes!