David Wallace Adams, in Education
for Extinction: American Indians and the
Boarding School Experience 1876-1928, (University of Kansas, 1995) says
that the idea of civilization is “an idea almost deeper than ideology itself.” (p.
12.) I don’t care for the “almost”, but
I take this as the claim that ideology is itself in the service of
civilization, and so the presumption of the nature and goodness of civilization
is the one idea shared by all ideologies.
From the time Europeans and Indians first encountered each
other, Europeans considered the Indians as “uncivilized”, that is as either savages
or barbarians. So, what were the markers
of civilization?
Most fundamental is the notion of “progress.” Progress is movement along two axes
simultaneously: from lower to higher and
from the past to the present. This meant
that when Europeans encountered Indians, they believed it was as if they had
stepped back in time. It also means that
they step back into a state of being that is less desirable. It is inconceivable to Europeans that an Indian
way of life might be preferable to a European life.
This map of progress could also be laid out geographically from the West to the East, with the East being the most civilized. Further, Europeans thought of this progress as inevitable, either as a natural law or as the working out of divine favor.
Before going further with this, I want to make two notes: First, this is a typically Enlightenment approach to culture and tradition in general. That is, on the Enlightenment critique, culture or tradition is the source of superstition and unjustifiable differences in power. Therefore, (because they are nothing more than that) culture or tradition must be destroyed and replaced by rational laws.
Second, this is the very same argument we hear today when people say, “Welcome to the 21st century” or when we consider people, arguments, or traditions “backwards.” The geography has changed. The North is more progressive than the South; both coasts are more progressive than “fly-over-country.” But progress is considered just as inevitable, just as preferable, now in the name of pluralism.
Just finished Playing Indian, by Philip Deloria. Must read.
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