RPTM Podcast Episode Three: Hawaiians, Norse, Natives, Food and Music

Academics as done a real number on me. After countless hours sitting in a classroom, whether in the back row or up front giving a lecture, one thing stands out to me a pox on the American education system: The group project. Such a vile form of torture. Everyone remembers the first group project they had to do. Their middle school teacher pair you off with 2 to 4 other people to give a presentation on some topic or another. It was something you didn’t necessarily have a passion for, but you wanted to get a decent grade, so you were willing to work with others on this task.

Now enters the actors. First, the bossy student that is the loudest and most insistent on doing thing THEIR way. They refuse to work with other and have a shared vision of only their vision. You know the type, self-aggrandizing that have an inflated self-worth. These are the people that run for political office someday.

The other student is far more insipid. This person sits back quietly, doesn’t contribute, aside from nodding their head in approval occasionally. They promise to give the presentation after YOU make the poster board and YOU do all the research. As the group toils away laboriously, they sit and wait to deliver the speech portion, that everyone for some reason tries to avoid like the plague. Then, in an act of cunning treachery, the day the presentation is due, that kid is OUT SICK. So, the bossy kid makes you do the presentation, because when the rubber hits the road, the domineering kid is loud, not actually informed. You were played like a fiddle.

Why this clearly anecdotal story? Rule number three of history: Credit is important. Everyone one, whether political party or ethnic group wants to take credit for the past. Who built what. Who was the first. In the scheme of things, this can seem innocuous, or harmless. But not if you ask “why” the credit is being taken.

HIGHLIGHTS

• One of the main reasons Hawaiians excelled in arts, crafts, and expertise is because they often have competitions to showcase their talents and entertain one another. From canoe races and swimming displays to war games and other athletic endeavors, 
•  The Norse colonization of North America began in the late 10th century CE when Norsemen explored and settled areas of the North Atlantic, including the northeastern fringes of North America.
•  Mississippian culture began building at this site about 950 CE and reached its peak population in 1,250 CE of 20,000–30,000 people, which was not equaled by any city in the present-day United States until after 1800.
•  Irrigating up to 110,000 acres by 1300CE, the Hohokam irrigation systems supported the largest population in the prehistoric Southwest
• The animals that Great Plains Indians consumed, like bison, deer, and antelope, where grazing animals. Due to this, they were high in omega-3 fatty acids, an essential acid that many diets lack. 
• Music and history are tightly interwoven in Native American life. A tribe's history is always told and retold through music, which keeps alive an oral narrative of history. 

CHAPTERS
0:00 Start
0:37 Intro
3:01 Colonization of Hawaii
7:53 Norse Colonization of North America
16:20 Mississippian Culture
21:12 The Hohokam Culture
25:55 Iroquois Nation
28:45 Birth of American Food
33:54 The First Musicians
36:07 Outro

RESOURCES
Come and Meet the People of Hawaii!
Norse colonization of North America  
History of Native Americans in the United States
NATIVE HISTORY ASSOCIATION - The Mississippian Period.
The Hohokam | Arizona Museum of Natural History.
Iroquois
Indigenous cuisine of the Americas
Indigenous music of North America  

Episode Two

RPTM Podcast

Episode Four