So then, anything from an oral culture is invalid?

Nancy

-------
I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.

--Daniel Boone



On Jan 14, 2007, at 4:51 PM, Douglas Deal wrote:

> With all due respect to the subscribers to this listserv who are
> inclined to accept at face value some undocumented assertions about
> events that occurred more than 400 years ago because they seem
> plausible
> and are part of the oral traditions of those making the assertions, I
> would like to suggest that, in matters such as this, having relevant
> documents as a guide is much better than not having them. Oral
> traditions have much to tell us, but they can also lead us astray.
> Documents have their own problems, of course, but one advantage they
> possess is not changing over time, as oral traditions do.
>
> In the case of the Roanoke colonists, Jim Horn of CW has made some
> real
> progress in getting some documentary clues as to their fate, which he
> outlines (an entire book on the subject is under way) in his recent
> book
> on early Jamestown. The bottom line conclusion is that they wandered
> west from the coast into the interior (50 miles or so?) and resided
> with
> tribes in that area until all or most were killed on the orders of
> Wahunsonacock (Powhatan).
>
> Doug Deal
>
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