…all that is left of hominid wildness is in our own genes. Lacking kin that are genetically any more wild than ourselves, if we are to be reinvigorated by wildness, it must be behaviorally and spiritually. In one way or another, we may be like the domestic animal breeds that need some periodic renewal of their wildness to keep them hardy and healthy.Gary Paul Nabhan, pg. 173

Five Key Takeaways

One

The author’s discussion of turkeys really caught my attention. Turkeys were mostly used by Native Americans for their feathers as opposed to their meat. Turkey feather robes were apparently more favored for their warmth than rabbit pelt robes.

It is hard for some modern-day Americans to imagine that some of their predecessors on this continent valued turkeys more highly for their feathers than for their meat. This preference persisted well into historic time, and was commented on by the conquistadors and padres who first visited South-western pueblos.pg. 166, ‘Enduring Seeds’

In fact, the contrast the author paints between commerically grown and wild turkeys is enough for me to shun this common Thanksgiving Day dish. I’ll be thankful having grass-fed steak instead.

From my own perspective, I have seen the skinny, wild and field-smart turkeys while hunting and they look nothing like the commercially grown, fat and dumb turkeys sold for Thanksgiving Day Dinner. Chicken is probably no different.

Two

The Clovis Hunters were badass humans. Among the first humans to populate North America, they hunted big game to survive.

As the Beringians reached the souther tail of an ice-free corridor near the present site of Edmonton, Alberta, they entered a land full of large game that had never known a human predator of their kind before. The opporuntiy was unique. As prehistorian François Bordes put it, “There can be no repitition of this until man lands on a hospitable planet belonging to another star.”pg. 12, ‘Enduring Seeds’

I can’t imagine hunting the Wooly Mammoth in clothes and weapons I fashioned for myself. These people were true warriors.

Forget Billionaires - how do we learn from these people?

Three

This book, ‘Enduring Seeds’, came out in 1989. There is the idea that America was importing most of the crops that it needed at the time (I’m not sure if this is still currently true). According to the USDA…

If American consumers were asked to live on food from crops native to the United States, they would probably be shocked that their diet was limited to sunflower seeds, cranberries, blueberries, pecans, and not much else…pg. 63, ‘Enduring Seeds’

While this diet might certainly result in a healither American population, I’m not sure we’d be happier as a result.

Thankfully, tribal governments aren’t buying this.

Among the Iroquois, the Sioux, the Mississippi band of the Anishanabey, the San Juan Pueblo, the Winnebago, the Tohono O’odham, the Navajo, and the other tribes, there have emerged community or tribal projects to conserve and receive native crops as cottage industries for their rural-based tribal members.pg. 63, ‘Enduring Seeds’

Ironically, Native American agricultural practices likely lead us toward sustainable domestic agricultural practices positively impacting US foreign trade.

Four

The author’s search for an endangered rice - Zizania texana - took me back to my high school days tubing down the San Marcos River. I could relate to the author’s experience searching for this plant along the banks of this river.

The San Marcos is a wonderful place to play when Texas gets really hot. The river is cold and clear and beautiful, and maybe only second to the Frio River.

Also, it boasts a swimming pig in Aquarena Springs…

Five

I never got to spend much time with my Grandfather. I was a military brat and lived with the US Army in places far afield, from Germany to Texas, while my Grandparents lived in Indiana and Florida. When I was able to visit my Grandparents in Florida, however, my Granddad liked to take me fishing out on the St. Johns river in his john boat. The wildlife was amazing down there.

I loved moving through the swamps and out into the river and seeing the diversity of life, even in modern times.

We caught some fish and my Granddad taught me how to prepare the fish to eat while my Grandmother cooked them.

I still don’t like fish to this day, however.

The author of ‘Enduring Seeds’ relates a story about trying to find a specific type of gourd down on the St. John’s river. I could relate to his descriptions of the environment down there given my experiences with my Grandfather.

Summary

I love how this book made me think about the diversity and sanctity of life, and how life’s diversity is so challenged by modern business and technological advancements. We must work to preserve the diversity, heterogeneity and sanctity of life - in the face of homogeneity and immediate financial pressure - in order to preserve life on earth as we know it.

To that end, plant more beans and kill what you eat…Ok, half joking (I’d probably starve if I had to live off what I killed), but maybe not.

And don’t forget to protect and preserve the sanctity of our rivers.

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Links

• Author Gary Paul Nabhan

• Speciation

• The Clovis People

• Hoarding Animal Behaviour

• Ocochobee Gourd

• Zizania Texana - Texas Wild Rice

• The River of Innocence: The Story of the San Marcos River

• Aquarena Springs and Ralph the Swimming Pig

• The River of Innocence

• St. Johns River

• Ovoka Farm, Grass Fed Wagyu