On May 6, 2008, at 12:28 AM, Anne Pemberton wrote:

> Lyle,
>
> In his narratives (I'd have to look it up to cite a page), John  
> Smith mentions that the invaders were sometimes shot when the were  
> outside the fort performing "natural functions" which I recognized  
> as going to the bathroom.
Yes, I've been aware of that one for the last 40 or so years, but the  
problem is just the casual mention. For a truly hilarious account, you  
should read an article published in 1937 in The Speculum entitled  
"Latrines and Cesspools of Medieval London". In medieval towns, the  
top 2 percenter houses had both wells and privy pits dug in the back  
yard. I've excavated wells that cut through old privy pits. No wonder  
the average life expectancy was in the 40's.
>
>
> And, yes, Smith did not go into anything about a lot of Native ways.  
> If you read some of Helen Roundtree's books you can get a better  
> view of some of them,
Done that as well, but it still is dependent upon what was written and  
then attempting to parse that. Her work is excellent but what she has  
to work with isn't by any means all-encompassing. And thanks to the  
total lack of attention to bio-archaeology, the vast majority of the  
Late Woodland Palisaded village excavations didn't examine the soils  
within pits to determine whether they had a partial use as privy pits.  
Basically, it's an unknown, unfortunately.

> but I don't remember her mentioning toileting, but she put some  
> details on their daily baths in the nearby rivers and creeks.
That would be a pleasant contrast with the English who who typically  
bathed once or twice a year. But, without those smelly folks, we  
wouldn't have perfume or deodorant now either, so from not so pleasant  
things, sometimes better things do emerge.

> She also provides a more realistic picture of the Huskanaw ceremony  
> that Smith and companions thought was murder of the children.  
> Apparently they gave used no logic to come to that conclusion since  
> the tribe could not continue if the males were routinely killed at  
> puberty. Sure, the mothers cried - you see the same thing every  
> September outside an elementary school when the mothers send their  
> darlings to Kindergarten for the first time. The mothers cry all the  
> way home, but the children turn off the tears almost as soon as Mama  
> is out of sight.
If I remember correctly, some of the folks going through the ritual  
did indeed die from it. It wasn't sitting around a campfire singing  
either. If you read the literature on some of them, it definitely  
weeded out the lesser able members of the group. Not quite as  
currently relative as you might have been led to believe, eh?

Lyle
>
>
> Anne
>
> Anne Pemberton
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> http://www.erols.com/apembert
> http://www.educationalsynthesis.org
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