Pages 24-29

Billy Berger has written one of the most fascinating experimental archeology pieces I have read. From the history of his quest, to photos and descriptions of the Northern Paiute homeland, to his own archeological finds, and the conceptual and physical steps taken to recreate a vanished piece of prehistory, his journey into the past was simply fascinating. The most compelling aspect of Billy’s article, and the Primitive Archer literature in general, is the clear proof that when you get down to the primitive setting, all of the ideological and racial bullshit that us post-moderns live our lives mired in washes away like the social diarrhea it is. This bright inquisitive man has done more to connect with an extinguished culture out of pure industrious curiosity than all of the ‘blood magic’ and ‘greater good’ literature that spews from the rancid spouts of academia.

Making A Northern Paiute Bow and Arrow Set is an excellent example of pure human expression—of what we really are, as opposed to what we affect to be. The section on obsidian varieties was my favorite. The adherence to the principal of authentic replication combined with an exploration of the nature world as a living tool kit exemplified throughout this feature article was uplifting. More readers and researchers who get caught up in reading history, philosophy, economics and religion would do well to get a hold of a copy of Primitive Archer to get back in touch with what it really is to be human outside the ruminations of our sedentary constructs.

Thanks Billy, for a serenely informative read.