Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World is a 1988 non-fiction book by American author Jack Weatherford. The book explains the many ways in which the various peoples native to North and South America contributed to the modern world's culture, manufacturing, medicine, markets, and other aspects of modern life. wiki
: I read this book many years ago and many times since. It was the first book that really made me question the narrative that was being told to us in government run brain washing schools. For example: Love spaghetti and pizza? The Italians didn't make them with tomato sauce until America was discovered. Hard to imagine right? Potato Irish famine? no potatoes til we borrowed them from America -- along with corn, squashes, beans. peppers, peanuts... it goes on and on.
Another point he makes that I never considered is that the European settlers never had to hack overgrown wilderness like I was always told. As the natives were pushed west, in their wake, they left cleared agricultural fields, paths and trails (the Santa Fe trail used by settlers later was originally a native trail). The author states that many of our modern roads and canals follow the same routes. Page 247
This is also where I learned that Natives did not have many sicknesses, including the common cold, until European contact. Europeans gave the natives all their diseases, but the natives only gave one back, syphilis. COLUMBUS AND HIS CREW SUPPOSEDLY BROUGHT IT BACK FROM THEIR FIRST VOYAGE. Serves them right for getting all rapey.
First, he deals with silver, and its relationship to early manufacturing and to capitalism in general, even going so far as to say that capitalism as we know it wouldn't exist without a large mountain that contained as much as 85% of all silver ever found in the Americas. From there, he moves on to the industrial revolution. Saying that without the contributions of Americans (both North and South), many of the things we take for granted would never have happened.
Secondly, he talks about food, in terms of the way the diet of Europeans changed with corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers; in terms of how the food is grown, produced, and preserved; and in terms of the culinary arts.
Thirdly, the author makes the case that the United States Constitution was directly influenced by the Iroquois Confederacy, and that many ideas of the Age of Enlightenment were simply observations of the Pre-Columbian peoples in operation in the "natural state".
Fourthly, pre-contact peoples mastered the art of medicine and human biology. They had figured out how to use many plants to make medicines, deal with injury, and for other uses, such as making rubber. Indigenous pharmacology was the most advanced in the world, with alkaloids such as quinine well known by Native South Americans ahead of Europeans or other nations. Mind-altering and addictive drugs were heavily regulated by the various societies, being used only for religious purposes.
Lastly, Indians were great city planners and road builders, with outstanding road networks such as the Qhapaq Ñan, but much of what was built by the Indians was destroyed by the Conquistadors. Finally, the author wonders what has been lost, and gives a brief overview of how the Europeans were so able to conquer the equally advanced civilizations they found on the American continents.
This is a quick read and can be previewed at google books.
Plissken
: I read this book many years ago and many times since. It was the first book that really made me question the narrative that was being told to us in government run brain washing schools. For example: Love spaghetti and pizza? The Italians didn't make them with tomato sauce until America was discovered. Hard to imagine right? Potato Irish famine? no potatoes til we borrowed them from America -- along with corn, squashes, beans. peppers, peanuts... it goes on and on.Another point he makes that I never considered is that the European settlers never had to hack overgrown wilderness like I was always told. As the natives were pushed west, in their wake, they left cleared agricultural fields, paths and trails (the Santa Fe trail used by settlers later was originally a native trail). The author states that many of our modern roads and canals follow the same routes. Page 247
This is also where I learned that Natives did not have many sicknesses, including the common cold, until European contact. Europeans gave the natives all their diseases, but the natives only gave one back, syphilis. COLUMBUS AND HIS CREW SUPPOSEDLY BROUGHT IT BACK FROM THEIR FIRST VOYAGE. Serves them right for getting all rapey.
First, he deals with silver, and its relationship to early manufacturing and to capitalism in general, even going so far as to say that capitalism as we know it wouldn't exist without a large mountain that contained as much as 85% of all silver ever found in the Americas. From there, he moves on to the industrial revolution. Saying that without the contributions of Americans (both North and South), many of the things we take for granted would never have happened.
Secondly, he talks about food, in terms of the way the diet of Europeans changed with corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers; in terms of how the food is grown, produced, and preserved; and in terms of the culinary arts.
Thirdly, the author makes the case that the United States Constitution was directly influenced by the Iroquois Confederacy, and that many ideas of the Age of Enlightenment were simply observations of the Pre-Columbian peoples in operation in the "natural state".
Fourthly, pre-contact peoples mastered the art of medicine and human biology. They had figured out how to use many plants to make medicines, deal with injury, and for other uses, such as making rubber. Indigenous pharmacology was the most advanced in the world, with alkaloids such as quinine well known by Native South Americans ahead of Europeans or other nations. Mind-altering and addictive drugs were heavily regulated by the various societies, being used only for religious purposes.
Lastly, Indians were great city planners and road builders, with outstanding road networks such as the Qhapaq Ñan, but much of what was built by the Indians was destroyed by the Conquistadors. Finally, the author wonders what has been lost, and gives a brief overview of how the Europeans were so able to conquer the equally advanced civilizations they found on the American continents.
This is a quick read and can be previewed at google books.
Plissken
