Colonial Mohawks
Sep. 27th, 2012 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rinueIn discussing the "war whoop incident," in which Scott Brown staffers performed an FSU-style tomahawk chop at a Warren campaign rally, Mom pointed out an interesting echo: the Boston Tea Party. By which I mean the real one, in which American colonists disguised themselves as Mohawks (or possibly Narragansett Indians) in order to vandalize East India Company ships in our fair harbor.
Given the current tea party's adoption of this symbolic event, one would imagine there might be a link, but it's probably accidental. Their wit seems to be more directed toward inventing fake Indian princess names for Elizabeth Warren, such as "Fauxcahontas." (I admit I find this funny. I love portmanteaus.)
However, it got me wondering how far back redface goes. Turns out pretty far:
(From the official Old South Meeting House FAQ, which is worth reading in its entirety.)
We seem to have had a generally split opinion of American Indians right from the beginning, particularly in New England. On the one hand, they were Godless savages that might be cannibals. On the other hand, they were our very helpful neighbors who knew all the best stuff, and they provided aspirational hero figures for a new nation. This kind of split stereotype goes all the way back to Vespucci, although some of the window dressing like feathered headdresses and everybody being a chief can probably be credited to later portraits by George Catlin, which are a little romantic.
In other words, Elizabeth Warren embodies a problem a lot of white people have, including me, and have had for a long time. We really like the idea that we are, to some degree, American Indians, independent warriors tied to this land. We also don't want actual American Indians coming around to mess things up and remind us that we are not American Indians and that the American Indians we imagine for ourselves are 6 parts made up to 1 part successfully destroyed by us and understandably angry about it. It is a bit like the way we want to live in beautiful unspoiled wilderness, but with instant access to hospitals and well-stocked grocery stores.
In this morass, the tomahawk provides an oddly hopeful symbol. Tomahawks were weapons, yes, but also trade gifts. They are also best credited to a joint collaboration - an Indian-style streamlining of a British Navy boarding axe. The resulting multitool was perfect for woodchopping, throwing, anchoring a rope, hammering. Everyone carried them, Indian and colonist (including the loyalist troops). I suspect one reason the Boston Tea Party participants chose to disguise themselves as hatchet-bearing Indians was because they already had the hatchets and knew how to use them.
Given the current tea party's adoption of this symbolic event, one would imagine there might be a link, but it's probably accidental. Their wit seems to be more directed toward inventing fake Indian princess names for Elizabeth Warren, such as "Fauxcahontas." (I admit I find this funny. I love portmanteaus.)
However, it got me wondering how far back redface goes. Turns out pretty far:
Historian Phillip J. Deloria suggests that “Playing Indian” is a tradition in American culture that has persisted for centuries. Deloria argues that dressing as “Mohawks” provided the colonists with a shared identity that was distinctly not British. In fact, prior to the Revolution there were several instances of colonists dressing as Indians while protesting British rule. [Deloria, Philip J. Playing Indian, 1998]
(From the official Old South Meeting House FAQ, which is worth reading in its entirety.)
We seem to have had a generally split opinion of American Indians right from the beginning, particularly in New England. On the one hand, they were Godless savages that might be cannibals. On the other hand, they were our very helpful neighbors who knew all the best stuff, and they provided aspirational hero figures for a new nation. This kind of split stereotype goes all the way back to Vespucci, although some of the window dressing like feathered headdresses and everybody being a chief can probably be credited to later portraits by George Catlin, which are a little romantic.
In other words, Elizabeth Warren embodies a problem a lot of white people have, including me, and have had for a long time. We really like the idea that we are, to some degree, American Indians, independent warriors tied to this land. We also don't want actual American Indians coming around to mess things up and remind us that we are not American Indians and that the American Indians we imagine for ourselves are 6 parts made up to 1 part successfully destroyed by us and understandably angry about it. It is a bit like the way we want to live in beautiful unspoiled wilderness, but with instant access to hospitals and well-stocked grocery stores.
In this morass, the tomahawk provides an oddly hopeful symbol. Tomahawks were weapons, yes, but also trade gifts. They are also best credited to a joint collaboration - an Indian-style streamlining of a British Navy boarding axe. The resulting multitool was perfect for woodchopping, throwing, anchoring a rope, hammering. Everyone carried them, Indian and colonist (including the loyalist troops). I suspect one reason the Boston Tea Party participants chose to disguise themselves as hatchet-bearing Indians was because they already had the hatchets and knew how to use them.
