I think for me the most interesting thing we talked about in class was the political setups the different tribes and regions had. I knew that some tribes had been broken down into bands like the Apache. But I did not know there was a difference between bands and chiefdoms. I would almost argue that there really isn’t any difference between the two. In a chiefdom there is a person or a group of elites that hold the power. Could you not also say that the leaders of the different bands were the elites of their group? For example, each different Apache band had their own chief/leader. Doesn’t that put them in a chiefdom setup? Maybe this just goes back to the whole “word” problem and how we define things.
Something else that I did not quite understand was all the migration theories. The land bridge from Asia to Alaska is ok. And the idea that they traveled along the North American coast makes sense too. But how the heck did they get to Chile BEFORE North America? The map in class had a route going from Australia to Chile. I know the continents move a little, but still, that is a LONG way to be traveling. Maybe we should listen when the Natives say they have been here all along. One other thing I thought was interesting from the book was it mentioned a village in Washington that had been totally covered my a mudslide- the North America Pompeii. I would like to know some more about that.
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I read about the mudslide too and was really interested in learning more about it. I was almost surprised that the book did not expand on that situation-it seemed to talk about it over a few lines and nothing more. If that community was almost completely preserved like Pompeii, I would like to think that enough people would know about it to visit the site. But as I type this, I am thinking maybe the original tribe considers the land sacred and prohibits visitors? No matter what the situation is, I would also really like to learn more.
I agree that the political structures could all be grouped as a type of oligarchy, where there is an elite ruling class and then everyone else. It really all is in how you define the words used. I agree with you in the idea that we should listen to the Natives when they say they have been there all along.
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