Don't forget "Hey Grampa, when winter comes, we're gonna abandon you, Grandma, and all the other old people because you can no longer contribute to the tribe"
One of the really important advantages humans have is a combination of long childhood periods, language, and living a long time after our peak reproductive years. Kids take a long time to grow so they can grow much larger and more complex brains than they could with only 9 months in utero. Humans live a long time after their peak reproductive age. That means old people can care for and teach children while young people are out doing important economic stuff. It gives us an enormous advantage over similar species.
I'll recommend you an Athabaskan story about Two Old Women on the topic of how some migratory tribes would treat their elderly and/or disabled, at least in relation to the more arctic regions.
I read a really interesting dissertation about windigo sickness in the far north, which was essentially a way to talk about the rare traumatic experience of killing someone when the rest of the group was in an extremely dire, starvation situation. The fur trade in Canada did create circumstances that made these crises somewhat more frequent.
Don't forget "Hey Grampa, when winter comes, we're gonna abandon you, Grandma, and all the other old people because you can no longer contribute to the tribe"
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One of the really important advantages humans have is a combination of long childhood periods, language, and living a long time after our peak reproductive years. Kids take a long time to grow so they can grow much larger and more complex brains than they could with only 9 months in utero. Humans live a long time after their peak reproductive age. That means old people can care for and teach children while young people are out doing important economic stuff. It gives us an enormous advantage over similar species.
Old people teach children superstition, old wives tales and sexism. There's a reason schools employ mostly younger people.
I'll recommend you an Athabaskan story about Two Old Women on the topic of how some migratory tribes would treat their elderly and/or disabled, at least in relation to the more arctic regions.
Seems that it's more of a cultural morality tale that reinforces against abandoning the elderly and sick
I read a really interesting dissertation about windigo sickness in the far north, which was essentially a way to talk about the rare traumatic experience of killing someone when the rest of the group was in an extremely dire, starvation situation. The fur trade in Canada did create circumstances that made these crises somewhat more frequent.
fucking canadians.