What I Was Taught Growing Up: Wild Edible Plants And Animals Were Just So Naturally Abundant That The

What I was taught growing up: Wild edible plants and animals were just so naturally abundant that the indigenous people of my area, namely western Washington state, didn't have to develop agriculture and could just easily forage/hunt for all their needs.

The first pebble in what would become a landslide: Native peoples practiced intentional fire, which kept the trees from growing over the camas praire.

The next: PNW native peoples intentionally planted and cultivated forest gardens, and we can still see the increase in biodiversity where these gardens were today.

The next: We have an oak prairie savanna ecosystem that was intentionally maintained via intentional fire (which they were banned from doing for like, 100 years and we're just now starting to do again), and this ecosystem is disappearing as Douglas firs spread, invasive species take over, and land is turned into European-style agricultural systems.

The Land Slide: Actually, the native peoples had a complex agricultural and food processing system that allowed them to meet all their needs throughout the year, including storing food for the long, wet, dark winter. They collected a wide variety of plant foods (along with the salmon, deer, and other animals they hunted), from seaweeds to roots to berries, and they also managed these food systems via not only burning, but pruning, weeding, planting, digging/tilling, selectively harvesting root crops so that smaller ones were left behind to grow and the biggest were left to reseed, and careful harvesting at particular times for each species that both ensured their perennial (!) crops would continue thriving and that harvest occurred at the best time for the best quality food. American settlers were willfully ignorant of the complex agricultural system, because being thus allowed them to claim the land wasn't being used. Native peoples were actively managing the ecosystem to produce their food, in a sustainable manner that increased biodiversity, thus benefiting not only themselves but other species as well.

So that's cool. If you want to read more, I suggest "Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America" by Nancy J. Turner

Jedi Masters & things they do for/to their Padawans: High Republic Edition

A compilation of some of my favorite things Jedi Masters do either for or to their Padawans because they love them so much.

Warning: some spoilers ahead

Stellan Gios & having complete faith in Vernestra but still teasing her anyway because he just can't resist

Nib Assek & learning to speak Shyriiwook specifically to take on Burryaga

Loden Greatstorm & pushing Bell off cliffs

Loden Greatstorm & suggesting other high places to push Bell from

Jora Malli & missing Reath while they're on separate missions

Nib Assek & signaling Burryaga to "engage in battle" when he has to socialize with people

Rana Kant & leaving her lightsaber for Stellan before she died

Jora Malli & roasting Dez for the rest of his apprenticeship because he got wasted that one time

Stellan Gios & smiling when someone mentions Vernestra

Jora Malli & thinking Reath's distress about moving to the Outer Rim would be amusing if it wasn't so genuine

Stellan Gios & reaching out to & making himself available for Bell when he's hurting, telling him "My duty is to the Order and the last time I looked, you were part of that Order"

Jora Malli & teasing Reath about needing a black hole to pull him out of the Archives

Cohmac Vitus & invading Reath's study booth with his hood up just to do a dramatic reveal and ask if he wants to go rogue

Stellan Gios & giving Rana Kant's lightsaber to Bell when he loses his own

Loden Greatstorm & dying every time Bell thinks he's ready to be a knight.

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zoqxer

2 years ago