Text 24462, 107 rader
Skriven 2009-05-27 16:19:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: NEANDERTHALS  90527
===========================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to Glen Jamieson <=-

 JW> Neanderthals [...] fearsome reputation as fighters.
 GJ> If they were such fearsome fighters, how come the h. sapiens overcame
 GJ> them?  Or were the later group better at, "making love, not war", and
 GJ> out-bred them?

 JW> Bigger, better brains.

Something gave them the advantage.  Perhaps the better brains assisted
them to survive as climatic conditions changed.  The invention of
agriculture greatly increased the concentration of people which could
be supported by a given area of land.
 
 GJ> At what stage of dilution by interbreeding does a "race" become
 GJ> considered as extinct?  Many self-classified Australian "aborigines"
 GJ> have well under 50% indigenous ancestry.
 JW> 
 JW> Last time I checked Hawaiians had to be 50% Native ancestry to
 JW> qualify for special privileges but there was talk of dropping it to
 JW> 25% as there weren't enough of them to take advantage of those
 JW> benefits.
 JW> In the USA, Native Americans have to be accepted as members of a
 JW> tribe and the individual tribes set the rules.... anywhere from 1/2
 JW> to 1/16. (Given the state of affairs there if I was an American I
 JW> would claim being White.)

Proving Original Inhabitant concentration could be rather difficult if
records were incomplete, which is likely if they were looking back
several generations.

 JW> In Canada you must have a Native father to be a Native, regardless
 JW> of your heritage or blood quantum. Unlike the US we officially
 JW> recognize Metis as a "distinct people". To qualify you must have
 JW> mixed Native and European ancestry, consider yourself a Metis and be
 JW> accepted as one by a Metis "Local".

I like that idea of the Metis being considered as a distinct and
respected grouping.

 JW> The Inuit generously feel that if you are part Inuit, or married
 JW> to one or adopted by one or live with them long enough and consider
 JW> yourself one then you are one.

That is fine, until the legal aspects are applied to determine
elegibility for government education or pension benefits.  How do the
Metis compare with "Natives" in that respect.

 JW> A couple of interesting stories arising from those logical
 JW> inconsistencies:
 JW> Roslind's uncle married a Blackfoot woman and they had several kids.
 JW> They're "White". They separated but didn't divorce. She then lived
 JW> in a common law relationship with a Native guy and had two more
 JW> kids. They're White too as she was legally married to a white man!

I can see that resulting in future problems, unless the second lot of
kids managed to persuade their mother to marry their father.  (That is
assuming their legal status could be changed post-nataly.)

 JW> As you know Roslind is a Metis, so her kids and grandkids could be
 JW> too. Ray considers himself Metis which is a plus at work where there
 JW> are quotas, affirmative action and free education benefits. Remember
 JW> his paid for engineering studies at UCLA?) But Raine is White.

 JW> As Alexi's dad is Inuit, she is too. When Charlee got adopted she
 JW> could enrolled in the band membership as a Dogrib because of her
 JW> birth parents or as an Inuit because of the adoption. They chose
 JW> Dogrib for her for now but they'll switch when she hits university
 JW> age if its to her advantage. Right now the Inuit have invested their
 JW> land claims money wisely and pay healthy dividends but the newly
 JW> formed Dogrib investment corporation is going through birth pains
 JW> and making mistakes. They may become insolvent over time.

I pity the local authorities burdened with the job of sorting out who
is entitled to which benefits when!  They would have to have a good
source of money to make those payments.  Perhaps from the:

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Native Mint (Prostanthera Rotundifolia)
 Categories: Wild, Australian, Info, Spice
      Yield: 4 servings
 
           NATIVE MINT
           Prostanthera rotundifolia
 
  Native mint is the leaf from an ornamental plant that grows largely in
  southern Australia known as mint bush. The leaf may be used fresh or
  dried. The leaf is small and rounded with decidedly minty flavour,
  but with a secondary peppery taste that is aromatic and very
  pleasant. This characteristic adds interest when cooking as it can be
  used with success in both sweet and savoury applications. Clearly
  native mint is perfect with lamb, veal and chicken and it makes a
  mean mint sauce. For something a little different try a little baked
  into genoise or a biscuit base and top with wild lime mousse! Fresh
  native mint flowers, which are small, lovely soft mauve blooms, make
  an attractive garnish. If making herb jellies a sprig of native mint
  placed in the jelly before setting will impart a gentle mint flavour.
  From: Http://Www.Robins.Net.Au/Glossary
 
MMMMM
 

___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)