Good to think on. When my husband and lived in Billings in the 1990s, we went to a presentation at the library by a Native American woman. We got to taste pemmican and more. She told about being in western Montana on Ted Turner's ranch and he had a cold and was miserable. She went out and collected some Echinacea and brewed him some tea and voila! he was better! Over it! I remember the Echinacea growing wild on the hills around Ekalaka. So beautiful! Now, here in my courtyard in Portland, Oregon, they are favorites/stars. I don't clip the spent blooms, just leave them for the birds in winter.
Russell, this is really a nice piece you have written, and I agree with most of it. Where I disagree is where you infer that native Americans just naturally take better care of the land than anyone else.
I have a real life example to prove my point. On the Fort Belknap reservation over the last few years they’ve been developing a herd of buffalo. Two years ago the buffalo were beginning to die unexpectedly and after losing a dozen or so buffalo, they called a local vet in Chinook to come and see what was happening to the buffalo. When he got there they drove him out in the pasture to look at the animals and he said, “maybe it’s in the water source”. So they took him to the water hole and found that it had been dry for more than a week. The animals died of thirst.
The enclosure for the buffalo is right along Hiway 66 north of Hays and I have driven past it many times in the last two years. If you ever want to see what overgrazing looks like, take a drive up there and take a look. I have no idea how the remaining buffalo are surviving with now grass.
I know this is just one example, but I think that our friends in the ranching business are doing a good job of protecting the environment.
I obviously missed the part where I said indigenous people never make a mistake. I also missed the part where I said anything at all about ranchers. This piece has absolutely nothing to do with ranchers. It's about government agencies.
Good to think on. When my husband and lived in Billings in the 1990s, we went to a presentation at the library by a Native American woman. We got to taste pemmican and more. She told about being in western Montana on Ted Turner's ranch and he had a cold and was miserable. She went out and collected some Echinacea and brewed him some tea and voila! he was better! Over it! I remember the Echinacea growing wild on the hills around Ekalaka. So beautiful! Now, here in my courtyard in Portland, Oregon, they are favorites/stars. I don't clip the spent blooms, just leave them for the birds in winter.
Russell, this is really a nice piece you have written, and I agree with most of it. Where I disagree is where you infer that native Americans just naturally take better care of the land than anyone else.
I have a real life example to prove my point. On the Fort Belknap reservation over the last few years they’ve been developing a herd of buffalo. Two years ago the buffalo were beginning to die unexpectedly and after losing a dozen or so buffalo, they called a local vet in Chinook to come and see what was happening to the buffalo. When he got there they drove him out in the pasture to look at the animals and he said, “maybe it’s in the water source”. So they took him to the water hole and found that it had been dry for more than a week. The animals died of thirst.
The enclosure for the buffalo is right along Hiway 66 north of Hays and I have driven past it many times in the last two years. If you ever want to see what overgrazing looks like, take a drive up there and take a look. I have no idea how the remaining buffalo are surviving with now grass.
I know this is just one example, but I think that our friends in the ranching business are doing a good job of protecting the environment.
Les
I obviously missed the part where I said indigenous people never make a mistake. I also missed the part where I said anything at all about ranchers. This piece has absolutely nothing to do with ranchers. It's about government agencies.