Inventions To Thank Pagans For

[KristyHall]

if i follow the idea that pagan means anyone who is not of the Abrahamic religion....


then Native Americans invented several types of agricultural and fishing methods, domesticated and bred several varieties of plants used in a majority of the world today.

Chocolate.... (not the sweet kind, I believe that came from a group of nuns. I may have to go look it up in one of my books though)

Maple Syrup

Aspirin

certain food preservation methods

snow shoes

Lacrosse and basketball

Kayak

certain war techniques

Moccasins (of course)

they also taught settling Europeans how to build efficient log cabins

Toboggan

abstract art (native art is what inspired the abstract art movement in the 1990s)

almanacs/ Calenders(the first known native almanac predates that of the Europeans)

Successful Brain surgery

Effective Anesthetics (once again it was found to predate that of the Eastern world)

Rubber

barbecue

chewing gum

cornbread, corn meal

embalming (the oldest embalming methods were found in Chile that predates Egyptian embalming)

hockey

gold plating

hammocks

potato chips

popcorn

spinning top toys

salsa

tortillas

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
oh yeah, root beer, vanilla and freeze dried foods, crackerjack recipe (original ingredients),

 

[Matthew3590]

How did they make aspirin?

 

[ChickyLove]

I know I'm tired when I read the title of the thread as "Interventions To Thank Pagans For".

It's neat to read through the lists!

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
aspirin is made from the bark of certain willow trees. it was used for centuries before the Europeans came, and then later on American scientists realized the medicine made from the bark of these trees worked (even though the Natives already knew this)

Modern aspirin is still synthesized from willow bark

also a certain plant from south america that is used in modern medicine to treat certain types of cancer was used for centuries by the native peoples there to treat... cancer.

 

[ChickyLove]

Aspirin originates from the salicin in willow bark. If I'm not mistaken, about the late 1820's or so they realized what the Native Americans and many others had known for a long time, and then gave it a name after refining it toward the mid 1800's.

 

[Matthew3590]

Oh, I thought it was made through chemical reactions..

 

[annaraven]

Birth control pills are also a direct result of the wild yams that pagan women of central america used for birth control.

 

[Patience]

This thread is wonderful! GrayDragon kind of hit all the inventions I would have named: booze, cheese, and coffee

I do have a funny story about my given name which is Irish and very old. It's Áine and is pronounced sort of like Anya. You can hear it in Irish here. It has come to mean Anne and first born daughter (it's related to the French aîné which means first born son, aînée would be first born daughter) and my lapsed Catholic father and agnostic mother thought it would be a good name that honored a bunch of parts of my heritage. Well! Little did they know (this was long before the internet) A) how to pronounce it--they called me Ay-nee for the first 6 mos of my life, or B) that Áine was a pagan goddess of unmarried women's, erm how shall I put this, um, let's just say she was in charge of the more physical aspects of their lives. LOL! But I do love my name even though I rarely use it online since it tends to confuse people.

There are a couple of things I would add to the list: metalworking, which really did change the course of human development, pottery, and the art of making fabric. Sorry if someone already mentioned them.

What a remarkable species we are, no matter whom we thank and bless or pray to!

I'm so impressed that this thread has gone on for 2 years in such an open and careful manner.

 

[Patience]

Oh, I forgot my favorite thing!! Music. What a gift!