Re: Alternative timeline

Posted by Mike Zeares on October 31, 1997 at 03:48:29:

In Reply to: Re: Alternative timeline posted by Marcia on October 29, 1997 at 16:00:30:

: Hi, Petra...I think we would both have liked to see similar things, but each of us imagines it differently. That is what I meant by saying it was a "time of Possibilities." I think that with the continent being such a vast, fertile chunk of land, keeping out the Europeans would have been impossible. But like you enjoy imagining an "alternative timeline," I like to imagine a world in which the Europeans could have learned to live peaceably, side by side with the native peoples, each learning the best from the other...an idea that, again, like your "alternative timelines" was apparently impossible. But think what a world it might have been!

: Marcia

There was a brief glimpse of that possibility in LOTM. It was when the colonial and Mohawk representatives were debating whether to send the militia. After deciding in favor, the young men picked up a quick "shirts and skins" game of lacrosse (a Native game, still very popular at northeastern colleges.). That scene of Natives and Europeans interacting peacefully was one of those small moments that I really loved in this film. There was that brief period, when there weren't so many settlers, when the Indians were becoming more European (I belive the Iroquoi Confederacy was formed in reaction to the European presence, but I could be wrong.) and some of the settlers (like Hawkeye!) were showing a tendency to go native. A chance to form a whole new people, which was lost in the face of overwhelming European immigration and Native inability to act together. The Natives were caught in the transition from the Barbarian to the Civilization stage, and didn't have the population to withstand the onslaught until they could get better organized. All my own theory, by the way, with a little help from H.G. Well's "Outline of History."
[aside]
I find myself unable to decide between Indian and Native American. I dislike both terms. The Canadian "First Nations" is better, but doesn't make for an easy adjective. (First National? Don't think so.)

Mike

Follow Ups:

• Re: Alternative timeline Tom Kilbane 09:48:54 10/31/97 (2)
  • Re: Alternative timeline Neuromancer 12:08:08 10/31/97 (1)
    • Re: Alternative timeline Marie 17:00:00 10/31/97 (0)
• Re: the power of words Myrrh 09:36:07 10/31/97 (6)
  • Re: the power of words Mike Zeares 19:40:47 11/01/97 (1)
    • Re: the power of words Myrrh 18:05:10 11/06/97 (0)
  • Re: the power of words Petra 22:49:41 10/31/97 (3)
    • Re: corrected URL Petra 23:12:19 10/31/97 (2)
      • Re: corrected URL Myrrh 17:51:39 11/06/97 (1)
        • Re: corrected URL Petra 20:25:21 11/06/97 (0)

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Comments:
: : Hi, Petra...I think we would both have liked to see similar things, but each of us imagines it differently.  That is what I meant by saying it was a "time of Possibilities."  I think that with the continent being such a vast, fertile chunk of land, keeping out the Europeans would have been impossible.  But like you enjoy imagining an "alternative timeline," I like to imagine a world in which the Europeans could have learned to live peaceably, side by side with the native peoples, each learning the best from the other...an idea that, again, like your "alternative timelines" was apparently impossible.  But think what a world it might have been!

: : Marcia

: There was a brief glimpse of that possibility in LOTM.  It was when the colonial and Mohawk representatives were debating whether to send the militia.  After deciding in favor, the young men picked up a quick "shirts and skins" game of lacrosse (a Native game, still very popular at northeastern colleges.). That scene of Natives and Europeans interacting peacefully was one of those small moments that I really loved in this film.  There was that brief period, when there weren't so many settlers, when the Indians were becoming more European (I belive the Iroquoi Confederacy was formed in reaction to the European presence, but I could be wrong.) and some of the settlers (like Hawkeye!) were showing a tendency to go native.  A chance to form a whole new people, which was lost in the face of overwhelming European immigration and Native inability to act together.  The Natives were caught in the transition from the Barbarian to the Civilization stage, and didn't have the population to withstand the onslaught until they could get better organized.  All my own theory, by the way, with a little help from H.G. Well's "Outline of History."
: [aside]
: I find myself unable to decide between Indian and Native American. I dislike both terms.  The Canadian "First Nations" is better, but doesn't make for an easy adjective. (First National? Don't think so.)

: Mike


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