ftbc t1_iz0mlpv wrote on December 5, 2022 at 4:29 PM

Reply to comment by Aoeletta in How did Native American tribes indigenous to Yellowstone National Park (e.g., Shoshone, Blackfeet, Crow, etc.) perceive the land (e.g., thoughts on geothermal activity) and what was their relationship like with white/European trappers and explorers entering the region in the early 1800s? by electricdresses

To put it another way: What was lost was basically the pinnacle of stone age culture. They are right that it can't be given a lot of tangible value--but the loss of ten thousand years of cultural evolution is still something to note. 90% of an entire branch of humanity was wiped out. We should regret it no matter how little value it offered.

aganesh8 t1_iz0nquc wrote on December 5, 2022 at 4:36 PM

It can't be given a lot of tangible value? According to what? Science? How do you know what would've come of it, if it was peaceful integration? Your take on it, is still patronizing

ftbc t1_iz0qmby wrote on December 5, 2022 at 4:55 PM

The plagues that decimated the population were inevitable, and those destroyed much of the culture with no special effort by the invaders. Certainly any of thousands of variables would have led to different cultural outcomes, but the native population was so vastly outnumbered after the Old World diseases got done with them that their contribution to the larger picture of humanity was bound to be limited no matter how they were treated.

Ultimately, I don't see a compelling reason to think the world would be substantially different had the genocides not driven them to the brink of extinction.

Edit: to be clear and reiterate my previous point: the loss of culture is a tragic loss no doubt. I'm simply saying that there isn't any way to put a value on that beyond "we don't know things about this culture" which is somewhat circular. There are a lot of cultures we know almost nothing about that were lost to history because they died out or were assimilated. Knowledge is a worthwhile goal in itself, but to say it has any usefulness beyond the satisfaction of simply knowing it is a stretch.