Hunting and Gathering

My cousin took my brother and me to an interesting talk by a Miwok archeologist. He was also a professor from San Diego and a member of the Graton Rancheria. This talk got me thinking.

I have read that when a culture reliant on farming meets a culture reliant on hunting and gathering, the farming culture dominates. That's what happens, and sometimes, as with the Amerindians of the United States, this clash can approach genocide. A good part of the American tragedy was caused by diseases the Europeans brought with them to the American coasts. But some of it was the result of policy.  Gen. Sherman deliberately exterminated the bison, for example, in order to pen in or destroy the hunting cultures of the plains. The Sioux happened to live right where he wanted to build our original intercontinental railroad. 

I have good friends who believe that we should listen to the Amerindians of the past and of today and adopt their hunter-gatherer belief system,  a balanced way of reacting to our environment. But the Miwoks of today aren't gatherers. They buy frozen food in supermarkets. 

It comes to this. Should we adopt a belief system that loses every time? How would PETA react to hunting-gathering? Can we adopt the values of hunting-gathering without the hunting and gathering? 

The answer might be yes.