>I'd like to compare the attitude of Sorcerors and Shamans towards
>spirits with that of the buffalo hunters of the North American
>plains.
>While the natives *knew* the buffalo intimately, and depended on it
>for their life, the white hunters with their rifles knew far better
>how to kill the animals.
This simply isn't true, Henk. An Amerind was as good as or better than any white hunter. He had equally-good weapons (they hunted with rifles, you know), was a better horseman, and knew buffalo habits better. The only advantage the white man had over the indian in killing buffalo was that there were more white men, and they had no ecological restriction on killing all the buffalo they wanted. If the Indians had wanted to exterminate the buffalo, they could have done so far more efficiently than the whites.
The same applies to the shamans vs. sorcerers.
For all the armchair ranting and moaning about how a shaman out of his home area would be lost, and the false comparisons made to an Inuit or Bushman placed into the wrong environment, it ain't so.
Example: Joerg or someone said that an Amerind hunter transported to Africa would die from eating jungle food. No, he wouldn't, Joerg -- he knows that there can be poisonous plants, since he lives with them every day in North America. He is smart enough to see which fruit and leaves are eaten by birds, and stick to those at first. Or there was the concern over a naked Yanamamo placed into the tundra, and how he'd freeze to death. He'd freeze to death no sooner than an urban German placed naked into the arctic. If a Yanomamo was forced into the arctic, he could wear furs and parkas just like the residents. He'd have to be told that polar bear liver was bad to eat. He'd be able to spear seals with minimal training -- the Yanomamo know how to sit quietly in ambush for hours, just like the Inuit. He can build himself a fire (how many of us can do the same). He knows how to use the animal's hide, bones, meat, and fat to make useful tools and clothing. He would be in _much_ better shape than you or I.
A shaman can travel all round the world and still use his skills. He will be less effective in a far land than at home, but he won't be a fish out of water. At worst, he'll be a fish transported to a different lake.
Sandy
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