Colonial Representations of Natives - the Indian :: Essays Papers

Colonial Representations of Natives - the IndianAt the out denounce, it should be noted here that the occasion of the term Indian to pull out the aboriginal peoples of North America is somewhat contentious. As is well known, its use derives from Columbuss mistaken belief that he had arrived in the East Indies and this situating of Natives within an already existent European discourse is in many ways paradigmatic of what was to follow during the centuries of colonisation and settlement. For it should be made clear that the Indian is a European invention, and that there has always been a great deal of slippage among the representations of this figure and the realities of the lives of Native North Americans. In fact, the Indian has always stand for as much about European business concerns and concerns as it has about existent Natives. Add to this the fact that the popular image of the Indian has in blown-up part been shaped by commercial considerations - give the audience what it wants to experience - and it becomes clear that we are dealing with a very complex set of relationships. For this reason, the purpose of this page is principally to outline some of the characteristics of the Indian as he has been created by Europeans, and not to consider the lives of real Natives.Now, the most distinct problem with the term should be that it lumps together all the various nations, ignoring the full differences which exist between the diverse cultures which originally inhabited the continent. But the mask effect of the stereotype runs deeper than this. As is often the case with Western encounters with terra incognita peoples, the representation bifurcates. What we tend to find is either the noble savage or the barbarous, bloodthirsty primitive. The first term here was coined by John Dryden, and conveys the mentation of man in a state of nature, untainted by the perceived evils of civilisation, such as avarice or ambition. It is a projection of the fear that so mehow the Western way of life has become corrupt, and is in motivating of redemption. Traces of this view of the Indian are still apparent in the 20th century, when many people believe Natives to have a kind of spiritualism connected to a universal harmony and a balance with the intrinsic world. In the nineteenth century the Canadian poet Charles Mair wrote a long verse called Tecumseh, which included the lines