With all due respects to Carl Linaeus and all life scientists past and present, I would suggest that we should or should have used the names aboriginals had for living things. Now I'm not suggesting that we abandon Linaeus's system. Linaeus's system works extremely well and is accepted and used world wide.
When Europeans first went out to discover the world , settle it and tame the original peoples, they also took it upon themselves to not only name living things but to "discover them." Well, I have news for you ! Most living things were known by the original peoples in any part of the world. More than that, most living things had been named. And further than that, the original people had a very great knowledge about the living things. So because living things had names , why did Europeans take it upon themselves to rename things? This is where I suggest that we should or should have used the names for living things that were first given to them.
Not only were the living things known and named but also the geographical locations were well named. Maps were in their heads. The other day I was writing about an Inuit settlement I had lived in. When I was there it was called Wakeham Bay. Today it is called Kangiqsujuaq which means very large bay. That's exactly what it is ...a very large bay. The bay is 25 miles long and 8 miles wide at it's widest. So the original name makes much more sense. Mr Wakeham came along and since he didn't find anybody there decided to leave his name on it. Original place names were very descriptive and helped with finding the location. Having traveled with Inuit in both the eastern and the western Arctic I soon found out that they didn't bother with our maps, and had names for places and didn't have any difficulty to get anywhere they wanted.
If we look at birds for example, we find all kinds of people who pinned their name to a species that had already been named...Spraque, Baird, Franklin, Bonepart, Thayer, Forster, Lewis, Wilson...and many more. These birds were well known and named before any of these people saw them. The Palliser Expedition occurred in western Canada in the 1860's. Much scientific work was done. It's amazing what these people did and what was found. They knew the plant families and classification, but since it was a new species to them they took it upon themselves to name it.
Where I live the Cree language is still in use and quite healthy. Names for places and things are still very well known in their culture.
If we use peyote as an example, we've kept the original name with a little bit of change. Peyote is classified under the Linaeus system with Latin names but the original name is used for the common name. Original peoples knew that peyote was good for many things. It has been proved scientifically that they were correct.
So since many of the original names were very descriptive, I think that we should have made an effort to find out what they were and use them.
Red I couldn't agree more! I am so passionate about this topic that I won't even start... this is where my focus is within my studies, the injustices and dysfunction created through cultural genocide and it doesn't stop there but I'll stop right here for now.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post, now to get into some studies before I call it a night... ya, holiday's over, sort of! lol Have a fantastic day!
That's an interesting lesson. I never knew that the Europeans renamed stuff. Goes to show how much attention I paid in school. Maybe I would have learned more had you been my teacher. Excellent lesson today!
ReplyDeleteI believe you are totally and completely right, Red. It's also sad to realize that the Europeans came in and renamed and "discovered" all these things with no regard for the indigenous population and just pushed them out. Thanks for remembering the original inhabitants. That's what we should all do.
ReplyDeleteYes we seem to have this massive need to have our names commemorated for whatever reason - almost as if our names are us. The modern equivalent is to pay to have newly discovered stars
ReplyDeleteI love your research! Well done. Those of us who learned to compute while in the workplace, well, the younger folks don't believe we are able!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting posts.
I really wondered about this post when I wrote it. I thought the reader's eyes would glaze over and pass. These comments showed a tremendous passion on the topic. It's made me sit up and appreciate the high quality of followers I have . Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered what your area of study was but was too shy to ask. so you are studying in a fascinating area.
ReplyDeleteRae, I really didn't understand this when I was teaching. we did a bit of it in outdoor ed. Since I've retired this has been rolling around in my head. It also helped to associate with aboriginals.
ReplyDeleteRae, I really didn't understand this when I was teaching. we did a bit of it in outdoor ed. Since I've retired this has been rolling around in my head. It also helped to associate with aboriginals.
ReplyDeleteDJan, since I participated whole heartedly in the residential school system and thought it was right , I can understand how the first people who came here would take it upon themselves to "discover" the new world.
ReplyDeleteAlan, the same game is still going on as you point out. It's just a little more lucrative.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I admire the tremendous energy and knowledge the first explorers had. The plants taken from the Palliser expedition are still in England somewhere.
Jenn., as always my research is fairly shallow. I should go much deeper into a topic. Internet? How I wish I had it when I first started teaching!
ReplyDeleteYes its a sad legacy we leave by having diluted cultures, languages and belief systems of The Original People by "enforced white-washing" that has pervade in Kanata for generations. I pray for the strength of the Wisdom Carriers to bring back some of that knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Tess, it's certainly tragic that the white washing continues! The sad part is that we've got ourselves in a position where the solution just keeps on moving. we can't get things in place to solve anything before the target has moved and we are into more challenges. We had residential schools that produced a lost generation and what will result from the lost generation?
ReplyDeleteIn our area all the old names of places were either French or Native American and they made sense. In came the explorers and they renamed them after their relatives and other people they wanted to honor. Most of the old names were lost when the explorers made maps..sad:(
ReplyDeleteFar Side it's sad too that we are only just now realizing what was done. I thought of you when I wrote this because of your background in horticulture where you use the classification system.
ReplyDeleteWhat were new to the Europeans when they "discovered" things were after all a used and well know thing to the natives for ages. I agree with you that the Europeans should have bothered to find out what they were called by the natives. An insightful post. And they way people named things after their own name is funny :) Cheers!
ReplyDeleteWhat were new to the Europeans when they "discovered" things were after all a used and well know thing to the natives for ages. I agree with you that the Europeans should have bothered to find out what they were called by the natives. An insightful post. And they way people named things after their own name is funny :) Cheers!
ReplyDeleteRed the sad fact is residential schools gave about three lost generations due the length of time they prevailed. There is a great web site where you can learn a lot about this topic. Lots of reading and documentary. (posted at bottom of my lengthy commentary)
ReplyDeleteNot only having to deal with residential system there was also what is referred to the sixties swoop where upon birth children were taken from mothers and put up for adoption. Some mothers were told their child died. This is first hand information from a friend who while looking for her first child that she placed for adoption due her husbands death. She remarried and was informed by the nuns her second child died at birth. Well years later registries were opened and she found her second child first. Can you image thinking for years your child had died, grieving for that child and then find out she was stolen from you. It is unfathomable when you really delve into the extent of the Canadian meaning as Harper put it "to kill the Indian in the child"
Wow, as you can tell this is a topic close to my heart and family, and on that note I sign off with a Hug!
http://www.hiddenfromhistory.org/
Ruby, they tried to do the same thing in your country but your population may have been large enough so that the native languages survived and are still in common usage.
ReplyDeleteTess , you are preaching to the converted although I have sinned in the past. In 1963 I began teaching in Inuvik which was the epitome of the residential school. They brought kids in from 1000 miles east. I was almost boarded in the hostel but I visited the hostel regularly. I will never forget going into a dorm with 60 or so little guys sleeping on cots. A low light was kept on so that supervisors could watch there charges. There were many restless little sleepers and sometimes little guys were up as they couldn't sleep. After awhile I found out that in the settlements parents were forced to send their children to Inuvik. Now you and I could go on forever on this one.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, they changed the education system completely. It is just very diverse and too many languages and customs that it must have been difficult, also India is very used to being ruled by foreign powers only the earlier rulers considered the nation as their own land while the Europeans merely saw it as a profiting venture.
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