Jay Heuman wrote:
"Also, don't ignore reference to some potentially applicable Post-Colonial 
theorists and historical precedents: (1) The "noble savage" was described 
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau differently from how European colonists brought 
indigenous peoples before their monarchs as a "freak show" . . . and all 
assumed a holier-than-thou, "we're more civilized than them" approach.  
And, (2) European colonial powers' exclusion of the "Other" (the indigenous 
peoples of the Americas) whilst plundering/raping the land of its natural 
resources for export.  Helpful ideas, I'd hope . . ."

I think we have to be careful here not to be too revisionist. These ideas 
aren't new to postcolonial theory, they've been bandied about in 
anthropology for several decades. The above simply isn't true in all cases. 
Many Native Americans were not treated as "freak shows" in Europe 
(especially early on). They were often treated as visiting royalty and 
several Native Americans married Europeans while in country. Also, while 
the end result was that Native peoples lost the vast majority of their 
lands and suffered greatly, they were not "excluded" from the colonial 
process. Every European government involved in the New World and every 
American government grappled with expansion of squatters into native lands 
and actively included Native Americans in the process. Unfortunately the 
dealings were not equal. No government was successful at keeping their own 
people from expanding into the frontier, although they tried. 

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