Another description of dog observed had long woolly hair, and indeed much resembled
an ordinary sheep dog. These were passably common amongst the Indians, but most of
the dogs used in the chase—which are nearly all castrated—are so mixed in race as to
defy specification. I heard of a dog captured from some Fuegians, which was very swift,
and answered perfectly to our description of harrier. These Fuegians are probably those
known as the ‘Foot’ Indians, who, by those who have descended on their coasts, have
been observed to use dogs for hunting purposes.
Casimiro informed me that Quintuhual’s people formerly hunted on foot, with a large sort
of dog, which, from his description, must have resembled a deer hound. The dogs are
rarely fed, being allowed generally to satiate themselves in the chase. The hounds
belonging to Orkeke, and one or two others, were exceptions to this rule, being fed with
cooked meat when it was plentiful. The women keep pet lap dogs of various descriptions,
generally a sort of terrier, some of them much resembling the Scotch terrier. ‘Ako,’ for
instance, was to all appearance a thoroughbred dog of that breed. These little lap dogs are
the torment of one’s life in camp: at the least sound they rush out yelping, and set all the
big dogs off; and in an Indian encampment at night, when there is anything stirring, a
continual concert of bow-wows is kept up. The dogs are fierce towards strangers, but
generally content themselves with surrounding them, showing their teeth and barking,
unless set on. That they are ugly customers at night an amusing instance will prove. One
morning a dog was found dead near its owner’s toldo, which had evidently been knocked
on the head with a bola, and finished with a knife; the owner made a great outcry, but no
explanation could be had. It subsequently became known to me that a young gallant had
sought admission to the toldo of his innamorata by the accustomed method of cautiously
lifting the back tent cover from the ground, and dexterously crawling underneath; when
half through, he felt his leg seized in a pair of powerful jaws. The lady was highly
amused at the predicament of her lover, who, however, extricated himself by a mighty
and well-directed kick with his foot in the muzzle of his assailant. When returning from
his ‘rendezvous’ he met his active enemy, and vindictively knocked him on the head, and,
to make sure work, cut his throat; but his leg carried after all a deeper scar than his heart
as a token of the love-adventure, and when the story was told, and, as may be supposed,
excited roars of laughter, it recalled forcibly to my mind,
‘He jests at scars who never felt a wound.’
Our camp at Chiriq presented quite the appearance of a town of toldos, and fresh arrivals
– 133 –
– 134 –
were still expected from the S.W.; but the Indians of the latter party, with whom we had
not yet made acquaintance, sent a chasqui with an invitation to Crimè to join their party,
and a message that they would ultimately meet us at Teckel. Accordingly, Crimè, who
was now rich in horses and gear, having received many presents, bid us adieu, and set off
with an imposing cavalcade. Poor fellow! he had better have remained with us, as the
sequel will show.
argentina
Bad news
I suspect should Duterte strengthen Philippines ties to China, there’s going to be a lot of warfare going on with him getting killed. The Philippines will scour for a president but turns to a Hong Kong man instead. He’s going to be the next Philippine president and the world’s first gay president.
He’s going to figure out ways to stop religious dissent through censorship. Anything religious is going to be banned in the Philippines so many religious people live in hiding. Duterte’s going to die anyways when he does strengthen such ties as to necessitate a foreigner to replace him.
The Real All-American Cultures
I’ve been reading some Facebook posts insisting that many more Mexican Americans should embrace their Native American heritage and admittedly some of them are already doing this. Though admittedly, if there are civilisations that are truly all-American it’s better to think of the Incans, Mayans and Aztecs among others. Maybe not entirely the case but still noteworthy when it comes to massive Native American civilisations.
While Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador certainly aren’t above mistreating Native Americans, I think it’s much more severe in places like Argentina, America, Canada and Brazil where Native Americans are really that underrepresented. Enough to be practically nonexistent and imaginary. But I still think Native Americans do deserve more than that.
They’re the first Americans and should be entitled to it. Even if it’s not entitlement, they deserve much better.
Native Americans and Americana
Like I said, Mexicans, Guatemalans and Ecuadorians don’t treat Native Americans any better. But that their sheer numbers are greater indicating a greater influence as well. Native Americans in America constitute like around 1.6%. (In Canada, it’s like 4.9%.) Not that they lack any influence given a good number of states are named after them. But they’re small enough to be misinterpreted and ignored many times over.
Keep in mind that Native Americans still vary a lot from each other even with shared experiences and sentiments. Oneidas could differ from Navajos, ad infinitum. While I don’t know much about Native American cultures so to speak but extrapolating from my understanding of African demographics per country, it could be the same for Native Americans.
But I suspect in places where Native Americans are nearly neglible (they make up around 0.6% in Brazil, 3.4% in Colombia and 2.38% in Argentina) these do deserve to be preserved for generations to come as well as to be studied extensively. Conversely speaking, if America’s any indication they could be just as vulnerable to romanticisation and misconceptions.
(Again, countries with substantial Native American populations aren’t any better either.)
But that given that they themselves are highly variable, their respective cultures are worthy studying and learning about.
Select South American demographics
Birth Rate: 2.08 per woman
Life Expectancy: 78.01 (women), 70.76 (men)
Birth Rate: 2.18 per woman
Life Expectancy: 81.59 (women), 74.97 (men)
Birth Rate: 1.79 per woman
Life Expectancy: 82.27 (women), 75.62 (men)
Birth Rate: 1.79 per woman
Life Expectancy: 80.81 (women), 74.41 (men)
Birth Rate: 2.58 per woman
Life Expectancy: 72.96 (women), 66.98 (men)
Birth Rate: 2.10 per woman
Life Expectancy: 76.41 (women), 72.13 (men)
Birth Rate: 2.26 per woman
Life Expectancy: 78.30 (women), 71.81 (men)
Birth Rate: 1.98 per woman
Life Expectancy: 79.49 (women), 73.03 (men)
Mexico, Brazil and America
Mexico’s America’s southernly neighbour and out of the biggest North American countries (socioeconomically speaking though Guatemala and the like are close contenders), Mexico is one of the few with a well-established non-Western civilisation so far in the Americas. The others would be Guatemala (Mayans) and Peru and Bolivia (Incans though I could be wrong in here).
The mixed race population in Mexico is very much the norm though arguably a little underrepresented in media and with a fairly minute black population. America, at least at this point, is mostly white but with African Americans and Hispanic Americans being the largest minorities so far. Some American states used to Mexican and coincidentally have a substantial Hispanic population.
Though Mexico is geographically closer to America, I feel as if Brazil is America’s true Latin American counterpart in terms of land mass/size and population and both having a substantial Italian diaspora (though Argentina should also be included). But anyways that’s my thought on three American countries.
The death of anime
Anime wouldn’t die per say as the Japanese use it to encompass any form of animation, both international and domestic (from a Japanese standpoint). What would happen are factors accelerating its decline. It could be luminaries dropping out of it in favour of something far better or more lucrative. Hideaki Anno’s already a good example of it but many more will join in.
The next stage to hasten anime’s decline would be being overshadowed by competitors as far as Argentina and Zimbabwe. Either one of them will crank out a super-successful franchise. South Africa has come close with Super Strikas and likewise Nigeria with Bino and Fino. Or China with Pleasant Goat and Big, Big Wolf.
Britain and America will invest and support adult animation more often. Don’t be surprised if there’s going to be an animated adaptation of Canterbury Tales anytime soon. It could’ve happened but the West will support adult animation anyways.
fynm 