We started class by reflecting on learning how to make flints, arrows, and throwing spears last Friday. We were all struck by the fact that we refer to the earliest Indians in North America as primitives and yet their culture and skills were actually very advanced. They had long traditions which were wide spread and interactive. They might not have used our terms, but they had the technology and knowledge of physics to make their tools. We then talked about Anthropology - probing a culture's secrets. We watched, and then discussed a movie made in 1974 about a band of Cree who were hunters and gatherers and lived about 900 miles north of Quebec near James Bay. The movie showed the women's specialized tasks of gathering and chopping wood, preparing and cooking food, and gathering moss to insulate the wooden cabin. The men are primarily hunters who can be gone for many days. Each year they move to a different site so must build a new home. Each family has their own territory but many times 3 families will live and hunt together because they want to leave their land to repopulate with bears, beavers, moose, and other wild game. They put coniferous boughs on the floor to keep the home fresh smelling because there could be as many as 19 people living in the house. The 3 families eat separately in the one big room, but they keep their eye on each other to make sure no one is going hungry. They burn up to 4500 calories a day and their diet includes a lot of fat and oil to keep them healthy and warm. This film centered around Sam Blacksmith who had 1200 square miles. One teacher Googled Sam Blacksmiths and found he died two years ago at the age of 97. Would anyone like to research and make a comment on this area in Canada to see how the land has been affected by the building of new roads, a dam, and saw mills?
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