Right, those are figures from 1995, well after "the traditional 3 to 4 years of prolonged breastfeeding" had been abandoned. I have seen multiple sources claim that the typical breastfeeding period among numerous HG peoples was 3-4 or so years.

From your same link:

Native American women often fall into these categories (Long et al., 1995). The Inupiat Eskimos—a particular group of Native Americans who live in the North Slope region of Alaska, along the coast of the Arctic Ocean—seem to be experiencing a decline in the prevalence of breastfeeding. During the last 25 years, authors have documented that the Inupiat's lifestyle has changed from one of isolated subsistence to that of economic and social involvement in the prevailing American culture. This change has affected all areas of life (Blackwood, 1981). The Inupiats, like many other Native and Eskimo groups, have experienced lifestyle alterations directed away from their traditional cultural values. Within many Eskimo cultures, among the first things affected by acculturation was a change in the sources of food (Sayed, Hildes, & Schaefer, 1976). Blackwood (1981) reports that, during the 1950s, efforts were made by public health workers to replace and/or supplement breastfeeding with formula feeding, leading to a large shift toward formula feeding, especially in the first few months of life. Over 25 years ago, Schaefer (1973) reported that, among Canadian Eskimos, the traditional 3 to 4 years of prolonged breastfeeding had been shortened or abandoned with the increasing use of bottle feeding.

    This could have been the 1950's, the 3-4 years, I don't think that could be compared to paleo there.  Go to an organization like La Leche League International.  I'm sure they have many links and books at their disposal, as well as info right at the front of their minds.  They were amazingly helpful to me and mine when I had little questions or doubts in any way about breast feeding.

Not to say the RawZis, PaleoPhils and Tylers of the group aren't swell chaps, though Tyler's quote on freedom to bear arms strikes me as a bit odd. I wondered during the first couple of weeks whether the high meat consumption causes aggressive qualities to be heightened among this group. Or rather, whether the qualities of empathy are higher at 30BAD than they are here ...

My apologizes for deviating the topic off bananas!

    I always see one thing reflecting on another in so many ways, always have, all my life, ever as a small child.  The 30BaDers take care of their systemic candidiasis' by feeding the yeast and making the yeast happy.  That's fungus.  Fungus is interlaced from tree to tree all through forests.  Fungus is an amazing being.  It's like the Star Trek Borg or bees in a hive, less individuality type freedom.

    Were people possibly aggressive toward you, you coming from 30BaD?  I might understand that, as 30BaDers (not all but many) have been very harsh, crooked and unnecessarily cruel to raw meat eaters in my experience.  Maybe one could need to get known in a different way.

    Do I come across to you as un-empathetic or aggressive?  I'm not sure I understand what you wrote.  I know eating (raw) white meat and occasionally eating aajonus' recipe for the high meat assists me in being totally calm in mind, action etc.  Unfortunately I eat (raw) red meat too, which doesn't seem to suit me well in my opinion, and when I at times cheat by eating Vegan food too, which gets me feeling like a mess and looking like one too, IMO but also swelling which cannot be argued.  If you do think I am un-empathetic, you might think different if you met me.  Animals approach me every chance, more positively than to almost anyone I've ever met in person around animals.  I think animals can sense I "hear" them very well (as in understanding them on some special level that they appreciate).  Or maybe there's a natural hunter in me waiting to get out.  The attraction of animals to me might be part of how I would catch them for eating when I eventually choose to catch my food.  I don't know.  I have never felt like killing or injuring one or any.

    I'm sorry if that was too aggressive.  Nuances or lack thereof in voice, breathing and almost everything can get lost in written word, especially from someone like me who almost always tended to have writer's block and can have very expressive voice facial expressions and even body language, etc in person.  Pitch (voice highs lows) also might affect communication in person.

    On the topic of bananas; I've never been overly fond of them, unless there are a multitude of yard grown ones each time to pick from, untreated.

Yes, of course, that's what I meant(ie not eating during summer).

    Does it depend on how cold or warm a climate you live in?  I distinctly remember eating live clams and live oysters in the heat of Summer, and by doing so, making a marked improvement in the state of the health of my body.

Farmed bivalves eat the same diet as wild ones. 

Most scallops are treated with sodium metabisulfite ...  I have noticed that my teeth feel noticeably better when I eat the untreated scallops, than when I eat the treated ones.  That sodium metabisulfite must mess with mineral uptake or something.

    Thank you.  How do you know when sodium metabisulfite is not used?  At the WFM by me (the only place I can find even remotely fresh fish) they seem to have no idea about anything.  Their (raw fresh not previously frozen) scallops always smelled bad to me, but when I ate them it did not affect my health adversely and seemed to be good for me.

the raw toddler didn't eat any fruits yesterday.

... again he is a baby and do you think ZC will work for him! i'm still learning about raw paleo. please leave your opinion here! thanks.

    I had always thought fruit was fine for a child for them to eat before noon each day.  Each situation is different from the next IMO.  I feel children can do fine on an all raw meat diet, maybe better, Idk.  How is your toddler otherwise these last few days as in comparison to last week?

RawZi, can you link me to any of the sources Elainie provided or provide some of your own (I'm not interested in becoming a member of that raw vegan forum)? If the Inuit nursed "up to" 6 - 9 years, that means some nursed for fewer years, right? The typical HG numbers I've seen have been more in the 3-4 year range. That doesn't mean that some people didn't breastfeed for 6-9 years, just that I haven't seen those numbers reported as avg/typical for HGs. For example:

"Over 25 years ago, Schaefer (1973) reported that, among Canadian Eskimos, the traditional 3 to 4 years of prolonged breastfeeding ...." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595048/

Since the typical spacing period between having children among HGs is also generally listed as 4 years, the 3-4 year breastfeeding figure matches up well with that.

    I'm not an expert at the history or anything along those lines of breast feeding.  Elaine put forth lots of amazing stuff about it at GI2MR, but eventually deleted her account, and in that forum all your posts disappear when your account is off.

    From your link:

McKim et al. (1998) discovered that, among Canadian Eskimos, 18.4% initiated breastfeeding, 4.5% were still breastfeeding at 4 weeks, and no one was breastfeeding at 16 weeks and beyond.

    From rawpaleoforum I read members writing that Eskimos even a hundred years ago were contaminated by white man with the idea and providing of cooking pots.  This tells me other issues sources nutrition could have been affected even that far back in time, maybe further.

    I remember as a child reading books and articles about real people (mothers babies) who breast fed.  There was an African tribe that the women kept the babies on their backs all day while these same mothers were working all day.  The women had a practice of taking their children off their back carrier every single hour without fail and nursing them for at least a minute.  They wouldn't have another child for four and a half years each time, even though they utilized no other method of family planning. 

    Is there proof, like carbon dating or something, that in times of history (or prehistory in this case as it be) of not nursing more than four years?  I did not nurse any child of mine that long, but I do personally know women who nurse longer each child, and I have seen this in the flesh.  If there are people who do this now, and the families are healthy, I see no reason it was not possible then.  I assume most people have not seen this, as it surprised me.  I thought it looked very strange at first.  I did not think Americans ever nursed past two years of age.

Ann Wigmore claimed to have been a strict vegan for decades.  I simply don't think she was, for 3 reasons

1.  Vegans aren't very healthy, long-term
2.  Lots/most raw food gurus eat cooked food and animal products regularly, and lie about it
3. Ann's health was excellent

    I knew her differently.  She was not a Vegan around me, as she frequently made her "champagne" which she did use local honey to make, and she did not hide that.  She also fed her dog raw chicken and did not attempt to hide that (plenty of Vegans on GI2MR force their cats and dogs to eat only Vegan food).  Around me, the impression she gave was a striving to constantly evolve and at the time using plant products more and more to HOPEFULLY only use them, as (a possible) experiment.  For example, she allowed clay therapy when I first met her, but then decided that since clay is not a plant, to use plants instead for similar therapies.  Another example of non-Vegan is her permission to use Clorox in the laundry, as a true Vegan would not kill anything directly (even germs at least I tried not to).  I never noticed her fussing about insects either, not in any capacity.  Most Vegans and other "ethical" vegetarians that I've known make points to show they don't eat nor kill insects.  Insects just didn't bother her.  Believe me, there were tons of insects around.  Vegans in my experience are usually out to prove how lacking in culpability they are, think they love the planet better than the next guy and think they don't hurt any being that crawls etc unlike all of the rest of the humans in their judgement and that humans are evil unless they are Vegans.  They may act like the last three descriptions because of some unresolved issues in their souls, that it is possible they are unaware of.   

    Dr. Ann's health was better than mine (more muscle and better recovery time etc), but I came there recovering from illness.  IMO her face showed the ravages of Advanced Glycation End-Products from the years Vegan food she ate.  That is not a healthy sign.  I don't think it was from aging from before she went raw.  She went raw at age fifty, and no one has such a wrinkly ugly face at age fifty.  Her face was really ugly IMO.  I have relatives older than her that have better looking face.  They have never gone a day without cooked meat in their adult lives.  I think this shows that there were possibly other health problems inside her body that just were not visible to the eye.  She did like people to get tests done to prove their illnesses and recoveries, but I've never seen test results that were hers.  I am curious what it might have shown.

    Let's agree to disagree.  I knew a different person than you do, as far as her.  As far as the rest of the vegetarian and Vegan gurus, I have met a number of them.  Like I said, I can judge people pretty well.  Let's just say that I have a poor impression of most of the ones I met.  I don't like detailing negatives.  Thanks for understanding.

    To be clear, energy soup which has some similarity to green smoothie but is made with sprouts and either rejuvelac or watermelon rind does not bother my body.  Also, when I did try green smoothie, I had already been an RAFer for two and a half years.  I have drank raw green soups before (no sweet fruit and instead of water or rejuvelac use peeled raw tomato) with no ill effect to my system. 

    By smoothie, do you mean with greens in it?  You may tolerate them, I know many rawists claim it's like a (wonderful) drug high.  If you don't do them, forgive me for getting OT.  Drinking a small portion of a regular green smoothie made me terribly stopped up.  Then I read all these rawists who had been vegan, then started to add an egg to their smoothie and swear by it.  I finally tried that one, and the first and only also upset my intestine.

    I've had cows, cats and goats.  They nursed each for years each, when I allowed them to do what they do from the beginning.  Human babies are born less developed than even other primates.  From what I've read from primatologists, we are born earlier in our gestational cycles than other animals, because of the large human skull.  Living without houses, stores, cars etc breastmilk is the most convenient, natural and consistent food possible.  Consistency is important in raising children.  Some more agricultural tribes may have nursed for two and three years, but more paleo ones I believe nurse six, seven and eight years.

What I mean is, if one traditional tribe does it for less than 6 years, than 6 years is not the minimum for traditional peoples, right? Six might be better than lower numbers, but it would then not be the minimum.

Sorry, RawZi, can you clarify this part or rephrase? I'm unsure what you are asking. Thanks

    Before or after work outs?  All day long?  First thing in the morning?  Combined with fruits?  I am curious to your eating schedule, as far as what works for you?  I'm just curious.  I hope you don't mind.  Thanks.

    Oh I see.  I meant to write "THAT" you like better, not "what" you like better.

    Thank you for filling us in on what you're eating, and how you're managing there being unavailable grassfed meat.  Are you finding certain times what you like better than others to eat the fish and eggs?

    When my son was at least two he started avoiding bananas.  Like any other child he still liked all other fruit (and does today).  Then when we were in the tropics, during mango season, he had to swear off mangoes.  We weren't always 100% raw, but we were for a good part of that time.  Being 100% raw, mangoes messed with his digestion too much.  So he actually chose to eat a good deal of bananas every day when we lived on "Mango Road", as bananas were easy to get even though the only sweet fruit ripe everywhere around on trees and falling off them was mango. 

    For my first five months on RGJAF (raw green juice and animal food), salmon was my best flesh food.  I never liked meat much at all, but salmon did taste good.  My body was loving salmon (although I did vary my flesh foods and the other ones felt good).  Not now though.  My body is prefering terrestrial animal meat.  It feels like I've gotten enough of the nutrients salmon provide to fill my stores, the types of fat in particular.

... bananas a day constitute a harmful act to a diet? I've noticed that eating multiple mangos causes bloating/distension. In fact, I suspect it contributed to me losing my flat tummy and gaining a small belly which is now difficult to get rid of. I ate about 600 grams of raw fish today which demonstrates my diet is more raw omnivore (or paleo) than it is raw vegan. I could easily eat a pound of salmon in one go, it's absolutely delicious. ...

    Naomi, wow, I enjoyed reading that.  This being a paleo forum too, I think paleo peoples breastfed each child at least six years.  I have listened to a podcast of yours on raising children.  If you read through this forum, you will see I don't go around saying, "good job", when someone posts something good.  That's not the way I normally act, plus I might add: If anyone here listens to your podcast, they will know that's not a good thing to do.  I can't help it though, forgive me: Naomi, that was a great post!

Of course, all the raw vegan gurus are giant liars anyway, with few exceptions.  They all eat plenty of cooked food.  Ann Wigmore is a perfect example...  I'm also not a big fan of ignorance.

    I have spent time day after day directly with Ann Wigmore herself.  I'm not saying her way was right or wrong, but I am witness she prepared and ate what she taught.  I liked her.  Maybe some can come to me and say they know someone who witnessed otherwise to them.  I only know what I know.