Brad; thanks, very thoughtful. I especially appreciate the Native Lands Map and I shared that with my Colonial Latin American History wife who is working on uncovering the history of the enslavement of indigenous people throughout our hemisphere. Cheers, Preston
Thanks, Preston! Yes, that mapping project is really great. I may dive into that a bit more this spring when I venture into Cartography. I love your wife is uncovering that history. You both may be interested in this controversial study claiming the "Dying of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas led to the abandonment of enough cleared land in the Americas that the resulting terrestrial carbon uptake had a detectable impact on both atmospheric CO2 and global surface air temperatures in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118307261
I'd love to chat with her about that. Another reason to head north! 😉
Thanks for commenting, Preston. It means a lot. Cheers to you too, 🍺!
Love this. I find the willingness to know and talk about this history is quite subjective to area. Most of my extended family, whom I love, are in Texas battling the ice and burst pipes and power outages now. But among them I’ve had the experience of bringing up ancestors coming over “when Tx was still Mexico” and getting convicted denial that the land they occupy could have ever have been MX. Of course, disagreement is solved by a quick google search. It makes me wonder though if a fairly substandard geography and history education is essential for perpetuating nationalistic ideals.
Thanks, Jodie. I'm glad you liked it! Your Texas perspective is important to me. I feel for your family. The suffering down there is a disgrace. Citizens of the richest country in the world, with the most advanced military logistics invented, should not be suffering like this. 😞
I think you're right about the need and desire to perpetuate nationalistic ideas. A good example is the pledge of allegiance. Which was originally written by a Christian Socialist who wanted the word 'equality' included, but knew it wouldn't fly because too many people didn't believe in equal rights for women and BIPOC. He also stipulated the salute look like this what we now know as a Nazi salute. 😮 https://youtu.be/7nawIXBuBrU?t=58 But they changed that before putting into law in 1945 for obvious reasons.
I think there is some good in a nation sharing ideals, but it needs to be rooted in honesty and equanimity...and compassion.
I appreciate the kind words and perspective, Jodie. 🙏🏼
I recently watched Ken Burns documentary series The West. I had always thought of America’s expansion West as an idyllic thirst for more independence. I hadn’t grasped the scale of slaughter and exploitation - first to Native Americans and second to the American Bison - required in satisfying that thirst. My sense of pioneering pride was replaced with the shame of greed. Where we are collectively in our relationship with natural resources and climate control has deep roots and like a colony of Aspen, if the roots of one tree are infected it spreads to the whole.
Thanks, John, for *your* reflections. I did not know about the Ken Burns series. I've been reading books by Indigenous historians and scholars like Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Nick Estes and I also tune in to Nick's 'The Red Nation' podcast. It can be raw, but offers a radically different perspective than I grew up with. I love your Aspen colony metaphor. You are spot on. I hope to draw on themes of connectedness throughout the coming months. Maybe starting this spring as I ease in to Cartography and Tobler's First Law of Geography: "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things."
Your words matter a lot. Thanks for taking the time to read and to comment. 🙏🏼
Brad; thanks, very thoughtful. I especially appreciate the Native Lands Map and I shared that with my Colonial Latin American History wife who is working on uncovering the history of the enslavement of indigenous people throughout our hemisphere. Cheers, Preston
Thanks, Preston! Yes, that mapping project is really great. I may dive into that a bit more this spring when I venture into Cartography. I love your wife is uncovering that history. You both may be interested in this controversial study claiming the "Dying of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas led to the abandonment of enough cleared land in the Americas that the resulting terrestrial carbon uptake had a detectable impact on both atmospheric CO2 and global surface air temperatures in the two centuries prior to the Industrial Revolution." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118307261
I'd love to chat with her about that. Another reason to head north! 😉
Thanks for commenting, Preston. It means a lot. Cheers to you too, 🍺!
Love this. I find the willingness to know and talk about this history is quite subjective to area. Most of my extended family, whom I love, are in Texas battling the ice and burst pipes and power outages now. But among them I’ve had the experience of bringing up ancestors coming over “when Tx was still Mexico” and getting convicted denial that the land they occupy could have ever have been MX. Of course, disagreement is solved by a quick google search. It makes me wonder though if a fairly substandard geography and history education is essential for perpetuating nationalistic ideals.
Thanks, Jodie. I'm glad you liked it! Your Texas perspective is important to me. I feel for your family. The suffering down there is a disgrace. Citizens of the richest country in the world, with the most advanced military logistics invented, should not be suffering like this. 😞
I think you're right about the need and desire to perpetuate nationalistic ideas. A good example is the pledge of allegiance. Which was originally written by a Christian Socialist who wanted the word 'equality' included, but knew it wouldn't fly because too many people didn't believe in equal rights for women and BIPOC. He also stipulated the salute look like this what we now know as a Nazi salute. 😮 https://youtu.be/7nawIXBuBrU?t=58 But they changed that before putting into law in 1945 for obvious reasons.
I think there is some good in a nation sharing ideals, but it needs to be rooted in honesty and equanimity...and compassion.
I appreciate the kind words and perspective, Jodie. 🙏🏼
I recently watched Ken Burns documentary series The West. I had always thought of America’s expansion West as an idyllic thirst for more independence. I hadn’t grasped the scale of slaughter and exploitation - first to Native Americans and second to the American Bison - required in satisfying that thirst. My sense of pioneering pride was replaced with the shame of greed. Where we are collectively in our relationship with natural resources and climate control has deep roots and like a colony of Aspen, if the roots of one tree are infected it spreads to the whole.
Thanks for your reflections Brad.
Thanks, John, for *your* reflections. I did not know about the Ken Burns series. I've been reading books by Indigenous historians and scholars like Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Nick Estes and I also tune in to Nick's 'The Red Nation' podcast. It can be raw, but offers a radically different perspective than I grew up with. I love your Aspen colony metaphor. You are spot on. I hope to draw on themes of connectedness throughout the coming months. Maybe starting this spring as I ease in to Cartography and Tobler's First Law of Geography: "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things."
Your words matter a lot. Thanks for taking the time to read and to comment. 🙏🏼