Depends on the group of hunters-and-gatherers. If you were in a group similar
to the Bushmen in the Kalahari, you would be on the receiving end of food
shared among all members of the band, about two-thirds of which would be roots,
berries, etc., gathered by women. If you were in a group similar to the Inuit
and food supplies were running low in mid-winter, you might be expected to
wander off and cease to be a burden. If you belonged to a group like the
Tlingit or other Northwest Coast Native Americans, how well off you were would
depend on whether you were aristocrat, commoner, or slave. How different your
diet would be, I’m not sure; it’s been decades since I read the ethnography.
Cheers,
John
John McCreery
On Sep 2, 2019 20:27 +0800, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, wrote:
I was at one time impressed with London, but it didn’t last. I do on the
other hand have an ongoing interest in evolutionary anthropology, especially
the hunter-gatherer era of our ancestors, and had been thinking about how one
of them might fare with a gimpy leg such as mine.
Lawrence
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] ;
On Behalf Of david ritchie
Sent: Sunday, September 01, 2019 2:21 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Wounded Bait
Jack London memories for me. Secondary school reading, trying to imagine how
you fought off a wolf.
David
On Sep 1, 2019, at 5:18 AM, Lawrence Helm <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I’m here as well as I can be,
Braced at foot and knee,
Thrust-spear honed sharp
Pointed toward the herd –
No time to think of what
Comes next, whether to be
Or not in a pleasant place.
After the wolves my leg
Won’t work as of old –
Can’t run to hunt –
Can’t pivot to fight
Enemies who come.
I can stand here and wound
The beast that runs me down.
Good food it will be for those
At camp and good to see
By those who dash out at
The right time. The sun sees
Me too, breathing all this
In as I should, and fine:
Hunting here one last time.
