tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29769707.post115867866916797556..comments2007-02-22T00:20:21.571-08:00Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01478763837213733775noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29769707.post-1158954958697781782006-09-22T12:55:00.000-07:002006-09-22T12:55:00.000-07:00Her name is Misty Upham. You can figure it out by matching the header to the logo on the right side, but I agree it could be clearer.Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01478763837213733775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29769707.post-1158903750308942372006-09-21T22:42:00.000-07:002006-09-21T22:42:00.000-07:00Writerfella here --<BR/> It would be nice to know the woman's identity, as the diary-like page doesn't list her name. Sheila Tousey? Sage Galesi?<BR/> In any case, she doesn't seem either to understand or even know that Natives are barely 250 years at the most and barely 100 years at the least in adapting to the white man's foods and lifestyles. There were no processed sugars or grains or fats or biotically-altered meats, and salt was too valuable as a preservative or even as a trade item to be used but sparingly as a condiment. For such short times, then, Natives have been torn from their natural diets that were millennia-long in development and thrust into a world of foods which totally were alien. When the Kiowas were incarcerated at Ft. Sill, the few times they received rations from the Army saw them throwing away most of the 'food.' For example, they thought processed rice could only be dried maggots and so it was dumped. Tinned foods were deemed untrustworthy because none could read the labeling and although many cans were identical, they did not always yield the same product twice. In "Rite Of Encounter," which takes place after 1845, my Kiowa character, Singing-Owl, finds canned food in the river camp where white men died of a mysterious disease; he tosses them aside because he cannot read the markings. <BR/> Even today, with both assimilation and education as their backup, Natives mostly eat what tastes best rather than what is balanced in nutrition. For many in poor circumstances, the choice is between nutrition and cost. Imbalances in diet and nutrition underlie disturbingly high ratios of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, and many other life-threatening conditions.<BR/> Technically, Natives are a part of this society but much of it remains an unfathomable mystery, especially the diet.<BR/>All Best<BR/>Russ Bates<BR/>'writerfella'writerfellahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17208567003496430805noreply@blogger.com