Let us give thanks
Don Coldsmith
Originally published 01:21 p.m., November 19, 2007
Updated 01:21 p.m., November 19, 2007
It's an appealing picture, that of the first Thanksgiving. We are told the menu of the feast and there are a great many details about the planting of corn and pumpkins and the hunting of turkeys and venison.
There is even an occasional hint that the Pilgrims would not have been alive without the advice and instruction of the native growers, in an agriculture far superior to anything in Europe. Take the planting of corn, which to us seems simple. Corn is completely a man-made plant. There is no “wild” corn. It can be traced back for several thousand years, but each year it must be planted by human hands, at a specified distance apart. It is found in seven types, originating in Mexico: sweet corn, hominy corn, popcorn, flour corn, others. We have a “native” friend who loves to remind us that Europe had very few crops until those from the “New World” were added.
“Europeans didn’t have anything good to eat!” our friend insists. “Your ancestors were trying to survive on sauerkraut and turnips, while mine sat in their lodges, eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate.”
Yes, chocolate was another commodity, brought here from Mexico by Indian traders. Approximately 60 percent of the crops now grown world-wide were first domesticated by American Indians. Europe had no beans, potatoes, onions, peppers, corn... The list that they did NOT have is many times longer. This is reflected in British children’s stories, poems and folk tales. Pumpkins must have fascinated them: A huge golden vegetable which turns into a golden coach for Cinderella. The pumpkin is unlike anything ever seen in Europe. The American Indians used it widely, mostly as a dried staple. It was used as a base, or “stock” for soups and stews. It was easy to break off a few sticks of dried pumpkin for such a purpose. To me, the uses to which we now put the pumpkin symbolize the waste of nutrition in gluttonous society.
A climbing bean stalk, never seen before, furnishes a ladder for “Jack,” and makes him wealthy. Potatoes, never seen before, adapted so well to the Irish climate that they became “Irish potatoes.” Unfortunately, they became the single Irish crop and a crop failure in such an economy is disastrous. It resulted in the “potato famine” in Ireland in 1845. This created a mass migration of refugees from Ireland, competing for scarce jobs, and an example of the risks of only one crop, instead of some variety.
But, back to other staple foods of the native Americans. The federal government, in its infinite wisdom, forced many “tribes” to move to other areas, in random seasons. The crops used by the various cultures would have to be carried as seeds, cuttings, roots, or in some other transportable form. In many cases, the migration was forced at such an impossible season as to lose the entire reproduction of their basic food supply. Purposely, perhaps?
Botanists at the Smithsonian Institution have estimated that more crop sources were LOST in this way than those we still have. I have been shown several of these crops by Indian friends. In some isolated areas they are still harvested. Some are quite tasty.
These advanced bits of knowledge are not limited to agriculture. Benjamin Franklin’s “Articles of Confederation,” which became our Bill of Rights, can be traced to the Iroquois’ “Great Law of Peace.” It was created by a native congress of representatives in the northeastern part of the country. It is worth noting that nearly half of their representatives were women. In some “Indian” nations, the governing body consisted exclusively of women. The warrior’s job was entirely that of law enforcement and defense. Decisions affecting the “tribe” were made by the women. A young leader might be voted out of his position by the council of the elder women.
Of course, customs and laws varied considerably from one culture to another. There were, at the time of Columbus, somewhere between 300 and 600 distinct “Indian” cultures, some far more advanced than others, each with its own customs, language and laws. Many were far more advanced in medicine, healing and sanitation than the white invaders. Maybe, even, in philosophy and religion.
But, let us give thanks for what we do concede and for what we now have.
See you down the road.
Author and columnist Don Coldsmith lives in Emporia.