Rueben, I do apologize if I upset you, sometimes I think faster than I type and I meant that we used to be nomadic in our hunting not that we used to thank the animal for dying for us.

To Hunt or Not to Hunt

This was an essay posted on WitchVox. I thought that some portions of it tied in nicely to this discussion.

My beef with it (pun intended) is this: The author says she couldn't hunt or fish because she couldn't stand to watch the animal die in terror. That I can understand. She goes on to say that if she were in a situation where she was forced to hunt, she still wouldn't do it. She would have someone else do it for her... That's where I start to have a problem with her argument.

In my eyes, a person would have a lot more respect for the meat of choice if he/she was the one to kill it. It seems almost hypocritical to me for someone in a "hunt or die" situation to say, "Surely I'll eat the meat, but you have to use the hatchet."

Going back to something I posted before, I think that we should have some sort of right-of-passage where children hunt or experience what goes into the making of meat products. I think it would make people appreciate what goes into their bodies more.

And, though this lady says that she pays homage to any meat that goes into her mouth, if she actually had to go through with killing an animal to get that meat, I'll bet she would respect it even more...

I heartily agree with her stance that people shouldn't hunt just for fun. If they are doing it for fun, the meat should still be utilized for good in some way. But I still find something a little off in the fact that she won't hunt under any circumstances, but will gladly eat the rewards of someone else's labors.

Anyone else have any opinions on this?

(Disclaimer: I have never hunted or killed anything for the meat. I have been fishing, sometimes for the meat, sometimes for the sport. I still think that if I had the opportunity, I would like to hunt once just to have the experience. I would likely be crying while dressing the critter, but I still think it is an experience people should have...)

Thank you for joining us and chiming in Rueben. I find it distressing that tribal people are marginalised, but I am pleased that you do continue to honour your customs.

I hope that the world will learn to appreciate the wonderful diversity of tribal cultures - as if 'we westerners' have all the answers! Survival is an amazing charity I support that does work to raise public consciousness to what is happening to tribal people worldwide Survival International