Hunting for a Title for My Book on the Mound Builder Myth

5/25/2019

Seeing as it is Memorial Day weekend and we are facing down the gauntlet of several months stacked with multiple fringe history and UFO TV shows airing each week, I am going to give myself a break today and spend the day correcting copyedited chapter pages instead. I need to get something done before trying to review America Unearthed, Ancient Aliens, and possibly that To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science show all in the same week. My publisher has suggested three possible titles for my Mound Builder book but remains open to suggestions. In the poll below, let me know which you prefer, and feel free to share your suggestions for a better title in comments below.

67 Comments

Rackham

5/25/2019 08:44:27 am

I have unfortunately no suggestion to offer, but the first title reads better and feel more natural. It also introduce the subject first, then ask the question as if it was some quest, which is more compelling! Good luck with editing!

Wim Van der Straeten

5/26/2019 09:42:02 am

I also prefer the first title.

Bob Voyles

5/25/2019 10:00:34 am

"The True Mound Builders: Reflections on Native American Culture"

In my view, this keeps it simple, without overt, in-your-face racial implications. You can address the racist implications in the body of work, and not in the title itself--unless that is your intention. By the way, I hope you have included references to NW European mound builders, which may have included a few instances of medieval-era Scandinavians visiting North America...admittedly a minor input, but a valid input to the subject nevertheless.

Jim

5/25/2019 10:50:36 am

" but a valid input to the subject nevertheless."

Nope the idea is to debunk the fakery, not promote it, wow.

Victor Charles

5/25/2019 11:24:03 am

I agree with your suggestion, if this is a serious work about the Mound Builders and their culture, then it should concentrate on that and not become a rank about White Racism. One other point, yours is one of the few comments on this blog of late which seems well thought out and not someone expressing their own, usually warped view of whatever topic is being discussed.

Jim

5/25/2019 11:40:24 am

Nope, the book IS about the pseudo aspect of the Mound builders the fakery and the racism.

http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/announcing-the-upcoming-publication-of-my-mound-builder-book

1491

5/26/2019 02:54:24 am

Never heard of 1491 in relation to White Racism
White Racism does not exist outside of fringe, according to some goofballs,

Hipolita

5/26/2019 03:24:56 am

I voted for the first option, but did NOT do so in an effort to suggest that you ought not lead with white racism, the depth of which is very much on display in "alternative history" (and even in this comment section) and deserves your devastating analysis and critique.

E,P, Grondine

5/27/2019 09:09:10 am

Hi VC -

It looks like you haven't got the news yet.
There were no"moundbulders".

Different nations used earth to build structures for different purposes. Forts, palace foundations, graves, temple foundations, ceremonial complexes, landmarks, etc. "Mounds" are what are left of these structures after anywhere from several hundred to several thousand years.

I hope this clears things up for you.

Cyberbully Qu'est-ce gue c'est

5/26/2019 09:44:41 am

You know who did build mounds?
Stone age Europeans.
You know who didn't build mounds?
Medieval Europeans.

Seriously Bob, stop the imbecility.

Jim

5/25/2019 10:47:25 am

I go with the first one as well. Although I am not sure about the word "hunt", perhaps "the invention of", or "the creation of a “Lost White Race”.

Joe Scales

5/25/2019 11:42:47 am

How The Mound Builders Triggered My White Guilt; or how to empower racists by blaming everything on them...

“Disco” Danny Ford

5/25/2019 06:36:23 pm

I thought of a good title:

“The Mound Builders: Joe Scales Whines And Complains That White People Are The Real Victims.”

Joe Scales

5/25/2019 10:57:18 pm

That you could think of anything "good" would be an achievement over your general misunderstandings. Remotely funny however, remains out of reach.

David Duke

5/26/2019 12:02:43 am

Scale-ing the Mound of Willful Ignorance: Or, Let's Pretend the 19th Century Didn't Happen.

Joe Scales

5/26/2019 09:54:58 am

Random User Names; or spreading the imbecility with no distinction, insight or ingenuity.

The Welsh Did It!!

5/26/2019 08:15:36 pm

Mounds of Misunderstanding of the English Language: How Imbecility Doesn't Mean What Joe Thinks That It Means.

Joe Scales

5/27/2019 10:43:28 am

Imbecile...

Doc Roc

5/25/2019 12:48:17 pm

Editors giving you multiple options is like a woman telling you that you can pick from one of three options for which restaurant to take her to eat at on date night. All three options will work given the topic and market. Let them pick.

#1 sounds a bit more sophisticated than the other two, though.

Riley V

5/25/2019 02:52:38 pm

I like the first choice the best.

An Anonymous Nerd

5/25/2019 11:16:25 pm

Who's the audience? "Pseudoscience" may be too big a word, depending on the answer to that question.

"The Myth of the Mound Builders: Fake History and the Struggle to Define America."

"The Myth of the Mound Builders: Fake History and the Rise of American White Supremacy."

The main title also could be a slightly altered form of something poetic someone said about the mounds. In which case the title could be something like these.

"[Poetic quote]: The Myth of the Mound Builders, Fake History, and the Struggle to Define America."

"[Poetic quote]: The Myth of the Mound Builders, Fake History, and the Rise of American White Supremacy."

-An Anonymous Nerd

Pseudoscience

5/26/2019 02:52:48 am

Pseudoscience also exists within mainstream scholarship
Someone should write an A-Z about it.

Ioannis

5/26/2019 12:06:51 am

I like the first one. I'm not fond of questions in titles. They remind me of newspaper headlines that ask provocative questions the answers to which are always no.

How to eradicte pseudo from mainstream

5/26/2019 02:56:23 am

Avoid historical vacuums,
Then pseudo would be eradicated from mainstream scholarship

A C

5/26/2019 03:02:55 am

Mystery of the Mound Builders: What 'they' really don't want you to know about America's past.

But more seriously;

The Myth of the Mound Builders: Archaeology, fraud and Identity in the battle for America's past

James

5/28/2019 11:28:14 am

I suspect a title along the lines of "what they don't want you to know" would likely get some fringey people to buy it. You don't want to be just preach to the choir.

A Buddhist

5/26/2019 09:12:25 am

The Mound Builder Myth: How American Pseudoscience Turned Native American Mounds into Monuments of a Lost White Race

Title Too Short

5/26/2019 09:23:48 am

That title is way too short - it lacks at least 20 words

Joe Scales

5/26/2019 10:02:41 am

Let's be honest here...

Mound Builders; The Book No One Will Read

Seriously.

Negrodamus

5/26/2019 01:28:41 pm

I predict that more people will read the book than have had sex with Joe.

chuckton

5/26/2019 02:30:06 pm

Paul Mooney, is that you?

Paul Mooney

5/26/2019 04:04:49 pm

Yes, it’s me. Nice to see that you’re still stalking me!

Edward the sixth

5/26/2019 07:20:45 pm

More people than have had sex with him, however once you count sheep, goats, frogs and his own hand your would be up to a grand total of four, none willingly

Paul Mooney's Cloaca, Yearning for IT

5/26/2019 08:12:57 pm

You do know that frogs don't fuck, right?

A Very Lonely Farmer

5/27/2019 10:34:56 pm

Neither do dead humans, dead deer, or watermelons but......

An Anonymous Nerd

5/26/2019 07:52:51 pm

The Fringe always seeks to discourage skeptics, critical thinking, research, and things of that nature.

-An Anonymous Nerd

Accumulated Wisdom

5/26/2019 08:40:04 pm

"The Fringe always seeks to discourage skeptics, critical thinking, research, and things of that nature."

You have accurately described a pseudo-intellectual. Someone incapable of thinking outside the box. Rigor mortis of the mind.

An Anonymous Nerd

5/26/2019 09:11:50 pm

[Someone incapable of thinking outside the box. ]

To too many who post on this blog the "box" they want us to think outside of is the box of reason, evidence, and research.

That's one box we all should be content to stay in.

-An Anonymous Nerd

Paul Mooney’s Arse Cheeks

5/26/2019 10:50:54 pm

“Thinking outside the box” has a completely different meaning for me!

Accumulated Wisdom

5/26/2019 10:55:02 pm

"To too many who post on this blog the "box" they want us to think outside of is the box of reason, evidence, and research.

That's one box we all should be content to stay in."

-An Anonymous Nerd

By ALL means. Please, stay closeted in your box. I will continue believing my deeper interpretations. I have
done the research, and used Reason. Hellen is Venus the PLANET. Again, this is not a difficult concept.

Anthony Warren Bardsley

5/26/2019 11:17:25 pm

"The Fringe always seeks to discourage skeptics, critical thinking, research, and things of that nature."

You have accurately described the poster by the name of Anthony Warren, who says this is not his real name, because "zealots" got his Yahoo email account taken from him for a reason he won't specify (smart money's on "forgot password") and belonged to a fraternity while living with his mother and reading 2 to 5 books a day for 42 years.

Case in point: Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Vanessa del Rio, Bo "10" Derek (what does 10 represent in the Kabbala?) and the Nanas for Mr. Biswas of Medjugorje, as well as the Doctor Mengele of India, "Mother Theresa" and all of Doctor Who's female Companions ARE ALL VENUS.

Also Beyonce and Taylor Swift, and Joan Collins (trust me Doc Rock, she's in the back issues).

Accumulated Wisdom

5/28/2019 11:22:20 am

"Case in point: Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Vanessa del Rio, Bo "10" Derek (what does 10 represent in the Kabbala?) and the Nanas for Mr. Biswas of Medjugorje, as well as the Doctor Mengele of India, "Mother Theresa" and all of Doctor Who's female Companions ARE ALL VENUS."

NO!!! Hellen, Persephone, Lucifer, Guinevere, Freya, amongst a whole host of other personifications...Are ALL Venus...the PLANET.

"Also Beyonce and Taylor Swift, and Joan Collins (trust me Doc Rock, she's in the back issues)."

Dude, those are REAL people. You really do need electroshock therapy, or at least Xanax and a couple of shots of Crown. Next time your mother bathes you, have her knock her hairdryer into the tub. "Joan Collins"??? Really??? Do you fantasize about your grandmother as well? Every man, I know prefers the back issue featuring Marianne Gravette. I believe she married the lead singer of RATT. The luckiest man on the planet.

Anthony Warren Bardsley

5/28/2019 12:16:51 pm

Dude,
You think the apparitions at Fatima, Guadalupe, and Medjugorje
and all of Doctor Who's female Companions are real people?

Anyway, who died and made you the doorkeeper of who is and isn't Venus?

Joan Collins was good enough for Captain Kirk.

Say it with me Joe: Imbecile.

Doc Rock

5/27/2019 07:03:42 pm

Let me translate the Kiddie Table-ese: "the book will sell very few copies compared to a best-selling piece of woo by graham Hancock or the latest bodice ripper romance novel by a major author."

But largely irrelevant if one understands how the university press system works and the purpose of it.

An Anonymous Nerd

5/27/2019 08:16:59 pm

That's how I interpreted Mr. Scales's comment at first. Then I noticed his (presumably sarcastic) suggestion to Mr. Colavito for a title.

[How The Mound Builders Triggered My White Guilt; or how to empower racists by blaming everything on them... ]

I then realized that Mr. Scales's remark here made more sense seen in that light: Mr. Scales sees Mr. Colavito's work as a challenge to his ideology.

-An Anonymous Nerd

piece of woo

5/27/2019 08:18:22 pm

Bible is the all time best seller as piece of woo

Doc Rock

5/27/2019 09:21:52 pm

You will get no argument from me on that one.

Joe Scales@gmail.com

5/28/2019 10:14:03 am

"Mr. Scales sees Mr. Colavito's work as a challenge to his ideology."

Jesus H. Christ, you are an imbecile. On so many levels. As if you could ever understand an ideology; having a web browser for a brain.

Rev. Hernandez

5/28/2019 06:48:22 am

Ohhh, come on!-- how many books have you published, Scales? :)

An Over-Educated Grunt

5/26/2019 05:54:58 pm

I'm curious, Joe. Given how far you've vanished up your own ass regarding how you hate everything Jason says or does, why are you still here?

Rocket Launcher

5/26/2019 07:56:52 pm

Have you caught up with Rights of Man and freedom of belief being superior to Christianity, you vulgar believer

Rod Bacchus

5/26/2019 08:00:05 pm

Nah, Grunt is still on kneepads to David Barton and Catherine Millard, and any other nerd who re-writes American History in favour of the docile

Me So Horny

5/26/2019 08:19:25 pm

Some Sergeant let Grunt down, didn't teach teach him the difference between over and under. It's usually about five bucks. As in five bucks goin' to town on you!

Joe Scales

5/29/2019 10:25:03 am

PTSD

Chip

5/26/2019 09:18:51 pm

Unless you're trying to keep the title sedate and boring for an academic press, call it something that more clearly reflects the premise. How about something like:

Stolen History, Stolen Land -- Fabricating a Race of Mythical White Mound Builders to Justify Native Displacement and Genocide

Kent

5/26/2019 11:26:48 pm

I think that's a great title, but... fabrication of mythical white mound builders seems to have gone in parallel with, not being a justification for, native displacement and genocide.

At least we cleansed the continent of the 9 foot tall Andaste supersoldiers or whatever the claim of the week is.

Brian

5/27/2019 07:16:31 am

The last two sound like you're supporting the idea of a lost white race. Stick with the first, which makes your stance plain, unless you want to trap true believers into reading something they probably won't understand and certainly won't accept.

E.P. Grondine

5/27/2019 08:56:29 am

Since there were no "moundbuilders", go with
"Myths of the Moundbuilders"

Jim

5/27/2019 10:27:57 am

Are there mounds ? ,,YES
Did people build them ? ,,YES
Were there moundbuilders ? ,,YES

Perhaps E.P. you could explain where my logic fails ?

Doc Rock

5/27/2019 09:58:37 pm

Jim,

I would beg you to reconsider that last sentence.

E.P. Grondine

5/28/2019 09:06:41 am

Jim -

Nobody was simply piling up dirt.

The "mounds" are the remains of earth structures.

The were many nations who used earth for construction,
for very different purposes. Not just one.

And no one called themselves "Moundbuilders".

"Myths of the Moundbuilders" is okay,
I just wish I could come up with something catchier.

Kent

5/28/2019 09:30:42 am

So, piling up dirt then.

Jim

5/28/2019 10:34:52 am

E.P.
"Nobody was simply piling up dirt.
The "mounds" are the remains of earth structures.
The were many nations who used earth for construction,
for very different purposes. Not just one."

No shit Sherlock ! You have a real flair for the obvious.

"And no one called themselves "Moundbuilders".

And no one called themselves pseudoscientist, and yet here you are.

And no one called themselves part of the Clovis culture, and yet,,,,,,,

And no one called themselves Vikings and yet,,,,,,,,

And no one called themselves Neanderthals and yet,,,,,

Dinosaurs couldn't speak, therefore they didn't exist.