North American Bison: Culinary History

The bison is often called a buffalo, but the name is not interchangeable. A buffalo is not a bison, which is actually an Old World animal. It was the early European settlers travelling to America that coined the misnomer. They saw what they thought was a buffalo, and named it thusly. 

It’s hard to imagine today, but the continent of North America was almost 70% covered in bison. These animals would wander the plains in groups of up to 40, gathering into larger herds to migrate or seek out new sources for food.

Bison were essential to the survival of Native Americans. Beyond their meat, bison bones could be fashioned into tools. Their hides could provide warmth, and meat could be cured for the long winters. Meat would be cooked by the hunters fresh, while the women would dry out some of the meat in salts. Sometimes, these hunters would even use the hide to make a kind of cauldron they could use to slow-cook the meat. 

The bison was, for lack of a better term, easy to shoot. Almost absurdly so. The animal is large and docile, so hunters found it simple to kill one. As a result, bison were all but extinct from the eastern half of America by 1849. The meat was highly valued for its fresh taste, which would have been a welcome change of pace to covered wagon travelers subsisting off of dried pork jerky.

Magical Creatures in Japanese Mythology

Kami, which are the spirits that inhabit all things, can take many forms in Japanese myths. Beginning with the origin of the Japanese islands, several important creatures have contributed to the mythology of Japan. 

Izanagi and Izanami created the islands of Japan, after stirring the waters of the earth with a jeweled spear. They pulled the spear from the water to see if it had gathered sediment, and droplets of salt fell from the blade. These droplets formed the island known as Onogoro. The two settled on the island, then birthed eight children who became the other islands of Japan. 

There are also monkey-like creatures that the Japanese call kappa. The kappa live in ponds and rivers around Japan, and they are said to carry water with them in a hollow at the top of their heads. This water helps the kappa retain their magical powers, but if the water is spilled the kappa becomes powerless. 

Kappa are mostly polite creatures, but they are known to feast on the blood of humans and other animals. They have a tendency to bow when they meet new creatures, which also has the unintended effect of spilling the water in their skulls. Humans have been known to outsmart kappa by forcing them into promises they cannot keep, as kappas are known for fulfilling any promise they make. Kappa also eat cucumbers, and it is said that a family attacked by a kappa can write their names on a cucumber and throw it to the creature to save themselves.

The Legend of the Maiden’s Tower

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Rapunzel? This is one of the earliest stories related to the concept of a “Maiden’s Tower,” and historians suspect the fairytale archetype relates to Istanbul. Popular myth tells of an emperor with a daughter. He loved his daughter, but an oracle prophesized that she would be bitten by a venomous snake on her 18^th birthday. 

The father responded by locking her away in the tower. He hid her from public view, designating himself as the only visitor allowed in the area. On her eighteenth birthday, the emperor brought her a basket of flowers and fruits as a gift. Upon reaching into the basket to retrieve a fruit, she was bitten by a poisonous asp that was hiding.

The legend ends with the girl dying in her father’s arms, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

There is another story about the tower in which Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, lived. She was courted by a young man named Leander, who would swim the river each night to be with her. Hero would light a lamp to show him the way. Leander tried for many evenings to get Hero to give him her virginity. She finally succumbed, and gave him a summer’s worth of delights. 

One night as winter came, Hero’s lamp burned out as Leander swam. The waves were vicious, and carried him out to see where he drowned and was lost forever. In her grief, Hero threw herself from the tower.

The Munich Massacre

The 1972 Summer Olympic games were held in Munich, West Germany. The last games to be held in Germany took place under the Nazi regime, and Germany was eager to show that things had changed since then. They adopted the motto “the Happy Games” to describe the festivities. 

The Israeli team set up in an isolated part of the Olympic village. Shmuel Lalkin, the Israeli delegate at the time, expressed concerns over the lack of security. He was assured at the time that extra guards would be provided for his team. 

It’s unlikely that the request was ever fulfilled. 

It was the evening of September 4^th when the Israeli team set out for a night on the town. They returned sometime before 4:30 AM, when eight men clad in track suits gained entry to their building. They were carrying assault rifles and each held a duffle bag loaded with pistols and grenades.

The standoff was soon underway. The hostage takers demanded the release of 234 various political prisoners in exchange for the 11 hostages they had taken. The dispute ended in a bloodbath. Two hostages were killed almost immediately during the initial attack. A failed rescue attempt ended with the deaths of the other nine. Three of the attackers survived and were put on trial. Two were released during the hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 615.  

The Israeli response to the unprovoked killing of their people was swift. After the killers were released to Libya, where they were given a military procession and granted a press conference, Israel launched two operations to systematically eliminate everyone who was involved in the massacre. One of these operations was dramatized in the film “Munich” by Steven Spielberg.

The History of Tourism in Victoria Falls

After Dr. David Livingstone discovered and named Victoria Falls, the region became an important tourist and industrial destination. Around 1900, the Europeans began to settle in the area. Prior to 1905, the river was passable from the falls above. Using a canoe, or a barge, visitors would pull themselves across with a steel cable. 

This all changed with the Cape Cairo railway, which led to the creation of the first bridge over the river. A hotel opened in 1904, making Victoria Falls one of the most popular destinations during the British colonial rule of Zambia. 

During the 60s, Northern Rhodesia attempted to gain independence for itself. Rhodesia tried to declare independence, but the UK and the UN would not recognize the move. This caused a dispute that brought tourism numbers down. The region of Zambia suffered from military incursions, which caused them to restrict some of the access points to the Falls. 

Peace was restored during the 1980s, and tourism numbers rose once again. New activities like whitewater rafting, bungee jumping and horseback riding became popular too. 

Towards the end of the 90s, the Falls were accommodating almost 300,000 visitors a year. Most of those visitors are locals who take a short bus ride to the site from Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Devil’s Pool is one of the main draws to the Falls today, where death-defying swimmers venture to the edge of Victoria Falls for a swim in a pool that is only safe for two to three months out of the year.