Originally posted by Mogs
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We are given to believe that Native American’s back then had no concept of individual land ownership, is this true or is it another load of simplistic rubbish? Group ownership must have existed, for there are many cases of Native American leaders asking/demanding settlers leave “Our Lands”.
"My reason teaches me that land cannot be sold. The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon. So long as they occupy and cultivate it, they have a right to the soil. Nothing can be sold but such things as can be carried away" ~Black Hawk, War Leader of the Sauk
"What is this you call property? It cannot be the earth, for the land is our mother, nourishing all her children, beasts, birds, fish and all men. The woods, the streams, everything on it belongs to everybody and is for the use of all. How can one man say it belongs only to him?" ~Ousamequin, Massasoit of the Wampanoag Confederacy
"The only way to stop this evil is for all the red men to unite in claiming an equal right in the land. That is how it was at first, and should be still, for the land never was divided, but was for the use of everyone. Any tribe could go to an empty land and make a home there. And if they left, another tribe could come there and make a home. No groups among us have a right to sell, even to one another, and surely not to outsiders who want all, and will not do with less. Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds, and the Great Sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Good Spirit make them all for the use of his children?" ~Tecumseh, a Leader of the Shawnee
Presently, the Maya in Chiapas Mexico are re-starting this practice, much to the chagrin of the Government there.
I've never seen a buffalo live, I guess we have some in zoo's, I've not come across one. It does seem silly to me (an outsider) that anyone would hunt anything big with bow and arrow, especially if that animal can then turn on you. The item I've seen was definitely modern Indians riding horseback, no saddles, some with rifles some with Bow & Arrow, there was no attempt to conceal it as a recreation.
A bow and arrow has surprising power. The arrow goes slower than a bullet, but has more knock-down power and the damage is done with a blade instead of a lead bullet, so you can eat the wound-meat instead of it going to waste for fear of lead. I actually do take advantage of bow season, but I use a compound bow. I'd like a recurve, but they're pricey. I also have a blowgun, but I'm not sure it's legal to hunt with them, so I just shoot bug-eaten fruit with it. Most of my hunting is done with an old shotgun, though I've also got an SKS for hunting feral pigs and a Mosin Nagant for Bear. If I was hunting Bison, I'd use the Mosin Nagant. If it was the old days, I'd use an atl-atl and darts. (My tribe used these for large game according to archaeological digs in our homelands.)

Also, Monty Python is a riot.
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