Stupid tricks? No. Coyote was a trickster, but not a malicious one. Assuming an entity like him existed in this millieu, it’s not likely that he’d think too highly of two murderers like these two. It’d serve both right for the Thunderbird to zap them. (Had a lightning storm yesterday, which may have put it in mind.)
I have to admit I don’t remember much of the stories I heard as a kid because I hadn’t thought about most of them for years. Here in the northwest, the stories were different from the southwest, but some things were the same, like the tradition that the tribes had moved around a lot.
Around 1000 or so, terrible droughts, the Little Ice Age, and thus famine caused the tribes to fight each other and the intertribal wars were still going on in the 1500s. Starting around then, there was a gradual movement of tribes westward, with those who became the plains tribes colonizing the non-river areas of the plains only after the horse became available again and thus buffalo hunting became practical.
The horse, North American Lion, Saber-toothed Tiger, Dire Wolf, the camel, and a number of other species became extinct here around the time that the Solutrians/Clovis Culture arrived from southern Europe. After that, it was one invasion after another for millennia from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Each left their mark in the Americas. By 1500, there were at least 5 distinct races of people in the Americas, from the recently-arrived Innuit in the north to the tribes in Tierra del Fuego.
For something really weird, look up Isla Royale. Starting around 7000 BC and running to around 1000 AD, various European groups came there in the spring and summer to harvest copper. No one knows why they stopped coming, but the Micmac have legends about them. The copper itself has never shown up in the Americas, but has been found in Europe, north Africa, and western Asia.
You might be interested to read of the research among the Inuit that was later confirmed archaeologically showing just how dense their populations were, and therefore how common warfare was among them, before Old World diseases cut their population to far lower levels. See also The Lost City of Z (the book), which references similar research on the Amazon Jungle, minus the whole “they used to be” warlike stuff. The Dene/Aparche and Navajo are closely related to Athabascans … up in Alaska … which explains all them whale paintings in desert caves.
Well Schlump, as Mr. Spock would say,”Fascinating.” Your first paragraph made me laugh how the Thunderbird would have just “zapped” them. Indeed. You mentioned that you haven’t thought of the stories in many years, to which you go on to explain tribal history. This leads me to think you have Indian heritage in you. What nation sir? And of what tribe? Thanks for the history, and the mention of Isle Royale. Very interesting.
Stupid tricks? No. Coyote was a trickster, but not a malicious one. Assuming an entity like him existed in this millieu, it’s not likely that he’d think too highly of two murderers like these two. It’d serve both right for the Thunderbird to zap them. (Had a lightning storm yesterday, which may have put it in mind.)
I have to admit I don’t remember much of the stories I heard as a kid because I hadn’t thought about most of them for years. Here in the northwest, the stories were different from the southwest, but some things were the same, like the tradition that the tribes had moved around a lot.
Around 1000 or so, terrible droughts, the Little Ice Age, and thus famine caused the tribes to fight each other and the intertribal wars were still going on in the 1500s. Starting around then, there was a gradual movement of tribes westward, with those who became the plains tribes colonizing the non-river areas of the plains only after the horse became available again and thus buffalo hunting became practical.
The horse, North American Lion, Saber-toothed Tiger, Dire Wolf, the camel, and a number of other species became extinct here around the time that the Solutrians/Clovis Culture arrived from southern Europe. After that, it was one invasion after another for millennia from Europe, Asia, and Africa. Each left their mark in the Americas. By 1500, there were at least 5 distinct races of people in the Americas, from the recently-arrived Innuit in the north to the tribes in Tierra del Fuego.
For something really weird, look up Isla Royale. Starting around 7000 BC and running to around 1000 AD, various European groups came there in the spring and summer to harvest copper. No one knows why they stopped coming, but the Micmac have legends about them. The copper itself has never shown up in the Americas, but has been found in Europe, north Africa, and western Asia.
Thanks for that brief history, been to long and hadn’t realized how much of that particular history I had forgotten. Need to reread up on it.
You might be interested to read of the research among the Inuit that was later confirmed archaeologically showing just how dense their populations were, and therefore how common warfare was among them, before Old World diseases cut their population to far lower levels.
See also The Lost City of Z (the book), which references similar research on the Amazon Jungle, minus the whole “they used to be” warlike stuff.
The Dene/Aparche and Navajo are closely related to Athabascans … up in Alaska … which explains all them whale paintings in desert caves.
Well Schlump, as Mr. Spock would say,”Fascinating.” Your first paragraph made me laugh how the Thunderbird would have just “zapped” them. Indeed. You mentioned that you haven’t thought of the stories in many years, to which you go on to explain tribal history. This leads me to think you have Indian heritage in you. What nation sir? And of what tribe? Thanks for the history, and the mention of Isle Royale. Very interesting.
lovely art and story, and fascinating history lessons from readers! what can possibly be better!
😉
Hey there Erin … Lookit what I found! https://www.comixology.com/Poor-Wayfaring-Strangers-Vol-1/digital-comic/419346?app=1&tid=criteo_alacarte_419346&utm_source=criteo&utm_medium=remarketing&utm_campaign=alacarte_419346 – and as a mere advert on another site, no less. It sure looks purty.