Sunday, February 17, 2008

Hunting rituals

As I read The Ecological Indian: Myth and History - more specifically the chapter on Buffalo - I cannot help but notice similarities between certain hunting rituals performed by Plains Indians, and by English royalty or nobles back in medieval times. For example, Krech mentions that Euro-Americans were disgusted to witness Indians " 'devouring the meat still warm with life' " and disturbed by the " ' savage scene' " of Indians smearing buffalo blood all over their faces. The Euro-Americans feelings of disgust (and maybe of superiority over these "savages") are sort of amusing to me, especially when remembering things we've read about English hunting rituals: the presentation of fresh deer droppings to the queen, the opening of the fresh deer carcass to cut out and distribute certain organs to certain people, the dipping of bread into the carcass to soak it with blood before eating it, and even how royal ladies would cover their hands and faces with deer blood, because they thought it was great for their complexion.

1 comment:

Kathy Crowley said...

Great comment! Cultural perspectives shift so quickly with time and space. Maybe the only way to avoid hypocrisy is to take that historical view...