It fits our 20th-century view of us as ecological monsters. There's no doubt that we do terrible things ecologically, but we're passing that on to the past, which may not have actually been the case. To stick our plight onto them is unfair.

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The collapse was really a function of European disease being introduced. The story that's been told about these populations going crazy and creating their own demise may just be simply an artifact of [Christian] missionaries telling stories.

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