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Earhart, Collex Project

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It is commonly known that Christopher Columbus was one of the first Europeans to first encounter the inhabitants of the New World. Ever since Columbus made first contact with the Indians, writers who came to the New World found great fascination writing about them and their culture. Most writers had a common description and analysis of the Indians: they were dirty, they were uncivilized, brutish, devilish, savages. Their God-forsaken "culture" was nothing that could be compared to the grand culture that the Europeans had. This stereotype of the Indians is commonly written about and talked about by many authors.

One of the first pictures that is seen in the Heath Anthology of American Literatrue Volume A is of one of the first encounters between a European and an Indian. This picture helps influence the stereotype given to the Indians because the picture portrays the Indians as savages and uncivilized. The Indians are pictured naked, living out in the woods instead of in houses, while the European is well-dressed and appears to be civilized. The Indians being naked in the picture supports the stereotype of Indians very well. It shows that the Indians have no rules or regulations or even morals between their people. The picture shows the Indian's "culture" as them having none. the "culture" that they do have is them just living day by day and not having a purpose in life.

From Heath Anthology of American Literatrue Volume A, Page 128

Mary Rowlandson was one of the Early writers that helped support the stereotype of Indians. She wrote "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson". her story is about her living as a captive of a local Indian tribe that lived near her colony. In her story, she added to the stereotype by showing the cruelty and brutality of how the Indians lived. Rowlandson stated that the natives were complete savages and lived in "Satan's domain". The "culture" that they did have was very primitive and almost non-existent. The Indians were very brutal and uncivilized because they gave Rowlandson no food, no comfort, and gave her no treatment of her wounds. The Indians even roasted her own son. This description of them easily shows that the Indians were cannabalistic savages that had no civil order and were completely uncivilized.

From Heath Anthology of American Literatrue Volume A, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson

Mark Twain`s Response to the Native American

In this article, Twain is described as taking the stereotype of Indians even farther. Twain described these Indians as complete and utter savages with no purpose in life. Their civil structure and order within the tribe was terrible. He described the "chief" of the tribe as being named "Hoop-deHoodle-do". Twain's description of chief's name adds to the stereotype because it shows that the Indians culture was very primitive and uncivilized. The names that were given to their people were just rediculous. They were nothing like the names that the Europeans gave to their children. His description also shows that he has zero respect for them and shows that they have no culture and no direct use to the rest of the world. The way that he depicts them can be described as looking at monkeys at a zoo: dirty, vile creatures that care for nothing of the outside world and are the bane of the civilized people's existence.

Thoreau`s Maine Woods Indians: More Representative Men

This article by Thoreau actually argues against the natural stereotype of Indians. He begins to describe these Indians as being free from the world and they were an "inhabitant of nature and nor her guest". Thoreau, here, is trying to say that the Indians are the real inhabitants of this world and are living in sync with nature. They are actually civilized to this part of the world. The Europeans are the guests of this land and are not apart of this free culture. They suffer through the rules and regulations of their world. The Indians are able to live how they want rather than living how a society deems them to. The Indians are actually civilized, it is just that they were judged by someone who was not used to the type of culture or the way they live.

Reading against the Grain: Origin Stories and American Literary History

In this article, Spaniards are described as meeting a different group of Indians. A group of Indians that the world has rarely seen or heard about yet. This group of Indians argues against the naormal stereotype of Indians. These Indians were described as having a complex agricultural system, they had elaborate rituals, and even a visible social structure. These Indians appeared to be civilized. This article completely argues against the natural stereotype of Indians because it showed that not all Indians were cannabalistic savages living in an uncivilized world. these Indians were just the opposite. This new view of Indians showd the rest of the world that not all Indians are the same. Some are just more primitive than others.

"The Relation of 1647" by Father Jesome Lalemant further supported the stereotypical views of Indians. the Indians were described as being savage. They were uncivilized wretches that roamed God's land. The Indians added to the stereotype by being uncivilized because they had no religion. They appeared to no higher loyalty and in the eyes of the religious Europeans this was not correct. The Europeans thought that this meant they were not following the laws of the land. They had to be religious and had to appeal to God or they were never going to be civilized. Even when some of the Indians were later converted, they were still savages because of the way in which they lived. Converting them was just one of the steps taken to try and civilize them.

Heath Anthology of American Literatrue Volume A, "The Relation of 1647"

The early writers of the New World caused a stereotype to be made against the Indians that inhabited the New World. The Europeans thought that they were highly uncivilized, cannabalistic, devilish, savages that just lived on the land. Although this stereotype appeared to be true for some of the Indians, there were exceptions to this stereotype. Some of the Indians that the Europeans encountered were actually civilized and were just people living their lives. This stereotype of Indians shows that not everyone of a certain "culture" can be grouped together all as one, everyone is different in their own way.

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