Saturday, July 15, 2017

For, in relations among Indians, intra-, not inter-, before the English:

Injuries had to be requited, insults repaid, losses recovered. Raids were launched, wars were fought, over the failure of reciprocal trade, and to capture prisoners who might replace deaths or abductions incurred in previous conflicts and to restore lost dignity and pride. Body parts--severed heads or hands--...might be offered to victims' families...Village life and political alliances were based on reciprocity......reciprocity, the maintenance of equilibrium, the restoration of balance--among people, between people and their environment, and among the elemental forces of life...(emphasis added)