History Starts with Food

Winner of the 2015 American Book Award is “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States” … Today it is one of the most popular books used in public state history education.  It is part of: “Beacon Press Re-visioning of American History series consisting of accessible written books by notable scholars that reconstruct and reinterpret US History from diverse perspectives.”  Page 25 has but one paragraph covering the north Pacific Rim’s Native Peoples:

“In the Pacific Northwest, from present-day Alaska to San Francisco, and along the vast inland waterways to the mountain barriers, great seafaring and fishing peoples flourished, linked by culture, common ceremonies, and extensive trade.  These were wealthy people living in a comparative paradise of natural resources, including the sacred salmon.  They invented the potlatch, the ceremonial distribution or destruction of accumulated goods, creating a culture of reciprocity.  They crafted gigantic wooden totems, masks, and lodges carved from giant sequoias and redwoods.”

The next post will touch on the Gardens and Farm’s introductory perspective, quite different from the above.  A time when food, shelter, and security were struggles; almost everyone started from a zero base … and totems were not carved from sequoias.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/20588662
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Indigenous_Peoples%27_History_of_the_United_States

Safety and Security are higher on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs than:

Knowledge
Shelter
Belonging

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