From “Noble Savage” to
“Vanishing Indian”:
Euro-American Perceptions of
Native Americans
Native-American Literature is a
Post-Colonial Literature
Literature by a COLONIZING culture (e.g.
people of European descent) usually
distorts the experience and realities of the
colonized people—creates a picture of
innate inferiority in terms of the colonized
people
 Literature by the COLONIZED culture (e.g.
Native Americans) attempts to regain the
power to speak for themselves, rather than
be spoken ABOUT by the colonizers

Native-American Literature is a
Post-Colonial Literature
This literature articulates group identity,
reclaims the past, writes their version of
history—but also recognizes the influence
of the colonizer
 Colonizing countries often appropriate the
languages, images, scenes, traditions, etc.
of the colonized land—and vice versa

Colonial New England conceptions
of indigenous peoples

View 1: Native Americans
lost tribes of Israel, waiting
for conversion
 View 2: Native Americans
as children of Satan –
descendents of fallen
angels
 Either way, justification to
eradicate people and
culture
Image: The Death of Jane McCrea, John Vanderlyn, 1804
Southern colonial conceptions
of indigenous peoples
“Noble Savage”
“Savage” meaning
“uncivilized”
 “Noble” meaning innocent,
pure, wise, childlike,
connected to nature,
spiritual—but uncultured
 Merely inferior rather than
the intrinsically evil “ignoble
savage” of New England

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Image: Baptism of Pocahontas, John G. Chapman,
Capitol Rotunda, Washington D.C.
“Noble Savage”
This translation of the first
page of Genesis into
Massachusett, an Algonquian
language, was done with
the help of John Sassamon
(Massachuset).
“The Vanishing Indian”

Pre-contact indigenous
population of North America:
est. 10-15 million (about 2
million today)
 Disease and warfare
 From 1840s : Native Americans
are “vanishing race”
 Vanishing in face of “superior”
Euro-American advance
Image: Last of Their Race, John Mix Stanley, 1857
“Indian Territory,” circa 1700

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Yellow=Spanish; green=French; blue=English
British actively displaced natives with settlements
Everything other than blue generally considered "Indian
Territory”
“Indian Territory,” 1763

King George III issues “Indian Proclamation Line,”
creating first official “Indian Country”
“Indian Territory,” 1783

1783 Treaty of Paris revokes Indian Proclamation Line
“Indian Territory,” 1803


1803 Louisiana Purchase
Made Mississippi River natural barrier between “Indian
Country” to west and “civilization” to east
“Indian Territory,” 1834
“Indian Territory,” 1854
“Indian Territory,” 1876

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After Civil War, Five Nations of Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Creek, and Seminole forced to cede additional lands
Great Plains tribes relocated from Kansas and Nebraska, 1876
“Indian Territory,” 1889

“Indian Territory” shrunk to final form
Indian Removal Act of 1830

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President Andrew Jackson
Force Native American
removal from East
Guise of protecting and
preserving Indian cultures
Move west or give up all
tribal rights
Removal as only way to
“civilize” the “vanishing
Indian”
Native American Literature
Emphasizes the importance of living in
harmony with the natural world
 Human beings have a kinship with
animals, plants, the land, heavenly bodies,
and the elements
 The human and the nonhuman are seen
as parts of a sacred whole
 Human beings must maintain a right
relationship with the world around them

Native American Literature
Creation myths explain how the universe,
earth, and life began
 Hero and trickster tales show how the
world transformed to its present state
 Ritual songs and chants are used as part
of Native American ceremonies

Iroquois
Refers to six separate Native American groups –
Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onodaga, Mohawk,
and Tuscarora
 All but the Tuscarora once resided in what is
now New York State
 War with other tribes led to the formation of the
“Iroquois League” in 1570
 For 200 years, Iroquois dominated other Native
American groups and remained free from British
and French rule

The World on the Turtle’s Back
Iroquois Creation Myth
 Myth – Traditional story, passed down
through generations, that explains why
the world is the way that it is.
 Creation Myth – A myth that explains how
the universe, earth and life began

Creation Myths
Explain the beginnings of the universe,
life, and the earth
 To some extent, are imaginative stories of
cause and effect
 Cause and Effect Relationship - One thing
(the cause) directly brings about the other
(the effect)

Sky Woman
(1936)
By Ernest Smith
The World on the Turtle’s Back
Contains the idea that there is a sky world
above our world where supernatural
beings exist
 A story of cause and effect

– The actions of supernatural beings cause the
present features of the world to exist
– Explains how the land and other physical
features were formed
The World on the Turtle’s Back
Theme

Expresses a Native American ideal of
people living in harmony with nature
Trickster (Coyote)
Trickster (Coyote)
Trickster (Coyote)
Coyote

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Coyote is a mythological character
common to many Native American
cultures, based on the coyote (Canis
latrans) animal. This character is usually
male and is generally anthropomorphic
although he may have some coyote-like
physical features such as fur, pointed ears,
yellow eyes, tail and claws. The myths and
legends which include Coyote vary widely
from culture to culture.
Coyote

Coyote often plays the role of trickster, god of
tricks, although in some stories he is a buffoon
and the butt of jokes and in a few is outright evil.
His positive traits include humor and sometimes
cleverness. His negative traits are usually greed
or desire, recklessness, impulsiveness and
jealousy. Coyote is often the antagonist of his
brother Wolf, who is wise and good natured but
prone to giving in to Coyote's incessant
demands.
Coyote

Coyote figures prominently in several
creation myths. In one myth, Coyote
creates the first people by kicking a ball of
mud (sometimes a bit of feces) until it
formed into the first man. In another myth
Coyote is able to successfully impregnate
an evil woman who has killed off all the
other men in the world during the sexual
act.
Coyote
Coyote also plays the role of a hero, or
even a culture hero, in some stories. In
these stories, he proves to be helpful (and
sometimes genuinely heroic).
 creator, humor, cleverness, hero
 destroyer, greed, desire, recklessness,
impulsiveness, jealousy
 TRICKSTER
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