The Deeper History of the United States

There is a certain beauty in how place names in the United States are a mix of English, French, Spanish, and native. Here in the northeast there is certainly an abundance of Indian place names. Examples include Massachusetts, Connecticut, Nantucket, Narraganset, Pawtucket, and Montauk. And many places with European names have known Indian names that live on in one way or another, such as Shawmut (Boston) and Naumkeag (Salem).

The Northeast has no monopoly on Indian place names; about half of all states have pre-European names. But what is peculiar here is that while there are countless Indian names, there are virtually no Indians here.

When half of our places have Indian names, but there are no Indians, one has to wonder what happened. The answer is partly cruel European domination that resulted in the relocation and death of countless natives. But 70-90% of the Indian population of coastal Massachusetts died of infectious disease prior to the landing of the Pilgrims. I will always wonder how things would have turned out if disease was not a factor. The natives would have been stronger than the weak and unprepared Pilgrims and any of the settlers that followed in the decades after. Without being decimated by disease, the Indians could have adopted enough European technology and practices to remain equal enough to have a real voice in the disposition of their lands. The map of North America would look vastly different than it does today.

At any rate, there are indeed surviving Northeastern Indians, such as the Mashantucket Pequots, and their story is remarkable. At one point, only two woman were living year round on their tribal land in southeastern Connecticut. The Pequots have since gained federal recognition, developed a major casino as their tribe's economic engine, and drawn hundreds of tribe members back to the land.

There are upwards of 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 American Indians today. No one will ever know exactly what North America's Indian population was in 1491. Wikipedia references estimates ranging from 1,000,000 to 18,000,000. But the current number is reassuring, as there are millions of descendants of natives that link this country to its pre-Columbian roots.

Indian history is a deeper history of the United States. Our story begins not in 1620 or 1492, but instead around 12,000 BC when migrants first crossed the Bering Strait.

Moon (film)

I was disappointed with The Martian because it could have been a powerful space exploration drama, but for the film's insistent comedy. So I was pleased to see that Moon, released in 2009 but unnoticed at the time by me, did not have the same problem.

Moon has a plausible enough premise. In the near future, a private company is harvesting the moon's raw materials for use on earth. The robotic machinery is overseen by Sam Bell, the single moon resident on a 3-year contract. Gerty, the artificial intelligence that assists him in his work, is the closet thing Sam has to human company.

The movie has a handful of humorous scenes. But they are very dark. Plus, they are integral to the story. I think that in film, sex and violence work only when they are important to the story. Otherwise they are gratuitous. The Martian makes me think the same about comedy in a dramatic movie.

I suppose someone might think the lone astronaut's interactions with an AI are too similar to such scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey. But I think that is going to be an increasingly common element of movies as space exploration and AI become more than fictional speculation.

Overall, Moon is smart and solid. The freaky part of the story, which I don't want to spoil for those who have yet to see it, is Charlie Kaufman level creativity. Moon's director and co-writer Duncan Jones (who happens to be David Bowie's son) may have a promising film career ahead.