Posts Tagged ‘ethics’
Book inView: Seldom Disappointed by Tony Hillerman – Politically Correct word for “Indian”
Book inView: Seldom Disappointed by Tony Hillerman – Adoption
The political correctness movement of the 90′s is still with us, occasionally rearing its ridiculous head. Much of Hillerman’s writing and life revolved around the Navajo people so it is not suprising that he has a story to tell about how to refer to First Nations (seems to be a current favorite) people.
While in Santa Fe the Smithsonian established a division for artifacts from tribal history, and Hillerman was invited to sit on a panel to discuss the affairs of this new division.
“There were nine of us, I believe, representing Hopi, Navajo, Mescalero Apache, Taos, Cherokee, Choctaw, Modoc, and a couple from the Eastern tribes that had somehow escaped the total extermination policy of our British Ancestors. I sat as the Mongrel-American. One of the first questions from the audience was which title the panelists preferred.
The first respondent asked for a show of hands of those in the audience who hadn’t been born in the United States. Two hands appeared. Then all the rest of us here are Native Americans, said the Indian. We are all the offspring of immigrants. He said his people preferred to be identified as Modocs, but if you don’t know our tribe, call us Indians. So it went down the row, each respondent preferring his tribal name, saying Indians call each other Indians if they don’t know the tribe. The verdict was unanimous, with the Apache adding they were only thankful that Columbus was looking for India and not Turkey. The Cherokee noted that the real insult was to be called indigenous people. Since the Western Hemisphere had no native primates from which humanity descended, that suggested they had evolved from something else – perhaps coyotes – and w4ere not really human. The Navajo concluded this discussion by proposing that ll be happy Columbus hadn’t thought he’d landed on the Virgin Islands – a sample of the sense of humor that makes the Dineh my favorite folks.”
Book inView: Seldom Disappointed by Tony Hillerman – Squirrels: cute fuzzy creature, or dinner?
“It has occurred to me that social economists could learn something about measuring hard times by counting the ducks and geese surviving on state university ponds and the squirrel population in campus trees.”
- Tony Hillerman, Seldom Disappointed
In Hillerman’s very poor college days he had a friend and roommate who made squirrel stew on Sundays when they did not receive food from their dishwashing job. My first thought was, would I eat a squirrel? While I feel we eat far too much meat in our society, I do like to eat meat. I try to eat meat only once a day, I keep the serving size small, I buy organic free-range. So where do squirrels fit in? Squirrels are wild. I have no qualms about eating wild meat provided it is hunted in a sustainable way. Squirrels are a long way from endangered, and I think if given the opportunity I would give squirrel a try.
In england the burgeoning population of gray squirrels (introduced from North America) is threatening the native population of red squirrels (think Beatrix Potter). The governments solution is to cull the gray squirrels. Regardless of this being an ethical solution to the problem, it is certainly a good idea not to simply throw the dead squirrels away, but to eat the meat, and use the fur. The squirrel market is slowly growing in England, and I have to wonder how long before it starts popping up here.
For a basic overview of squirrels as food, check out this