I don’t know how many of you actually read the article, but it is worth studying. It is quite different from any of the history (or natral history) that we learned in school. For one thing, we were never taught that the Indians actually deliberately burned off the forest and grasslands from time to time. In fact, this is the second time in 2 weeks that I’ve encountered that little taught fact. As school kids, we were always taught that pre-history forest fires were caused by lightning.
I’ve read previously how the Indians in the Willamette Valley (Oregon) set fire to get rid of the bugs.
There is a book called “1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus” written by Charles Mann that you might be interested in.
It goes into depth on the numerous indigenous cultures in the Americas right before contact with Europeans. What they did and how they managed their environment was NOT taught (and most likely not known) when I was going to school in anthropology in the late ‘70s - early ‘80s.
Fire was a big part of it. Very interesting read. I highly recommend it.