It occurred to me that there is probably a reason that Native people were to be approached with caution by Old World explorers. I mean, they might kill you, maybe even eat you. That's reason enough. The question is, why would they do either? They are human beings, presumably acquainted with human qualities such as love at least towards one another, compassion, capable of rational thought. So if I, as the captain of a ship anchored offshore, step onto the sand of an unknown beach from my skiff and brown-skinned people appear from the forest... why would I have reason to fear retribution for that act?
Maybe it's just that they are human, so they fear the unknown. OK, so they don't know what the hell the new guy is wearing on his head, why he's so pale, and what he drove to the beach.
"We should kill him and find out what he is and do a little autopsy on him. And then roast him up while the drums pound."
Fear is no excuse for that kind of behavior, native dudes. Or is it?
Maybe they have things "just so" and don't want to mess with a situation that has served them and this is a potential threat. Still not enough reason, in my opinion. Then again, maybe they've heard that new visitors in the area have carried disease, been violent morally as well as sexually, disrespectful of native mores and religion. They've destroyed lives and livlihoods and environments. Maybe whether or not the new guy lives or dies is literally a matter of life and death, of "him or me/us".
Is that rational? I don't mean to us, I mean to THEM. It depends on their frame of reference, what they know and have experienced, doesn't it? From a human perspective, if they have never heard of a "dominant race" other than themselves as dominant over most animals -often not sharks or pumas; if they are just killing because this is a different "thing that has appeared", I don't know that that is rational, even for primitive people (of course I am not connected with their spirituality, legends and mores, and I've never been a primitive person...well that's up for debate maybe). BUT...the first time they have heard horror stories of what the "white man" has done to neighboring villages, and we all know the stories, suddenly they look like idiots if they DON'T stick the explorer's head on a stick, don't they? I mean, why subject your children and yourselves to that kind of abuse when things are fine the way they are (not to the white guy's standards, but to native ones)?
What does this have to do with what is going on in the world right now?
I'll let you figure it out.
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