Civilize Them!

Take a glimpse at the muted history of the Native American experience of "progress" and "civilization' in the US.

A personal account from the book Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes:

"Oddly enough, we owed our unspeakable boarding schools to the do-gooders, the white Indian-lovers. The schools were intended as an alternative to the outright extermination seriously advocated by generals Sherman and Sheridan, as well as by most settlers and prospectors overrunning our land. "you don't have to kill those poor benighted heathen," the do-gooders said, "in order to solve the Indian Problem. Just give us a chance to turn them into useful farmhands, laborers, and chambermaids who will break their backs for you at low wages." in that way the boarding schools were born. The kids were taken away from their villages and pueblos, in their blankets and moccasins, kept completely isolated from their families- sometimes for as long as ten years- suddenly coming back, their short hair slick with pomade, their necks raw from stiff, high collars, their thick jackets always short in the sleeves and pinching under the arms, their tight patent leather shoes giving them corns, the girls in starched white blouses and clumsy, high-buttoned boots - caricatures of white people. When they found out - and they found out quickly - that they were neither wanted by whites nor by Indians, they got good and drunk, many of them staying drunk for the rest of their lives. I still have a poster I found among my grandfather's stuff, given to him by the missionaries to tack up on his wall. It reads:

1. Let Jesus save you.

2. Come out of your blanket, cut your hair, and dress like a white man.

3. Have a Christian family with one wife for life only.

4. Live in a house like your white brother. Work hard and wash often.

5. Learn the value of a hard-earned dollar. Do not waste your money on giveaways. Be punctual.

6. Believe that property and wealth are signs of divine approval.

7. Keep away from saloons and strong spirits.

8. Speak the language of your white brother. Send your children to school to do likewise.

9. Go to church often and regularly.

10. Do not go to Indian dances or to the medicine men."

From Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog and Richard Erdoes. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. 1990, pp. 28 onwards.

A critical point to note here is that Colonialism was not separate from the project of European Enlightenment. Colonialism was not contradictory to the liberal ideals of political rights and self-determination. The very ideals of European Enlightenment, anchored in the notions of uni-linear progress of history and civilizations, the emphasis on particular modes of thought and reason, the importance on individual rights and private property as the means of self-actualization, and the difference between the "modern" and "backward", implied that Europeans see themselves as "different," "superior," and "civilized" in comparison to other unfamiliar cultures and peoples. Both John Locke and John Stuart Mill, the champions of Liberalism, supported and rationalized the practice of colonialism through these ideals. To them it was a "progressive force" that would civilize the indigenous people (sounds very familiar, huh?!). That is the "White Man's Burden". These ideals were also incorporated into particular versions of Christianity that were brought to the Americas by the European settlers, as exemplified in the above quoted text.

For more on this line of argument, albeit with a focus on India, see Uday Mehta's "Liberalism and Empire".

Here is a song dedicated to all of humanity, with a focus on the Native American colonial experience. The song wishes for peace and reconciliation in Truth and Justice: All My Relations.

The image caption reads: "The White Man's Burden".

See my previous post on Thanksgiving for a related discussion. Also, the posts entitled, "Orientalism, Then and Now" (here) and "Maps and Wests" (here). The animated movie Pocahontas also makes some effective points, especially in the song, Colors of the Wind (although I should warn that some slides in this clip may be a bit inappropriate for certain audience).