The Six Degrees of Separation concept didn’t start with Kevin Bacon, believe it or not. We can thank Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy in 1929 for that idea. But regardless of who started it, it’s very much a home truth that humankind and all of the things in our periphery seem to be connected in some way with just a few steps, if you just look to see how.
In walks Mary. Mary Carter McConnell, that is: Anthropologist, historian, research specialist, horse and dog breeder, specialist in the study of humankind, and just about the reference for good reading material I’ve ever met. She has plenty of manure on her shoes by the back door, so she’s not just a book-learning-only type girl. Much of our interview was conducted in the field, Mary with a bucket in her hand and her Cherokee and Choctaw herd surrounding her. She explained each animal to us -- genetic line, physical attributes and behavioral characteristics, and talked about why the horses were regionally selected over hundreds of years.
We came away from this interview with a new respect for the breeding savvy of the Native American peoples, the historic significance and history of these beautiful equines, the human and agricultural losses during in the Trail of Tears, and, of course, worshipful adoration of an amazing woman who is one of the nation’s top preservationists of history, both conceptual and biological.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropology
https://web.archive.org/web/20160719000140/http://www.imh.org/exhibits/online/what-we-theorize-when-and-where-domestication-occurred#
https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/PotatoHistory.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato
https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/irish-potato-famine
https://www.nap.edu/read/1398/chapter/1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frigyes_Karinthy
https://web.archive.org/web/20080908122706/http://www.cipotato.org/pressroom/press_releases_detail.asp?cod=55
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080129160727.htm
https://www.midsouthhorsereview.com/articles.php?id=5109
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestication_of_the_horse
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/rappahannock-news/20190221/281530817299432
https://www.google.com/search?channel=tus2&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=mary+popping+song+something+about+mary
https://en.actualitix.com/country/amsu/south-america-potato-import.php