August 18, 2008

Dissing my Solutrean postings

I recently posted a couple of links to the Solutrean hypothesis in Craigslist's History Forum. It was the same material readers of Newspaper Rock saw here. One person took great umbrage at my effrontery. Here are his posting and my replies:

Wow < tell_me_you_jest > 08/15 16:15:27For someone who often makes himself out to be a spokesman/expert on American Indians, how could you not have known about this? It isn't like the theory has been hidden away. It has merited more than a few discussions and seminars at various conferences and symposiums. It has made the rounds of academia for years, and it has been well discussed with arguments and counter-arguments (your citation of 1998 is even a misnomer, it was first posited in various forms since the 70's and 80's.)

Have you been under a rock? Have you any actual and ongoing education on the subject?

You should be embarrassed. Your lack of knowledge on the subject of the NAs is glaring. People like you are why there is so much disinformation and outright ignorance on the subject throughout the world. Maybe you ought to leave the discussion to the adults who have actually invested some time into research, field study, and debate on the history of the Americas, and content yourself with reading about it a decade or two later.
Wow yourself < robschmidt > 08/17 14:24:19

"For someone who often makes himself out to be a spokesman/expert on American Indians, how could you not have known about this?"

Because I generally follow pop culture, entertainment, current events, politics, and gaming. I have only a layperson's knowledge of archaeology as it pertains to Indians.

"Have you been under a rock? Have you any actual and ongoing education on the subject?"

No. Which is why I mainly posted what I found and didn't offer many comments.

I scan about 100 articles on Native issues every day. I've been doing so for a decade or more. To the best of my knowledge, the Solutrean hypothesis hasn't come up in the mainstream press in all that time.

"You should be embarrassed."

And yet I'm not.

"People like you are why there is so much disinformation and outright ignorance on the subject throughout the world."

How does a lack of knowledge about one obscure subject translate to "disinformation"? Perhaps you're ignorant of the meaning of disinformation. If so, I suggest you look it up.

If you want to discuss Native issues < robschmidt > 08/17 14:36:05

Let's discuss them. Without looking up the answers anywhere (unless you're a big fat cheater), tell me your thoughts on the following:

1) The crime situation at Soboba.

2) The portrayal of Indians in John Wayne's "Cavalry" trio.

3) The Metlakatla ruling and how it may affect Class II gaming.

4) Native film festivals in Hollywood.

5) The Kaweah verdict.

6) The portrayal of Indians in the Twilight book series.

7) The status of the Natick Redmen name and logo.

I could write an essay on each of these subjects without doing any research. How about you, mouth? Answer the questions or you'll be the only one who's embarrassed.

Anybody? If you follow the Native news, five of the seven questions shouldn't be that hard. Only 2) and 4) might require a little research.

Various forms? < robschmidt > 08/17 14:48:16

"your citation of 1998 is even a misnomer, it was first posited in various forms since the 70's and 80's."

Various forms? We're not talking about similar hypotheses about Phoenicians, Africans, Irishmen, Vikings, or the Chinese arriving here first. We're talking about a specific hypothesis that claims Clovis points resemble Solutrean points. As far as I know, that was first formulated in 1998.

P.S. A misnomer means something that's misnamed or misidentified. Getting a date wrong isn't a misnomer, bright boy. Look up the word while you're looking up "disinformation," since you don't seem to know what either term means.

Comment:  Another day, another butt kicked. <sigh>

I believe the only way you could answer all seven questions knowledgeably is if you followed Newspaper Rock and PECHANGA.net religiously. Which I do, of course. I don't think any other source would give you all the answers--not even Indian Country Today or Indianz.com.

Below:  Rob stares down another naysayer.

1 comment:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
In point of fact, anthropologist Arthur Jelinek of the University of Michigan first pointed out similarities between Solutrean and Clovis points in 1971, but he sincerely doubted it meant any kind of European migration to the American continents, as did Lawrence Strauss in writing for AMERICAN ANTIQUITY Magazine. Dennis Standford of the Smithsonian Institution and Bruce Bradley of the University of Exeter (UK) indeed did broach the subject in 1998, but geneticists dismissed their accompanying claim that Northeastern Native tribes demonstrate a European DNA component...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'