Rich Hall and American Indians

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
In the UK you have the Welsh language being promoted, dedicated TV channel (http://www.s4c.cymru/cy/), the language being mandatory in early learning, road signs in English and Welsh and yet...the language is dying still.

There are 'pockets' in Wales where Welsh is widely spoken but overall its on its way out even after the government spending millions of pounds on promoting it.

Because of the regional variations in the language and dialects mistakes still happen

[video]http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/road-sign-makes-no-sense-12606633[/video]
 

dannyk64

Full Member
Apr 1, 2015
106
17
Nottingham
In the UK you have the Welsh language being promoted, dedicated TV channel (http://www.s4c.cymru/cy/), the language being mandatory in early learning, road signs in English and Welsh and yet...the language is dying still.

There are 'pockets' in Wales where Welsh is widely spoken but overall its on its way out even after the government spending millions of pounds on promoting it.

Because of the regional variations in the language and dialects mistakes still happen

[video]http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/road-sign-makes-no-sense-12606633[/video]

The same thing occurred in Ireland when the independent government began to encourage the teaching of Gaelic in school, at first the language continued to disappeared and now the number of Irish speakers is growing consistently (up by 7.1% since the last census). It will take many years before the welsh language gets a solid foothold again but it will happen.

The protection of native languages and cultures is important not only from a historical preservation perspective but from a national identity one
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
....... Is it so bad to equip children with the means to communicate with the majority of the population and be more fitted for employment etc......

......Many of our children who graduate from college often don't see any future in returning to the northern forests. No jobs, no hope nor future for many of the young people who stay up here in the far north.....

That's both the advantage and the curse of the outside education. It prepares the young for life outside their early village upbringing. It enables them to move into the outside world and find employment. In so doing it dooms their ancestral way of life as they depart to that outside world instead of returning home. Much like rural lifestyles in general
 

boatman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
2,444
4
77
Cornwall
Now here is something that I have been called xenophobic about on Facebook. A bee in my bonnet is the lack of teaching and singing of English songs in English schools. It puzzles me that it seems that all countries nurture a corpus of traditional songs except ours. And we talk about the destruction of cultures in foreign lands. I could go on that if a "folk song" is taught in a school it is more likely to be imported than one of ours. Fine if all are taught but they are not.
 

dannyk64

Full Member
Apr 1, 2015
106
17
Nottingham
The English culture is not going anywhere, English songs are sang and English literature is read in schools the country over. The idea that the countries culture is being eroded is pretty hyperbolic.
 

boatman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
2,444
4
77
Cornwall
Funny how the response to claims of decline in culture of this country is denial while we are asked to accept without query claims for similar in other countries.
 

rik_uk3

Banned
Jun 10, 2006
13,320
24
69
south wales
The same thing occurred in Ireland when the independent government began to encourage the teaching of Gaelic in school, at first the language continued to disappeared and now the number of Irish speakers is growing consistently (up by 7.1% since the last census). It will take many years before the welsh language gets a solid foothold again but it will happen.

The protection of native languages and cultures is important not only from a historical preservation perspective but from a national identity one

A big hurdle to overcome is the fact that youngsters have no interest in learning Welsh, certainly in the industrial south... the language was beaten out of folk not that many years agao https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Not
 

dannyk64

Full Member
Apr 1, 2015
106
17
Nottingham
Pessimist! I went to a state run catholic school in Nottingham leaving in 2012 and we where taught traditional English songs (despite much complaining). Orchestra which included singing was a compulsory part of the curriculum as it is in many schools. Jerusalem, God save the queen, Rule Britannia, land of hope and glory are just some of the songs I remember being taught. Never mind all the hymns we were made to chant most of which were written in England have been sung by the English for hundreds of years.

I know for those that where good at it there was also competitions between many of the locals schools in which these songs would also feature.

As for literature Lord Byron, Dickens, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence and more routinely appear on the curriculum never mind all the British history you end up studying.

Is there any evidence to support your previous comments? as I think it is a tad farfetched to claim that the apathy and disinterest that is sometimes shown by English people to their own culture is the same as the active destruction of cultures in other parts of the world.

I will also concede however that more English folk should be taught in schools, especially that of the less nationalistic nature. A bit of June tabor or Barry Dransfield might have some beneficial effects on some kids
 
Last edited:

mrcharly

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 25, 2011
3,257
44
North Yorkshire, UK
Optimist! Care to give references of such singing etc?
My kids did loads of singing in their school and the vast majority if it (probably over 99%) was traditional English songs. They also studied English literature, from celtic stories, (including, sorry some Irish material) to Shakespeare).
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
Now here is something that I have been called xenophobic about on Facebook. A bee in my bonnet is the lack of teaching and singing of English songs in English schools. It puzzles me that it seems that all countries nurture a corpus of traditional songs except ours. And we talk about the destruction of cultures in foreign lands. I could go on that if a "folk song" is taught in a school it is more likely to be imported than one of ours. Fine if all are taught but they are not.

That's rubbish boatman .
It does sound like you got a big chip on the shoulder ...

My kids go to a C of E school , and they learn hymns and traditional English songs again and again...
From "London Bridge is falling down" to God save the queen , hope and glory and more...

Even though we are not religious people , at least is teaching my kids tolerance and acceptance of other religions and cultures.
Despite it being a Church Of England school , they have Hinduism week, Judaism week , sihk week , Muslim week.... and at the moment Buddhist week.
Politheist and montheist religions.

Studying China as the terms topic , from pre Marco Polo, Genghis khan and the trade routes to present day manufacturing and culture .
Very inclusive school and not by any means patronising.

This is not a private school , is a free state sponsored school.
 
Last edited:

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Ah, but, those are English/english songs, not english as she is spoken in the Shires and the counties type English.

Folks songs, bothy ballads, songs from the old halls, songs from the fields, work songs, navvy songs, shanties….those the children rarely hear, and even more rarely are taught. Maybe in a pub :sigh:

M
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
OK I am a cynic but I simply do not believe all those wise words from assorted figures of differing ethnicity. Maybe said in retrospect but did the person trading beaver skins for manufactured good ever really say "When the last tree is cut down etc...". As for what a warrior isn't. total rubbish. Rubbish because like all societies the young and hot-blooded formed the majority of warrior bands, vying for prestige and celebrity status.

Cynicism...

b07ae46ab8dd87a7907094ba9cc3ca5f.jpg



You've managed to persistently and consistently be totally insensitive to a very sensitive subject that we all cared to be careful how to word and put our opinions on.

As a direct descendant of a Auschwitz survivor , I know how it hurts even after decades gone past .

Not pseudo guilt of foreign suffering ...

The mistakes of the past should be lessons for the future... Regardless of where in the world .
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Y'know this internet stuff is fun, but it really does lack the reality of intonation, of emotions, of the little nuances of speech and manner that ease social interaction.

That's especially true when a topic becomes heated. Offering advice is not the same as offering offence. It can all too easily be taken as such though, and that conflates an already 'hot' topic.

I like you all; you are good company on a truly miserable day (sodden wet, windy, been snowing and now drizzling sleet) and you're a knowledgeable bunch so it's never boring.
Such a diversity of backgrounds too, and that brings so much to the conversations as well.

It's lunchtime. I'm away to bake gingernuts :)

M
 

boatman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
2,444
4
77
Cornwall
Boatman I don't know whether this was meant for me. If it was, perhaps you could visit us and give us the benefit of your great wisdom in these matters. Perhaps you could even spare the time to show us how to survive in the forests too?

Joe ;-)
You seem to give us advice from your great wisdom, so? Incidentally is it not thanks to things and methods introduced by incomers that you do not actually have to make your living from the forest, unless you choose to.?
 
Last edited:

Old Bones

Settler
Oct 14, 2009
745
72
East Anglia
My kids go to a C of E school , and they learn hymns and traditional English songs again and again...
From "London Bridge is falling down" to God save the queen , hope and glory and more...

Even though we are not religious people , at least is teaching my kids tolerance and acceptance of other religions and cultures.
Despite it being a Church Of England school , they have Hinduism week, Judaism week , sihk week , Muslim week.... and at the moment Buddhist week.
Politheist and montheist religions.

Studying China as the terms topic , from pre Marco Polo, Genghis khan and the trade routes to present day manufacturing and culture .
Very inclusive school and not by any means patronising.

This is not a private school , is a free state sponsored school.

And that sounds the same for my kids schools, plus the one I work in. The 6-7 year olds where I work did The Great Fire of London last term, and will be doing Castle's next (with the obligatory visit to a castle). And thats standard every year - my kids both went to that school.

Traditional folk songs? I know they've done 'London's Burning', plus the usual ones that any kids will learn at school, but I dont expect them to learn any more folk songs than when I was that age 40 plus years ago.

Ah, but, those are English/english songs, not english as she is spoken in the Shires and the counties type English.

Folks songs, bothy ballads, songs from the old halls, songs from the fields, work songs, navvy songs, shanties….those the children rarely hear, and even more rarely are taught. Maybe in a pub :sigh:

And in a pub, at work, in the fields were where they were always taught - I suspect that navvy songs (even the cleaned up versions) were not standard school fare. The standard school curriculum has never been set up to do anything more regional or adventurous than perhaps 'On Illkla Moor Baht 'at'.

Folk songs are something we learn in a community or family - and if that has broekn up, moved away, etc, then they start to die out.

We've become an increasingly urban species for millenia, and the societies of Western Europe have been largely urban and often highly mobile for a very long time. And even those close knit urban networks have become strained or broken - as is pointed out in Brassed Off, how can you have a pit brass band when there is no longer a pit? It much more difficult to learn traditional mining songs from South Wales (where my grandmothers family worked in the mines), when people dont work in the mines any longer, but might get a job in a call centre or 'logistics'. The memory gets lost, and even in the 19th century, researchers were doing their best to gather up what they could before it was gone.

There was a report on Radio 4's The One O'Clock News yesterday about the rise of Le Pen in France, and how she could win with the support of the rural vote. A commentator was quoted as saying that the rural areas want it all as it was, with no changes, even though their children know there not the jobs to support them, and if they get an education, they go somewhere else. And that explains perhaps the vote for Brexit and Trump - the yearning for a possibly mythical (or often long lost) tight knit traditional society, with its own identity, songs, etc.

The English culture is not going anywhere, English songs are sang and English literature is read in schools the country over. The idea that the countries culture is being eroded is pretty hyperbolic.

True. The biggest problem is due to the need for a narrow curriculum and thus only a relatively limited range as to what can be taught - there simply is the time for anything too different.
 

boatman

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
2,444
4
77
Cornwall
Cynicism...

b07ae46ab8dd87a7907094ba9cc3ca5f.jpg



You've managed to persistently and consistently be totally insensitive to a very sensitive subject that we all cared to be careful how to word and put our opinions on.

As a direct descendant of a Auschwitz survivor , I know how it hurts even after decades gone past .

Not pseudo guilt of foreign suffering ...

The mistakes of the past should be lessons for the future... Regardless of where in the world .
no lack of empathy on my part with those who suffered and are suffering but should I go on about my Father being away for four years during the war fighting to liberate Auschwitz and the effects that and bombing had on my Mother? Of course not, s... happened it is now that is important.
 

dannyk64

Full Member
Apr 1, 2015
106
17
Nottingham
Funny how the response to claims of decline in culture of this country is denial while we are asked to accept without query claims for similar in other countries.

its funny how people make grand statements without offering any evidence to support it. I do deny that English culture is in decline, a point which is supported by the national curriculum and the huge amounts of money going into preserving and encouraging British writers, artists, musicians, landmarks etc. both old and new.

Furthermore no one is asking people to accept claims of cultural suppression without thinking about it first however in the case of the Native Americans there is clear evidence that they have been and continue to be attacked by the Federal government.
 
You seem to give us advice from your great wisdom, so? Incidentally is it not thanks to things and methods introduced by incomers that you do not actually have to make your living from the forest, unless you choose to.?

I'm not aware I've given advice on this subject. Nor have I picked on you white folk. I was simply stating facts that I think are widely held. And I actually stated that some of the treaties bought us benefits.

I'm not aware I've said anything other than facts about incomers such as non first nations coming to live in our communities. I'm not aware I've said anything judgemental about them.

And I did not come on here to argue against any one's own beliefs and say they are wrong - I'm not aware I have,

I'm not aware of suggesting that hunting for a living is either good or bad regardless of who provides the food on the plate. In fact I only brefly mention it on this thread/post.

Sorry if I've offended you.

Joe
 
Last edited:

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE