Fun fact: There are a lot of rivers in the UK named “avon” because the Romans arrived and asked the Celts what the rivers were called. The Celts answered “avon.”
Fan Fact #2: When Spanish conquistadors landed in the Yucatán peninsula, they asked the natives what their land was called and they responded “Yucatán”. In 2015, it was discovered that in those mesoamerican languages, “Yucatán” meant “I don’t understand what you are saying”
Fun fact #3: There is a lake in Australia called “Lake Wendouree,” created artificially out of the swamp of the same name. It was so named because when local colonizers asked, “What’s the name of this swamp?”, the local aboriginal people said, “Wendaaree.”
am I the smartest of them all?” …Is not a question crows are asking, despite what you may have heard. Because they, like basically all the super smart birds, are really, really bad at …
Just a quick run-through for those without the time to read this:
The mirror test is a bullshit way to test self-awareness
The “smartest” birds (crows, ravens, your favorite parrots) routinely fail this test anyway
Using mirrors to test self-awareness is #problematic
Self-awareness as a proxy for overall cognitive ability is meh
We don’t even have 100% solid definitions for fixed intelligence*, or consciousness that can be applied across taxa, so trying to measure those things is tricky. We barely have good definitions for human beings (see: the racist, unscientific mess that is IQ)
Trying to judge animals by how like humans they are, or assuming that a “smart” animal would view things in a human-like way is a fool’s errand.
Birds are perfect beings, therefore, it is impossible for humans to fully conceive of their greatness (I added that last bit)
(*I personally don’t believe in fixed intelligence, but that’s another matter entirely)
Further evidence of this: Pigs have never been shown to pass the mirror test despite the fact that pigs can use mirrors to locate food (so they clearly understand how mirrors work) and can “lie” to other pigs (so probably have a theory of mind) which would very strongly suggests that they possess self-awareness and therefore should be able to pass the mirror test.
Passing or failing the mirror test is not an accurate indication of self-awareness or intelligence; it doesn’t even necessarily prove or disprove whether an animal can recognize its reflection.
Sara Jacobsen, 19, grew up eating family dinners beneath a stunning Native American robe.
Sara Jacobsen, 19, grew up eating family dinners beneath a stunning Native American robe.
Not that she gave it much thought. Until, that is, her senior year of high school, when she saw a picture of a strikingly similar robe in an art history class.
The teacher told the class about how the robe was used in spiritual ceremonies, Sara Jacobsen said. “I started to wonder why we have it in our house when we’re not Native American.”
She said she asked her dad a few questions about this robe. Her dad, Bruce Jacobsen, called that an understatement.
“I felt like I was on the wrong side of a protest rally, with terms like ‘cultural appropriation’ and ‘sacred ceremonial robes’ and ‘completely inappropriate,’ and terms like that,” he said.
“I got defensive at first, of course,” he said. “I was like, ‘C’mon, Sara! This is more of the political stuff you all say these days.’”
But Sara didn’t back down. “I feel like in our country there are so many things that white people have taken that are not theirs, and I didn’t want to continue that pattern in our family,” she said.
The robe had been a centerpiece in the Jacobsen home. Bruce Jacobsen bought it from a gallery in Pioneer Square in 1986, when he first moved to Seattle. He had wanted to find a piece of Native art to express his appreciation of the region.
The Chilkat robe that hung over the Jacobsen dining room table for years. Credit Courtesy of the Jacobsens
“I just thought it was so beautiful, and it was like nothing I had seen before,” Jacobsen said.
The robe was a Chilkat robe, or blanket, as it’s also known. They are woven by the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples of Alaska and British Columbia and are traditionally made from mountain goat wool. The tribal or clan origin of this particular 6-foot-long piece was unclear, but it dated back to around 1900 and was beautifully preserved down to its long fringe.
“It’s a completely symmetric pattern of geometric shapes, and also shapes that come from the culture,” like birds, Jacobsen said. “And then it’s just perfectly made — you can see no seams in it at all.”
Jacobsen hung the robe on his dining room wall.
After more needling from Sara, Jacobsen decided to investigate her claims. He emailed experts at the Burke Museum, which has a huge collection of Native American art and artifacts.
“I got this eloquent email back that said, ‘We’re not gonna tell you what to go do,’ but then they confirmed what Sara said: It was an important ceremonial piece, that it was usually owned by an entire clan, that it would be passed down generation to generation, and that it had a ton of cultural significance to them.“
Jacobsen says he was a bit disappointed to learn that his daughter was right about his beloved Chilkat robe. But he and his wife Gretchen now no longer thought of the robe as theirs. Bruce Jacobsen asked the curators at the Burke Museum for suggestions of institutions that would do the Chilkat robe justice. They told him about the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau.
When Jacobsen emailed, SHI Executive Director Rosita Worl couldn’t believe the offer. “I was stunned. I was shocked. I was in awe. And I was so grateful to the Jacobsen family.”
Worl said the robe has a huge monetary value. But that’s not why it’s precious to local tribes.
“It’s what we call ‘atoow’: a sacred clan object,” she said. “Our beliefs are that it is imbued with the spirit of not only the craft itself, but also of our ancestors. We use [Chilkat robes] in our ceremonies when we are paying respect to our elders. And also it unites us as a people.”
Since the Jacobsens returned the robe to the institute, Worl said, master weavers have been examining it and marveling at the handiwork. Chilkat robes can take a year to make – and hardly anyone still weaves them.
“Our master artist, Delores Churchill, said it was absolutely a spectacular robe. The circles were absolutely perfect. So it does have that importance to us that it could also be used by our younger weavers to study the art form itself.”
Worl said private collectors hardly ever return anything to her organization. The federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires museums and other institutions that receive federal funding to repatriate significant cultural relics to Native tribes. But no such law exists for private collectors.
Bruce and Gretchen Jacobsen hold the Chilkat robe they donated to the Sealaska Heritage Institute as Joe Zuboff, Deisheetaan, sings and drums and Brian Katzeek (behind robe) dances during the robe’s homecoming ceremony Saturday, August 26, 2017. Credit NOBU KOCH / SEALASKA HERITAGE INSTITUTE
Worl says the institute is lobbying Congress to improve the chances of getting more artifacts repatriated. “We are working on a better tax credit system that would benefit collectors so that they could be compensated,” she said.
Worl hopes stories like this will encourage people to look differently at the Native art and artifacts they possess.
The Sealaska Heritage Institute welcomed home the Chilkat robe in a two-hour ceremony over the weekend. Bruce and Gretchen Jacobsen traveled to Juneau to celebrate the robe’s homecoming.
normal ads: i figured out how to make money from home! click here for more info. mobile packages! play this videogame! :-)
ads on tumblr.com: hhHHhh beans… Wanna car? . $; Asthma && S K I N grape% ｈｏｒｓｅｓ Click More……… Kim Kardashian Adopts Alien Boy? ££€¥₩£#¥ Tragic I̶̻̳̻͠Ń͎͎͔̙̩͚̤̠V̷̨̩̼Ę̳̲̣͢͞S̠͈̤̤̘͢T̛̗̮̺̥͟ ͓̪̬͚̳̕͜͡I̞̥͚N̷̠̦͔̤ ͓͚̱͔͡S͎̹T͎͍̪͠O͏̱̤͓̖͠C̟̟̯̮̫ͅK̬͚̥̟̮S̢͚̫̘͉̟̖̝ ̻̫̻̺T͎O̝̖̱̥̠̰̞D͉̰͚̫̫̝̪̜ͅA͉̥̠̝̘̗̫Ỳ̧̨͇̞̼̘͈
gummygunk
prguitarman
yousharknotpass
pixelskylines
tangentwithtanner
