Today, we gather in what we call “Paris” to acknowledge and to honor the land on which we stand, which previously was known by its original inhabitants as…well, we don’t know, because they were Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and they lived 10,000 years ago.
Nov 18, 2022·edited Nov 18, 2022Liked by The 21st Century Salonnière
You have combined a wild and highly informative romp through tens of millennia of tangled French history with some brilliant, incisive satire; brava, I salute you! It's lovely stuff, right up there with Monty Python.
My favorite bits:
"Just don’t ruin the moment by asking any questions about what happened to the Neanderthals"
"For those who don’t get the hint: We’re not, you know, giving anything back to anyone. That would be expensive."
Now, if you could provide us with an equally useful curriculum for diversity training, all would be right with the world!
Well done, Dolly! You have made a very important point while giving us an excellent thumbnail sketch of French history. Is there any land on earth that has been continuously inhabited by the same ethnic/genetic group that lives there now? Probably not, which renders all the talk of land acknowledgments pointless and absurd. Not impossibly expensive, but simply impossible. Ah, but romantic illusions are more palatable than logical thought to a good many people these days...
That was a tremendously fun way of making the point--with which I agree--that land acknowledgments flatten history and ignore humanity’s tendency to invade and conquer, which has always been with us and didn’t just begin with white people in the sixteenth century. Brava!
I love this so much. I’ve often wondered what a land acknowledgment that wasn’t from the Americas* or Australia would look like. Now I know. Beautiful.
*Do they do land acknowledgments in Latin America? Plenty of them here in the US and Canada, but Mexico? Central and South America? The Caribbean, for that matter?
The first thing I have to think about hearing "Paris" is Disney (World) , so you certainly gave Paris something, which is implanted in many of Europeans minds
“Henry of Navarre, a Protestant king, decided to lay siege to Paris to stop the massacre. He failed —but he converted to Catholicism and was crowned King of France. Go figure.” Paris vaut bien une messe!
Beyond that, as a Francophile, I feel so… dirty. No doubt only sexual relations with a random French maiden will restore me to my original pure state. Ah well -- needs must!
You have combined a wild and highly informative romp through tens of millennia of tangled French history with some brilliant, incisive satire; brava, I salute you! It's lovely stuff, right up there with Monty Python.
My favorite bits:
"Just don’t ruin the moment by asking any questions about what happened to the Neanderthals"
"For those who don’t get the hint: We’re not, you know, giving anything back to anyone. That would be expensive."
Now, if you could provide us with an equally useful curriculum for diversity training, all would be right with the world!
Well done, Dolly! You have made a very important point while giving us an excellent thumbnail sketch of French history. Is there any land on earth that has been continuously inhabited by the same ethnic/genetic group that lives there now? Probably not, which renders all the talk of land acknowledgments pointless and absurd. Not impossibly expensive, but simply impossible. Ah, but romantic illusions are more palatable than logical thought to a good many people these days...
Since the historical record makes it hard to find the original owner of Paris, I vote that they give the entire thing to me
That was a tremendously fun way of making the point--with which I agree--that land acknowledgments flatten history and ignore humanity’s tendency to invade and conquer, which has always been with us and didn’t just begin with white people in the sixteenth century. Brava!
The images are so well-chosen. And your point is so thought-provoking.
I love this so much. I’ve often wondered what a land acknowledgment that wasn’t from the Americas* or Australia would look like. Now I know. Beautiful.
*Do they do land acknowledgments in Latin America? Plenty of them here in the US and Canada, but Mexico? Central and South America? The Caribbean, for that matter?
*chef's kiss*
The first thing I have to think about hearing "Paris" is Disney (World) , so you certainly gave Paris something, which is implanted in many of Europeans minds
For better or worse you decide 🤔
If any "giving-back" is going to ensue, perhaps we start by giving back Doggerland to its original inhabitants...
“Henry of Navarre, a Protestant king, decided to lay siege to Paris to stop the massacre. He failed —but he converted to Catholicism and was crowned King of France. Go figure.” Paris vaut bien une messe!
Beyond that, as a Francophile, I feel so… dirty. No doubt only sexual relations with a random French maiden will restore me to my original pure state. Ah well -- needs must!