The Land of Red Cloud [antikvár]

The libraries are already fiiled with books about those exotic people known as "Indians". Every schoolchild in the United States absorbs the historical myths-the chieftain who helped the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, Captain John Smith and Pocahontas, brave Sacegawea guiding White explorers to the Pacific, General Custer's fatal battle with the Sioux. Artistic representations of the Indián and his way of life began almost as soon as he was discovered by the Europeans; sketches, paintings, sculpture, and most recently, photography have all been used to capture the essence of Indián culture. Perhaps most unfairly for the Indians, they have long been a basic feature in the popular culture of both America and Europe. The grossly inaccurate novels of James Fenimoore Cooper and Kari May, the Wild West shows, and above all else, the motion picture, have too often been a source of information for Whites. So, after nearly 500 years of interaction between Whites and Indians, what else is there to learn ? The answer is, almost everything. We are burdened rather than enlightened by this accumulation of 500 years. The Indián has never been somé objective thing, to be studied and classified, although we have tried our best to lock hím away in dusty museums. The Indián represents a very troublesome part of the conscience of Western civilization; through him, we can see our worst side, our worst fears, our worst impulses. Each generation, especially in North America, has had to redefine the Indián and the so-called "Indián problem".* Indians have always been what the dominant, conquering majority said they were. Most Europeans, indeed most Americans, probably cannot appreciate the grief caused by the enormous error of Columbus when he first met and described "los Indios". Perhaps an exaggerated example can help in our comprehension. Let us say that, in 1492, a resolute band of Eskimoes went searching for the fabled land of Persia. When they land in Ireland, they assume they have reached their goal and thus name the strange inhabitants "Persians". Even after they learn of their mistake in geography, they persist in lumping all the peoples of the European continent together as Persians. Primitive Lapps, sophisticated Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Hungarians, Russians, despite the diversity in language, religion, culture, political structure, and culture, are taken to be members of a more or less homogeneous race. Furthermore, since from an Eskimo perspective, these people are not making productive use of their land, they have no inviolable right to it. For the greater glory of mankind, these Persians need to be educated, reformed, or if need be, eliminated. Thus it was with the Indians. The Aztecs of Mexico, with their splendid empire, as weil as the lowly Shoshone of Utah, the dwellers in the dense forests of the East, as weil as the