Good argument against drugs and for the preservation of Indian culture

books:


	• Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World Jack Weatherford Ballantine Books, 1989 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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Good argument against drugs and for the preservation of Indian culture

Not completely true, but I'd be lying if I said that it was useless.
I believe the chapter about drugs gives some excellent reasons on why not to do drugs. That wasn't the goal, but I now have a new found disgust for cocaine. It used to be just a drug. I knew it was bad, but how it is made is a lot worse.

I believe the book obtained it's attended goal. To point out that the Natives of the Americas got squat when it came to the whole European-Indian exchange. Maybe a few nice beads, guns and other odds and ends. But in the long run...whew the Natives were screwed. (most of us knew this already, but not to what extent)

So, what do we do now? Let them remain in the position they are in or help them. I'm not saying to kiss their feet. I'm just saying that as our fellow humans we should care about whether or not their kind survives. I agree with Weatherford, we could be losing important knowledge as the remaining Indians die out. Just like we could be losing the cures for major diseases as the Amazon forest disappears.

I'm not saying that we have to save every poor person or every tree. Yet, not trying to save a people or a forest just because we can't save every individual is stupid. We should be making a mad dash for these resources like we're making a mad dash for oil. Or will be making for oil. Sure, there is a possibility we could figure everything out without Natives or Amazonian plants, but it could take forever.
There is a lot of ancient technology that we don't understand. Plenty of things that they did that we can't do. AND THEY DID IT JUST USING ANIMAL AND MAN POWER! We have machines and we still can't do everything they did. This could happen with the knowledge of herbs and plants if the Amazon and native americans go down the crapper. All the technology in the world, but the cure was in some simple plant in the amazon. It's a lot like oil, once it's gone you can't bring it back.

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Interesting Info but Tainted Presentation

Indian Giver is a fact-filled book which, unfortunately, suffers from telescope vision. The book is a wealth of information on how the culture, foods, economic systems, and other areas of life migrated from the Native American cultures of North and South America and enhanced life in many other parts of the world. For example, the potato has improved nutrition throughout much of the world and quinine has saved millions of lives. The impact of these and many other products is discussed in great detail.

Unfortunately, Mr. Weatherford seems to have gotten a bit too enamored with his subject. He seems enamored with almost anything coming from the Native American communities. In doing so, he over-emphasizes the contributions. To me, the greatest example is in the road systems built in South America. I agree that these systems are remarkable, but they are most probably at best on a par with the road system built by ancient Rome. The Roman roads permitted commerce and culture (as well as numerous religions) to move throughout the Mediterranean basin and beyond. This has had a longer lasting and more identifiable impact than the pre-historic roads in the Andes.

Overall, Indian Giver is a very interesting read and provides lots of (to me) new insights. However, it should be read with a grain or two of salt.

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Don't know what's true.

This is a good book, and like previously stated by another reviewer, it is an easy read. However, I just see too many errors throughout the pages of this book. I love any good history book as I'm working on my MA in Latin American Studies. But, this book, for all its good qualities, makes some far-fetched assumptions with neither the data nor the facts to back it up. A lot is said in this book that should have been said a long time ago, but over crediting doesn't help the situation. Basically, if I wrote this as a thesis paper, I'd be laughed at and told to try again.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

"As entertaining as it is thoughtful....Few contemporary writers have Weatherford's talent for making the deep sweep of history seem vital and immediate."
THE WASHINGTON POST
After 500 years, the world's huge debt to the wisdom of the Indians of the Americas has finally been explored in all its vivid drama by anthropologist Jack Weatherford. He traces the crucial contributions made by the Indians to our federal system of government, our democratic institutions, modern medicine, agriculture, architecture, and ecology, and in this astonishing, ground-breaking book takes a giant step toward recovering a true American history.

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