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Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:39:12 -0500 |
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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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