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[ndnbutterfly]

The destruction of the 18 million acres of Australian wilderness is being mourned worldwide. Countless innocent Aussie animals have become victims to the flames and much of the land will require decades- if not centuries- to recover. Some of the bushlands that the continent is well known for might never be the same again. This crisis, though incredibly sorrowful, has brought people together. More than 42 Million Australian dollars has been raised in charity for wildfire relief so far. Now the conversation has become a question. What caused all of this? Celebrities were quick to use the crisis as a platform to talk about global warming without waiting to learn more about the fires. Climate change holds all the blame, right? It's not that simple.

Forest fires and other natural disasters are often the catalysts for environmentalist speeches and chastising. From a small glimpse at the information, it's easy to assume there is a sort of connection, but the spotlight turns off once all the facts come together to reveal the truth. When it comes to the Australian wildfires, they appear to have been started by accidents and bored juveniles. Christina Zdanowicz of CNN brought this twist into the light with her article 'Police in Australia Are Accusing 24 People of Deliberately Setting Bushfires.' "Police have charged at least 24 people for intentionally starting bushfires in the state of New South Wales, according to a statement the New South Wales Police released Monday. NSW Police have taken legal action against 183 people, 40 of whom are juveniles, for fire-related offenses since November 8, the statement said. The legal actions range from cautions to criminal charges." So we know what started it all but we can't just chalk this up to juvenile delinquents setting fires in Australia, can we? Clearly there's more to these fires, otherwise the bushland could have been burned up decades ago. 

There must be a major difference in modern times that prompted such a disaster. The difference has to be climate change. According to physicist Scott Menor, "Climate change made the difference between throwing a match in water to throwing it in gasoline." The rise in global heat is the problem- it has to be! "Scientists believe climate change is amplifying the conditions necessary for firestorms to form," Sophie Tanno of Daily Mail reports. However, "the claims of arson have already become a political battleground, with some politicians and commentators seizing on them to argue that the impact of climate change has been overstated." The arson reports have brought many people to criticize the validity of climate change. A challenge has been brought forth against the idea that climate change is to blame for recent wildfires. It's not unfathomable that some would deny the claim as there is currently no physical proof connecting the two. There is, however, a minor detail that has a major effect on the overall health of the wilderness- especially in arid regions.

The Australian bushlands and the California Redwoods have a similar atmosphere. To put it simply, both locations are very hot and very dry. Both are very prone to wildfires due to this reason but it's also why forests around Virginia, Massachusetts, Japan, and Ireland don't catch fire nearly as often. In both of these arid locations, certain plants even require wildfires as a part of their natural life cycle. Small wildfires are actually good for the health of the plant life. Problems arise when the fire spreads at an alarming rate. In nature, fire spreads through the layers of branches and withered plants laying across the ground. If nothing was done about this debris, a small spark could cause the massive fires we've been seeing happen more and more frequently. The state of California and the country of Australia currently prohibit citizens from cleaning up this debris in the hopes to "preserve" the land, but what of those who came before? What did the Native Americans and the Australian Aboriginals do to prevent crisis' such as the Australian Wildfires? The answer is surprising. They would burn the debris using controlled fires.

An article on the Save the Redwoods League website explains the Native American use of fire breaks and how it helped the wildlife. "In discussing fire, it is important to think about who managed the forests before us, and how that has influenced what the forests look like today... Annual burning was a common practice of many native tribes for a number of reasons. They burned hillsides to improve the grasses there so that deer and elk would frequent the area and could be hunted easily. Increased grass production also provided more grasses for basketry. Additionally, Native Americans wanted to improve production of acorns, which were a major food source for them." Controlled fires clearly held a multitude of uses for the Native tribes of America, but it was also a preventative measure. Fire breaks were used around native villages in order to prevent smaller fires from spreading throughout the area and becoming unmanageable. Sadly, the old knowledge of fire prevention dwindled in these regions over time and was replaced with methods that aren't at effective. "After 1850, when Europeans occupied the region, fire frequency diminished and fire suppression practices began. This has caused a build-up of understory forest debris, which now can contribute to causing the large, catastrophic fires we have seen in recent years." There were some who still attempted to clear the debris, but the act of doing so has become illegal in this past century. Politicians put these laws into place claiming the reason behind them is to preserve the wilderness, but as more and more arid regions introduce these laws, the forests become full of debris causing larger and more destructive fires to rage through the area. The same laws have been introduced in Australia to the dislike of the farmers and those who live in and around the bushlands. The fire breaks were also used by the aboriginals all this time, after all. The policies are not just destroying the forest, they are destroying indigenous tradition as well.

Rick O'Rourke grew up on the Yurok reservation and continues to use firebreaks to this day. He hopes to save part of the California redwoods by using fire. Suzie Cagle uses beautiful imagery to describe the process. "This fire will chew out the underbrush and lick the moss off the trees. It will blister the hazel stalks and coax strong new shoots that will be gathered and woven into baskets for babies and caps for traditional dancers, and it will tease the tan oak acorns to drop. It will burn the invasive plants that suck up the rain, letting more clean, cool water flow through the black, into the watershed and down the Klamath river for the salmon. Soon all that black will be dotted with bear grass and huckleberries pushing up for the sunlight and down for the water they couldn’t reach when they were crowded out by tall scotch broom and dense twists of blackberries and the ever-encroaching fir trees. Even sooner, animals will flock here to roll in the ash, a California dust bath." She continues on to talk about the troubling policies that are supposedly meant to protect the forest. "For most of the last 100 years in California, however, government agencies have considered fire the enemy – a dangerous, destructive element to suppress and exclude from the land. Traditional ecological knowledge and landscape stewardship were sidelined in favor of wholesale firefighting, and a kind of land management that looked like natural conservation but left the ground choked with vegetation ready to burn. As the climate crisis creates hotter, drier, more volatile weather, that fuel has helped drive larger wildfires faster and further across the west." Her words describe the sad state of the forest more vividly than I could.

The tradition of firebreaks continues on in Native culture to an extent. Even my Tata- my great grandfather- used to burn his yard often in order to allow the grass to grow lush in the spring- and also so that my Nana- my great grandmother- could grow healthy herbs and flowers to make medicinal teas with. It's what they used to do when they lived on land that is now a part of Big Bend National Park- another piece of nature that has a similar policy preventing anyone from clearing the debris or even stepping foot on the land. This knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. Because of this, we know that the wildfires aren't unavoidable and are likely not even caused by climate change at all. The truth is, tragedies like the Australian wildfires occur when politicians think they know what's best for the environment and push policies that make them appear to be heroes in the eyes of their constituents. These policies only end up causing nearly irreversible damage. The politicians can only point the blame at climate change and away from their own mistakes.

Sources:

Native American Use of Fire - Deborah Zierten - Save The Redwoods League

Fire is Medicine - Susie Cagle - The Guardian

Arson Is Not Caused By Climate Change - Sophie Tanno - Daily Mail

Police in Australia are accusing 24 people of deliberately setting bushfires - Christina Zdanowicz - CNN

[ndnbutterfly]

Could Qassem Soleimani’s Death Spark a World War?

News of the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani is trending worldwide prompting some to mourn, some to celebrate, and some to feel terrified. It's clear that few people have an indifferent attitude towards the assassination. To sum up the events leading to his death, an assault on a U.S. embassy in Baghdad was followed up by chatter rumoring an upcoming attack on U.S. soldiers. The assassination was ordered and initiated. The aftermath is a strange mix of reactions worldwide. Social media as a whole is a mass of mixed signals- celebration, mourning, fear, memes, and predictions all from people bumping heads over what this means. So what does it mean? Could this assassination be similar to that of Archduke Franz Ferdinand- the one that sparked the first world war? In reality, things are a bit more complicated than this common theory.

In the Middle East, the responses are split between Soleimani's supporters and those who felt the military leader was oppressing the people. Those who mourned mourned greatly and those who celebrated celebrated greatly. CBS wrote out a bullet-style list of some known information. "Thousands of people marched Saturday in a funeral procession through the Iraqi capital...The strike drew a vow of 'crushing revenge' from Iran." On the other hand, there is evidence of a multitude of Iraqis shouting and celebrating at this news. Secretary Pompeo even posted footage of such an occurrence. To these oppressed individuals, the assassination occurred after months of protests against corruption- during which countless protesters were assaulted and killed by security forces. "Unlike the Iranians who continue to meddle in Iraq’s internal affairs and seek to use corruption to further Tehran’s malign influence, the United States and our allies are committed to an independent, stable, secure, and sovereign democratic Iraq that addresses the aspirations and needs of the Iraqi people, who we see protesting for these very things and objecting to Iran’s malign influence." Secretary of Defense Mark Esper spoke these hopeful words directly to the Iranian people. The United States military has a goal to allow Iraqis to stand on their own two feet and defend themselves. The original plan was likely to wait and see how Iraq handles Soleimani on their own- that is until Soleimani himself began targeting U.S. ambassadors and soldiers.

American opinions on the matter are essentially split between party lines. Those on the conservative side celebrate the assassination as a military success. From this perspective, Soleimani is likened to other corrupt men in the past. The man may not be Hitler but we might possibly have prevented similar cruelties from taking place. Conservatives side with the Iranian people and celebrate their freedom but it's hard to ignore the repercussions. Hollie Mckay of Fox News reports of the resulting anger and violence. "But the celebration was cut short Friday evening by a stabbing attack against demonstrators reportedly carried out by veiled men – an ominous sign for Iraq’s murky future. Indeed, the drone strike has infuriated the Baghdad government – not only blindsiding them but embarrassing them by signifying what little control they have over their sovereignty." Those on the liberal side of American politics worry about a possible war in the near future. Those who've studied about World War I in class are quick to liken the recent assassination to the event that sparked the great war. Might history repeat itself? Another great war is possible, and might even be inevitable over time. Even so, the assassination of Soleimani isn't likely to be the cause of a great war. Ferdinand was a relatively peaceful politician. Before his assassination, he spoke out against war- even of the preventative kind. He was loved and respected by his people. Soleimani was loved and respected by his supporters only and I'm sure even his closest followers must admit he was a man of war. Because of this, his assassination is highly unlikely to launch the entire country straight into war. We can all breath easier knowing this.

Sources:

Hollie Mckay - Fox News Mimi Nguyen Ly - The Epoch Times CBS News

[ndnbutterfly]

Elisa Martinez has set her sights on winning the title of Senator in New Mexico's elections in the hopes of becoming the first actual Native American woman in the senate. Her competitor's lack of "traditional New Mexican values," the popularity of socialism, and New Mexico's abortion laws are her reasons for joining the race. She is also joined by several other conservative Native American women running for other New Mexican political offices next year. 

She recently appeared on a Fox News opinion piece in which she speaks of the effects socialism has had on native communities.  "It’s sadly one of the poorest areas in the nation and has an important lesson for all Americans about our nation’s future... Government handouts are never as effective as a hand-up." She spoke, recounting the troubles she and numerous other Native Americans have survived in the socialist reservations. "The federal government set up the reservations more than 100 years ago and, just like liberal democrats today, created these subsidized economies because they think they know what’s best for us.The result of more than 100 years of government assistance is Indian Reservations drowning in poverty. These well-intended programs have made our people the poorest Americans. Some reservations have unemployment rates close to 85 percent, and 29 percent of employed Native Americans nationwide live below the poverty level."

Sources:

Russell Contreras -  Las Cruces Sun News

Elisa Martinez - Fox News Opinion Piece

[ndnbutterfly]

President Trump Seeks Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

For far too long, numerous cases of Native Americans going missing and murders left unsolved have all gone ignored- that is, until now. Tribal leaders of several different U.S. Tribes gathered together in Washington DC. Attorney General Barr was among them as they stood around President Trump. Before a new executive order was signed, the Navajo Nation's Vice President delivered a prayer. President Trump then signed an executive order establishing a task force specifically for solving the cases of missing and murdered indigenous persons. According to the president, this was an act that should have been done long ago. "The initiative will invest $1.5 million in hiring specialized coordinators in the offices of 11 U.S. attorneys who will be responsible for coming up with protocols for a more coordinated response to violence against indigenous people." Grace Segers of CBS News wrote about the details in her article. The Navajo Nation's vice president spoke of the impact these cases have on Native communities. “The executive order gives hope to our tribal nations that justice is being sought and that there is a path for healing of our families, victims, and survivors.” Violent crimes like murder, assault, abduction,  and rape are high in numbers in Native communities and the Trump administration is the first presidential administration to seek justice for those effected.

Sources:

CSPAN

Grace Segers - Trump signs executive order creating task force on missing and murdered Native Americans

Arizona Daily Independent News Network - Navajo VP Delivers Prayer Before President Trump Signs Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Executive Order

[ndnbutterfly]

Central and Southern Native Americans share much of their culture and traditions, although each tribe holds it's own unique worldview. From the close family bonds of the Aztec and Mayans of Mexico to the art of the Inca and Andean people, their colorful cultures are tightly woven throughout early American history. The central and southern tribes are often confused for the northern tribes. This is a disservice to Native American culture as a whole. There are vast differences between the worlds of the northern, central, and southern tribes that often go unrealized by the typical American. The major biological difference is the ancestral roots of the tribes. While northern tribes mostly migrated from Europe and Asia, central and southern tribal DNA appears to link them to Australia

Pontus Skoglund, a Swedish geneticist, first discovered this biological link that shocked his colleagues. "Skoglund’s discovery — which is published online on 21 July in Nature — was that members of two Amazonian groups, the Suruí and the Karitiana, are more closely related to Papua New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians than other Native Americans are to these Australasian  groups," a Nature News article by Ewen Callaway states. Scientists are unsure if the aborigines followed along with the Europeans and Asians that walked across the land bridge long ago or if they came by another means. The fact that the aboriginal DNA is found to the south of the other tribes seems to hint at a second migration, possibly by sailing across the ocean- much like the Navajo tribe sailed from Asia at a different time. "The findings suggest America may have actually experienced multiple waves of migration thousands of years ago, rather than just one that spread down through the continent from the north," Richard Gray writes in his article at the Daily Mail. DNA isn't the only connection these tribes have to aborigines. According to Smithsonian, the shape of the skull also indicates South American remains to be classified as aboriginal. The shape of the North American tribes' skulls is a major part of what links them to Eurasia so this says a lot about the tribes to the south as well. Cultural traits are also shared between the peoples. Both groups also sport a very similar ancient fashion including facial and body paint as well as certain piercings. In both Aboriginal and South/Central American culture, there is ritualistic cannibalism. While there are historical accounts of both cultures using cannibalism as a method of torturing and killing people in rival tribes, there's some debate over whether the historical accounts are entirely true. Both cultures have a mysterious link to Egypt as well. This is much easier to explain knowing that the South Americans have a connection to Australia and Australia seems to have a connection to Africa- specifically Egypt. If all of this is true, then we finally have an explanation for the Latin-American pyramids. We still have much more to learn about both the cultural connection and the journey from Australia to South America.

Sources:

Ewen Callaway - ‘Ghost population’ hints at long-lost migration to the Americas Richard Gray - Where Aborigines the First Americans? Native Tribes in the Amazon found to be most closely related to indigenous Australians Helen Thompson - A DNA Search for the First Americans Links Amazon Groups to Indigenous Australians

[ndnbutterfly]

You likely read the title of my article and thought of the hustle and bustle before and on Thanksgiving Day. Every year, countless Americans spend money on expensive turkey, ham, and other foods to celebrate the classic holiday. It's also become a tradition to travel- be it by car or plane- to spend the day with distant relatives. None of this is what I wish to bring to light today. This article is about the very first American Thanksgiving feast and it's connections to both communism and capitalism.

The struggles of the American pilgrim of Plymouth Rock was first documented by William Bradford in his memoir now known as "Of Plymouth Plantation." Bradford's personal account of the journey and the troubles the new settlement faced is fairly detailed. Having arrived in the Americas during a harsh winter, Bradford wrote that half of the original pilgrims died from the cold, sickness, and starvation. In spite of the difficulties, the colonists were determined to make their colony work. They continued on in the hopes that they could build a new society based on the ancient philosopher's idea of a commonwealth- communism, as it's called today. The settlers wanted to create a better society than the one of their ancestors. They put this idea into action by vowing to divide food and other necessities equally amongst each of the colonists. No one would starve. No one would be left wanting. Everyone would be equal. With such good intentions, it's unfortunate that this system didn't last long in the new world. William Landers of Ameriborn News quickly summarizes the failure of this system in his article. "Land, food and clothing were shared equally, with the result that no one profited from hard work nor suffered from laziness. By 1623, the resulting low level of food production created a crisis." Over time, the promise of equal shares of food and other necessities dissolved the motivation to work hard. No longer feeling responsible over their own well-being, the settlers grew less and less food over time until there was no longer enough for everyone to eat. Bradford wrote of the colony's failed attempt at communism in his memoir. “The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried for several years, and by good and honest men proves the emptiness of the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later times, — that the taking away of private property, and the possession of it in community, by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.” So then, what kept the remaining settler's alive after this time? It's the very reason we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. It was the native tribes that prevented the extinction of the Plymouth settlement. They brought the starving pilgrims food in their time of need and set up a trading system. This proved to be a great help and served as an inspiration to William Bradford.  The land was divided up equally between the settlers and everyone was responsible for their own family. This responsibility motivated the settlers to grow an abundance of food in the hopes to trade it for other goods. The new system was a success. Those that previously opted out of work “now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.” This new system, which developed into today's capitalism, is widely believed to be invented by William Bradford. While this is partially true, many Native American tribes used a similar system before the United States of America was founded. In reality, it was both William Bradford and these Native Americans that sparked the beginning of American capitalism. Today, this system is used daily not only by European and Native Americans but by every American. It's American roots grow much deeper than we are told. Capitalism isn't perfect, but the majority of Americans feel thankful to live in this kind of society.

Sources: W. Bradford "Of Plymouth Plantation" W. Landers "William Bradford created capitalism"

[ndnbutterfly]

Ya’at’eeh! Hello, Tumblr! I’m Chipeta, a Native American blogger. I’ve created a new blog called NDNButterfly that is dedicated to Sociology, Archeology, Politics, Religion, Poly-Sci, and likely other subjects. The plan is to do research on things related to these subjects and write small articles based on what I discover. I also plan to write about my own opinions on things that matter to me. Overall, I hope this blog will help me to become a better writer.