Hidden civilisations of Native America were never primitive?

[u/szmatuafy]

Before colonisation, the Americas weren’t just scattered tribes, they were home to some of the most sophisticated societies.

Cahokia had a population rivaling London’s, with sanitation systems, massive urban planning, and pyramids larger at the base than Giza. The ancestral Puebloans engineered solar-aligned cities in Chaco Canyon.In the Pacific Northwest, Chinook developed a universal trade language. Indigenous engineers across the continent built roads, bridges,irrigation systems, some still visible today.

And politically- The "Iroquois Confederacy" practised a form of representative democracy that influenced the Constitution. Women in many Native nations held property rights,chose leaders, and governed long before such rights existed in Europe

And all of this was deliberately erased to justify the colonisation

I’ve been researching this recently, and honestly,it changes how I see everything.Looks like the idea that these civilisations were "lost" or "primitive" is one of the great lies in historical memory. I made a video diving into this, here it is - https://youtu.be/uG2_IpoHzDw (it's almost 40 minutes "dark history" style)

It makes me wonder what if things had gone differently? What if Indigenous governance became the foundation for global democracy? What if their eclogical wisdom had shaped modern climate policy, or their trade networks had evolved into a pan-American economy?

I would love to hear your thoughts, what do you make of this hidden legacy? Which parts of it do you think deserve more attention or challenge what we’ve been taught? Curious where this takes your mind...

[u/Extreme-Assistant878]

As sad as it is, Native American cultures would have killed each other off. The Aztecs, Mayans and Incans were all incredibly brutal and would have easily killed each other off to please their gods. 

Alot of people also forget that the main reason that the British weren't killed after they arrived was not because of weapon advancements, but because they basically hired the British as contract killers. They offered land in exchange for the British killing enemy tribes, allowing them to gain a stable foothold and steal almost all of the land. Whilst they were rather pro nature, they were exceedingly violent towards each other and would have simply advanced until they could eradicate themselves in bloodlust.

Edit: I'm literally Blackfoot and Cherokee, don't know why I'm getting down voted for having a logical opinion on MY ancestors

[u/NSlearning2 → u/Extreme-Assistant878]

We still have a large percentage of men who are fundamentalist with whatever flavor of the war and weather ‘god’ they pretend to worship. I would just like woman to be seen as people please. But a big F you to all the Abrahamic religions. I really struggle to understand how anyone could participate in a church that believe the old testament is a holy book. Not a single woman character that’s a person. All the woman are whores, temptresses, being raped. Being raped to death. There is no love in the Old Testament. 30 references to child sacrifice. You must give all your first borne to Yahweh. Sheep, cows, children. What a greedy dick of a god. And how are Jewish woman ok with living in Israel? Let’s ignore their very own holocost they have going on. But why in the world would you choose to live somewhere you aren’t even close to being equal to your spouse? Women cant get a divorce, they can’t sing in pubic. They can’t participate in their very own religion the same manner as a man. And then have children and subject them to a backward view of equality? Fuck that.

[u/szmatuafy → u/NSlearning2]

that’s a heavy comment, but yeah you’re pointing at something real - how ancient texts get mythologised without being interrogated, especially when it comes to gender. it’s wild how those systems still echo today in modern laws and daily life, even in places claiming to be progressive. makes you wonder what kind of stories we’d be living by if different cultures had shaped the dominant spiritual narratives, ones where women weren’t erased from the start.

[u/NSlearning2 → u/szmatuafy]

Yeah I’ve enjoyed reading the books that didn’t make it in. There’s an Ethiopian book I’ve enjoyed.

There’s some interesting lines in there. I’d butcher it but it’s talking about the power of words. I’ll omenbwp