Post by dT on Feb 22, 2013 14:50:13 GMT -5
I am posting these comments purely for the purposes of interest. But i hope that the small things I say here will help both the N'daa readers (Caucasian) and Nde readers to think more about their worlds. So much of the time we assume that if we know the world of "today", then we understand yesterday. But sometimes yesterday was different :-)
A case in point ... while reading old writings from the white soldiers stationed in the White Mountains ... an unusual account arises of a strange creature which they call the "Kangaroo Wolf". This is not imagination. It is not a myth. It is not the words of men who were drunk at the time. They are talking about a real animal.
This is what the accounts say. This animal was very rare. It had black, or dark brown fur. The fur was quite short. It's body was strong like a wolf. But its rear legs were much larger and stronger than the front legs. Because of this, the animal could hop on its back legs. Therefore, when the soldiers actually saw this creature - they called it the "kangaroo wolf". This creature was present in the White Mountains, and possibly lived in other high mountains of Arizona. But it was becoming rare by the time of the 1880's.
Why do I believe this creature was real? Well, for one thing because it is reported as a direct sighting by Lt. Charles Gatewood of the US Cavalry. Gatewood was a sincere man and honest. He was not given to drunkeness or over-exaggeration. He saw one of these animals, and his wife also had a separate sighting. These were not dreams, or a bad joke.
But was the creature a wolf? No, I don't think so. After giving the matter some serious thought - I have concluded that what they saw was a sub-species of the following animal ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_mountain_coati
It is a mountain coati. It still exists in the high mountains of S. America. But it is rare there too. However- here is the key difference. The creature that lived in the White Mountains was much larger. Gatewood reports that it stood 4-5 feet tall when standing on its hind legs. And unlike the coati's that live in S. America, the species that lived on the lands of the Nde could actually jump on its hind legs. Hence, the soldiers called them "kangaroo wolves".
Why does science not record this animal? Mostly because scientists did not come to these places until the early 1900's. But that was too late. The animals had died out by then. They were becoming extinct in the 1880's.
Why do the Nde people not know about it. The answer is that they DID know about his animal. But they found the creature strange and fearful. It's not hard to understand why. Gatewood reports that when he asked local Apache's about this animal ... they replied that this creature was the reincarnation of men who had killed their mothers. In other words - a very BAD animal in the eyes of the Nde people.
For those of you who are Nde by heritage .... think about how the existence of this animal has been included in the legends of your tribe. So if the Apache elders speak of strange creatures that were sinister, or used to hop on their legs, do not dismiss these stories as folk tales. There is a reason why such things have come about.
dT
A case in point ... while reading old writings from the white soldiers stationed in the White Mountains ... an unusual account arises of a strange creature which they call the "Kangaroo Wolf". This is not imagination. It is not a myth. It is not the words of men who were drunk at the time. They are talking about a real animal.
This is what the accounts say. This animal was very rare. It had black, or dark brown fur. The fur was quite short. It's body was strong like a wolf. But its rear legs were much larger and stronger than the front legs. Because of this, the animal could hop on its back legs. Therefore, when the soldiers actually saw this creature - they called it the "kangaroo wolf". This creature was present in the White Mountains, and possibly lived in other high mountains of Arizona. But it was becoming rare by the time of the 1880's.
Why do I believe this creature was real? Well, for one thing because it is reported as a direct sighting by Lt. Charles Gatewood of the US Cavalry. Gatewood was a sincere man and honest. He was not given to drunkeness or over-exaggeration. He saw one of these animals, and his wife also had a separate sighting. These were not dreams, or a bad joke.
But was the creature a wolf? No, I don't think so. After giving the matter some serious thought - I have concluded that what they saw was a sub-species of the following animal ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_mountain_coati
It is a mountain coati. It still exists in the high mountains of S. America. But it is rare there too. However- here is the key difference. The creature that lived in the White Mountains was much larger. Gatewood reports that it stood 4-5 feet tall when standing on its hind legs. And unlike the coati's that live in S. America, the species that lived on the lands of the Nde could actually jump on its hind legs. Hence, the soldiers called them "kangaroo wolves".
Why does science not record this animal? Mostly because scientists did not come to these places until the early 1900's. But that was too late. The animals had died out by then. They were becoming extinct in the 1880's.
Why do the Nde people not know about it. The answer is that they DID know about his animal. But they found the creature strange and fearful. It's not hard to understand why. Gatewood reports that when he asked local Apache's about this animal ... they replied that this creature was the reincarnation of men who had killed their mothers. In other words - a very BAD animal in the eyes of the Nde people.
For those of you who are Nde by heritage .... think about how the existence of this animal has been included in the legends of your tribe. So if the Apache elders speak of strange creatures that were sinister, or used to hop on their legs, do not dismiss these stories as folk tales. There is a reason why such things have come about.
dT