According to the Wikipedia, a hunter is a person who :
" ... about the hunting of prey by human society. Hunting is, in its most general sense, the pursuit of a target.
It is most commonly applied to the practice of pursuing animals to capture or kill them for food, sport, or trade in their products. Animals so hunted are referred to as game animals. Hunting is also done to control varmint populations or as wildlife management to reduce animal populations which have exceeded the capacity of their range or when individual animals have become a danger to humans."
And a gatherer is:
" ... a person who gathers fruits, vegetables, and any other flora (plants) and fauna (animals) that he can use for consumption to stay alive."
And a here's what the wikipedia has to say about the hunter-gatherer :
"In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by all human societies before the Neolithic Era, and by an ever declining number of populations after the Neolithic revolution. It is based on the exploitation (or one could say living with and in harmony with the natural state of the world) of wild plants and animals. Consequently, hunter-gatherers are relatively mobile, and groups of hunter-gatherers have fluid boundaries and composition. Typically, men hunt and women gather and hunt small game. Hunter-gatherers use materials available in the wild to construct shelters, but they prefer overhangs which only need little or no additions to become shelters. Their shelters give them protection from predators and the elements.
An older term commonly used is hunter-trappers or farmer-trappers instead of "gatherer". The reason was presumably and foremost an earlier usage of the term in Scandinavian countries, and secondly to signify a paleolithic economy since there are many holes in the ground making complex trap systems to catch elks, reindeer, etc. However, this usage is beginning to be replaced with gatherer.
All archeological evidence to date suggests that prior to twelve thousand years ago, all human beings were hunter-gatherers. Today hunter-gatherer groups are found in the Arctic, tropical rainforests, and deserts where other forms of subsistence production are impossible or too costly. In most cases these groups do not have a continuous history of hunting and gathering; in many cases their ancestors were farmers who were pushed into marginal areas as a result of migrations and wars. It is estimated that in only a few decades there will be no more such communities.
The vast majority of hunter-gatherer societies are nomadic, as the resources of one region will usually be quickly exhausted. There are exceptions, however. The Haida of what is now British Columbia lived in such a rich environment that they could remain sedentary. Other groups that live in the Northwest coast can remain sedentary for a majority of the year.
Hunter-gatherers tend to have very low population densities. In climates that can support agriculture, farmland can support population densities 60–100 times greater than land left uncultivated.
Hunter-gatherer societies also tend to have non-hierarchical social structures, but this is not always the case. As many are nomadic, they generally do not have the possibility to store any surplus food. Thus full-time leaders, bureaucrats, or artisans are rarely supported by hunter-gatherer societies. One way to divide hunter-gatherer groups is in their return systems. James Woodburn describes this as immediate return hunter-gatherers (egalitarian) and delayed return (nonegalitarian). Immediate return foragers consume their food in a day or two after they procure it. Delayed return foragers store the surplus food.
As egalitarian societies, many hunter-gatherer units have gender-based social stuctures dissimiliar from higher order horticultural, pastoral, and industrial societies. For example, gender structures seem, albeit not universally, more fair. Although disputed as to why, many anthropologists claim the egalitarianism stems from the lack of control over food production, lack of food surplus (control), and an equal gender contribution to kin and cultural survival.
The line between agricultural and hunter-gatherer societies is not clear cut. Many hunter-gatherers would consciously manipulate the landscape through cutting or burning unuseful plants while encouraging those they could consume. Most agricultural people continued to do some hunting and gathering. Some would farm during the temperate months and then hunt during the winter. Still today many in developed countries will go hunting for food and for amusement."
As a hunter-gatherer, I hunt and gather what I need. I do not over-hunt or over-gather. I mostly kill beasts or look for vegetation solely for consumption to sustain my life and the life of others in my community. After I have hunted and gathered enough to feed myself and my people, I leave the rest for others.
Of course, I occassionally hunt and gather for "recreational" purpose i.e. to execise my muscles, to build my stamina, to maintain my fitness, to power-up my reflexes, to improve my agility, to sharpen my focus, etc. This is because I understand the law of "survival of the fittest" ... and I always make sure I am among the fittest.
I do not OWN anything. I just take what I need for survival.
I know when is the best time to hunt, when is the best time to gather. I know when is the season to hybernate, when is the season to mate. I know when rain is coming. I know when there is going to be draught.
I understand the languages of the birds and beasts, insects, fish, etc. I can "see" the changes taking place around me. I can "smell" the wind, hear its whisper ... and understand what it is trying to tell me.I defend my tribe. I protect and mate (often) with the females. And I care for my offsprings ... many of them.
I know death could be just a few steps away ... but I am always ready. I have no fear. I understand it is the law of nature. I just need to be prepared. I am always prepared to live. And I am always prepared to die.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment