[JohnMakin]

> Referring to land the natives had inhabited for something like 15,000 years as "pristine" and "natural" is somewhat erasing their accomplishments, no?

Erm, no? Seems kind of racist to say otherwise? The plains indians entire culture revolved around preserving and respecting nature. And I'm pretty sure it's only theorized that the paleo-indians wiped out the mammoths, and I'm not sure how that's the problem of the white man or even the native americans of the mid 19th century.

Extending your argument to its logical absurdity, no environment can be considered "pristine" unless it's the literal primordial sludge the first life emerged from. Very odd nitpickery.

[bequanna]

This simply isn’t true. The Native Americans’ sense of conservation and “living in perfect harmony” is some romantic fantasy.

There are many records of large pre-Columbian settlements exhausting resources (like game and trees) and abandoning entire areas.

There is nothing racist about it. They were humans. They consumed resources and grew their population as aggressively as their technology permitted.

[Teever]

Seems like you're describing a dynamic equilibrium which is a hell of a lot better than any than that has come after them.

[vundercind]

They’d heavily managed the land, especially through intentional burning, for a very long time. That would have shaped entire ecosystems.

[icee]

This comment makes me feel like I'm on reddit. In a bad way.