1781, a tooth sent to Thomas Jefferson by General George Rogers Clark from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky was the beginning of what has been described as “the greatest camping trip of all time,” the manifest destiny of a fledgling nation; but to the Native Americans who lived along the rivers, plains and mountains of the Lewis and Clark “Corps of Discovery” trail, it was an unprovoked invasion. It was a mammoth hunt that forever changed the native way of life.
"Native Americans have a specific way of revealing their historical knowledge. Their oral stories are often embellished with interactions between historical events and supernatural beings. In 1762, the Shawnee told John Wright about the big stone skeletons found along the Ohio River. They said the bones belonged to an immense animal, the "father of all buffalo," which had been hunted by "great and strong men" of the distant past. But the Great Spirit destroyed the huge animals with lightning. The Delaware elders told Thomas Jefferson a similar story; only they claimed that the gigantic animals were driving away smaller game, like deer and bear. This angered their god, who blasted the great beasts with lightning. Only their petrified bones were left, although some thought that the huge animals escaped to the far north..."
Full text: "Last Mammoth"
No comments :
Post a Comment