Eve of Independence Day Thoughts

Part of preparing for the brouhaha of July 4th day-drinking, fireworks, and BBQ's I decided to mourn the loss of species as today is the 170th anniversary of the death day of the last great auks. The Northern Latitudes version of a penguin was immeasurably important to the pre-contact peoples of the Maritime Provinces,New England states. They also were highly valued north and east across into Western Europe. As the auk became extinct preceeding modern study of anthropology there is little concrete understanding of the spiritual value the peoples of those regions held for them. What is known is their bones were prevalent in graves of Wabanaki, Abenaki, Mi'kmaq as well as ~4000 yr old burials in Newfoundland. The utility the auk provided is without question, a large, fatty, cumbersome (on land) flightless bird was an important food source, their eggs were richly nutritious, and their down warmed jackets from New Brunswick to the Iberian Peninsula. Sadly their value as a food source made them too useful to short-sighted Europeans drunk on Lockean philosophy of natural property. Tonight I'll drink a sad beer for what we missed out on, Tomorrow I'll drink for what we do still have, for now.