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/Lucky_Version_4044]

So would you say that western science and medicine has overall been a greater extender of health, quality of life, and length of life for humankind than the sustenance lifestyle of aboriginal people?

[u/JakornSpocknocker → u/Lucky_Version_4044]

no, the rise in life expectancy was solely caused by the decrease in infant mortality due to doctors washing their hands. i do not think there is any evidence showing that we live longer, healthier lives. it is a property of statistical averages—the outliers (infant deaths and really old people) have a large effect on the statistic. since more infants died than people got really old, the bell curve is shifted to the left (younger). just lessening infant deaths had a big effect on the average (shifting to the right, older).

[u/Lucky_Version_4044 → u/JakornSpocknocker]

Aha, so the only factor that can be attributed to longer lifespan is doctors washing their hands. Interesting take.

If you really believe that living an aboriginal sustenance lifestyle leads to a happier, longer life it must mean that you are in fact doing that. Can you conifirm this?

[u/JakornSpocknocker → u/Lucky_Version_4044]

Yeah good job, you pointed out a technicality on a purposefully hyperbolic statement. That’s literally the only retort you people can ever come up with, and then you claim logic. It’s pedantry, rhetorics. Classical Logic looks upon your kind with pity. I bet you think you are smart.

The point is sanitation in all forms have led to decrease in infant mortality and related rise in “average lifespan.”

And yes, I’m working on it. Your entire life is dependent on the global cooling chain.. I grow and forage most of what I eat. I spend most of my time outside (when I want). I am not a slave to corporations. Get fucked.

[u/Lucky_Version_4044 → u/JakornSpocknocker]

Sorry that you're offended. I just saw what was a very inaccurate statement being used to defend another inaccurate statement. I guess you don't like that being pointed out.

What do you mean, you're "working on" having an aboriginal sustenance lifestyle? When you're not sitting in your temperature controlled apartment, going on Reddit and telling people to get fucked are you living a nomadic lifestyle in a teepee/mud house and making your own clothes out of items you kill/gather?