Natives and Newcomers: The Cultural Origins of North America

Zentella, Zoly

Axtell, James. Natives and Newcomers: The Cultural Origins of North America. NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. 418 pp.

The intermingling of cultures presented within the contexts of exchanges between traveler and native, historical encounters, or through the process of colonization, has been a continually occurring topic in literary and academic scholarship. Such writings, intriguing as they may be, inevitably reflect the ideological perceptions and chosen methodologies of its authors, resulting in constructive, or destructive, presentations of native populations, courting a variety of responses.

Western writings on populations of color, whether focusing on the Native societies of North America or the Arab Muslim populations of the Middle East, have often been tinged with condescending, paternalistic and exaggerated racist generalizations. Such writings have also been impacted by ideologies reflecting politically motivated and self serving agendas, all obstacles preventing the histories and experiences of native populations to be evaluated within their contextual realities based on oral or written traditions. Such approaches continue to occur in social science disciplines, evident in the ideology of Indianism1

James Axtell's scholarship in Native and Newcomer: The Cultural Origins of North America, reflects the spirit of sensitivity to the data and scrutiny of one's methodology through the use of ethnohistory (used in his lifelong work on Native Americans). This was the focus of his prologue. Through Axtell's use of this continually evolving methodology the reader perceives both Native American and English experiences as overlapping and influencing each other. Perceiving both groups in this manner offers realism and authenticity to the colonial era of the United States, paying close attention to the intertwined and often neglected relationships that created historical phenomenon such as the White Indian, contrasting textbook portrayal of Native Americans as primitive with certainly less than human attributes or, with childlike qualities.

It is difficult to choose between outstanding chapters in Axtell's book, as they are all dynamically written, based on historical and biographical narrative, and balanced; one can see the use of ethnohistory woven through its pages. Yet the eighth, The White Indians, was of special interest because it brought out the self-perceived superiority of the English; the English regarded Whites becoming Indians as incredulous, as no rational reason existed for "a civilized person...to become an Indian" (p. 189) The chapter also brought to mind that the White Indian has not often been given a place within the history of the European colonial or frontier experience in America, most probably because, based on an ideology parallel to that of Manifest Destiny, the existence of the White Indian did not fit the dominant historical perspective of Indianism. Axtell explains this from an Anglocentric view, " This desire ['to redeem savage souls'] was grounded in a set of complementary beliefs about 'savagism' and 'civilization'" "Moreover, the English were confident that the Indians would want to be converted once they were exposed to the superior quality of English life" (p. 189).

Axtell's subject, the White Indian has parallels to academic and popular renditions on the subject, such as Drinnon's (1972) White Savage, Larsen's novel The White (2002) and the Hollywood productions of Dances with Wolves (Wilson & Costner 1990), and The Last of the Mohicans (Mann & Lowry 1992) whose protagonist was Hawkeye, a White Indian. While the research methods used in such works are most certainly different from ethnohistory, these examples speak of the existence of the White Indian concept within the American mind. One wonders, then, why this subject has not been a consistent part of mainstream textbook history. Motivation behind works like Dances with Wolves, may have comprised a softened, more subtle criticism of Western colonialism, or an effort to rectify the historical picture with a more positive portrayal of Native American values and culture, factors which appear to have influenced Whites to remain within Native communities.

Axtell describes a variety of factors woven into the making of the White Indian. Using published period writings, Axtell presents complex issues that Whites faced in the process of becoming White Indians, their kidnap, assimilation into Native society, loss of the English language, the ambivalence of returning to their English communities, and the ability of Native communities to be tolerant of their reluctant guests, a fundamental value that impacted the desire of Whites to remain Indian.

Axtell gave several insights into the motivation and logic behind the kidnaping of English "yeoman stock " (p. 191) as, "...they captured English settlers largely to replace members of their [Native Americans] own families who had died, often from English musketballs or imported diseases". "Consequently women and children - the 'weak and defenceless'- were the prime targets of Indian raids" (p. 192) and, "The Indians obviously chose their captives carefully so as to maximize the chances of acculturating them to Indian life" (p. 193).

Axtell discusses assimilation into Native society and loss of the English language. Referring to "Ohio prisoners," he continues "[they] responded only to Indian names, spoke only Indian dialects, felt comfortable only in Indian clothes, and in general regarded their white saviors as barbarians and their deliverance as captivity. Had they not been compelled to return to English society by military enforced peace treaties, the ranks of the white Indians would have been greatly enlarged" (p. 194). Mary Jamison's reference to speaking Seneca is echoed in Axtell's narrative, "Another problem encountered by the English was the difficulty of communicating with the returned captives, a great many of whom had replaced their knowledge of English with Algonquian or Iroquoian dialect and their baptismal names with Indian or hybrid ones. (p. 195).

The ambivalence felt by Whites regarding their return to their communities, is reflected in Axtell's description of Native trust and tolerance toward their White captives, "It is not surprising that captives who enjoyed such autonomy [visiting and inviting other captives] were also trusted under the same roof. John Bricknell, [captive] remarked that three white prisoners, Parton, Johnston, and Mrs. Balker [of Kentucky] had lived with me in the same house among the Indians, and we were as intimate as brothers and sisters. (p. 204). Axtell describes Native respect for their captives, "...the weight of evidence suggests that marriage was not compulsory for the captives, and common sense tells us that any form of compulsion would have defeated the Indian's purpose in trying to persuade the captives to adopt their way of life" (p. 204 ), and "... They had been left liberty of choice, and those who chose to remain single were not sufferers on that account" (p. 206).

Marriage between Whites living among the Natives was also tolerated, "So free from compulsion were the captives that several married fellow white prisoners" (p. 206).

Equality and the respect for ability and wit appears as another reason for White yeomen to remain among Native peoples. "The captives' social equality was also demonstrated by their being asked to share in the affairs of war and peace, matters of supreme importance to Indian society." (p. 206). Axtell explains the White Indian as a Native warrior. '"Adopted captives' frequently enter into the spirit of the nation, of which they are [to] become members, in such a manner, that they make no difficulty of going to war against their own countrymen'" (p. 207). Axtell's chapter eight is congruent to other portrayals of the White Indian, giving us a sense that his use of ethnohistory has provided his writings with rigor.

Because Axtell found it important enough to discuss ethnohistory in his prologue, and because his notes are replete with period writings later published in the 19th and 20th centuries, and based on past reviews of his work presenting him as a reliable historian, his book Natives and Newcomers is highly recommended not only as an example of a more balanced history of the United States in its intricate and complicated embryonic stages of colonization, but also as a work that models his methodology.

Axtell's book shows what can be done with history, without wandering, or deliberately entering into the halls of destructive ideological agendas. Scholars in the social sciences, sociology, anthropology, even psychology and social work can use Axtell's book as a vehicle to understand in a more in-depth way the origins of America, and also as a way to approach and appreciate the communities in which they work, and of which they write. Understanding the differences between historical English and Native values lends to an understanding of the present problems in American communities of color and their continued clash with Euroamerican values and practices, for instance the psychological implications of land and cultural loss for Native Americans, documented so widely in psychology and other academic disciplines. It also helps to understand the cultural mixture that resulted in the America of today.

While Axtell's understanding of Native American religions in the American South has been criticized, for researchers and writers focusing on American populations of color, past and present, this book is one to have, not only as a reference source, but also as a reminder that the study of man occupies different positions in the spectrum of history, often in the opposite extremes, but sometimes among the many shades of grey, as in the unpreventable historical mingling of cultures.

NOTES

1. A term used here to describe writings on Native Americans that exemplify the spirit of Manifest Destiny, which perceives the European and Anglo cultures as superior and deserving of the usurpation of lands inhabited by those of lesser value, the savage, uncivilized, and unchristian natives of color.

Zoly Zentella Springer, New Mexico

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