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Comment by stolenmerch | Hacker News Reader

I am delighted that plains bison are making a return here. I'm especially happy that this private ranch is now a restored heritage park with revealed petroglyphs. I am not as excited that Smithsonian Magazine is giving pretend clickbait headline credence to a "prophesy". To me, it's clearly the hard work of conservationists and activists who worked hard to restore this area to the rightful equilibrium that existed for six millenia.

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>To me, it's clearly the hard work of conservationists and activists

Not just to you, but everyone including Smithsonian, it's unlikely anyone believes in prophecies literally. However those prophecies are part of animistic traditional beliefs, and if you have a little bit of good faith you can see how respect for biodiversity, nature and animal life ties into the good fortune of traditional tribes who often have a closer and more direct relationship with wildlife and intact ecosystems.

You don't need to be superstitious to understand why animals and the natural world have a privileged place in the beliefs and history of native peoples.

I know, and this actually crossed my mind. It's probably the case this writer doesn't actually believe the Wahpeton Dakota Nation prophesy is real. They are just giving respect to indigenous peoples and not actually propping up horoscopes or Nostradamus, or whatever.

The prophecy was that when bison came back, it would bring better times for the Indigenous people. That's hardly a stretch as predictions go.

Edit: fixed prophesy -> prophecy

I think you both mean prophecy. Prophesy, whose last syllable sounds like "eye," is the verb form.

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