Paleface Go Injun Pow-Wow

2,412 words

I was downtown in Salt Lake City in 2002 to watch the Pioneer Day parade, also known as “Days Of ’47” — as in 1847, of course. I got to see the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ President Gordon B. Hinckley heading up the column. Although my piety leaves much to be desired, that was something else, indeed! A sight like that is sort of like a Catholic visiting Rome and having the good fortune to see the Pope emerge on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the top of the hour, like the bird in a cuckoo clock.

Later that afternoon, a pow-wow was under way at a nearby park. That would be a first for me, but hey, why not? Although they’re not my people — I don’t have any proverbial Indian princess as an ancestor, not even Senator Elizabeth Warren — I have nothing against them. As for Joseph Smith’s tall tales of their origins, describing them as corrupted Israelites, I give that about as much credence as The Silmarillion. Our corrupted Israelites have small hats with no feathers.

The temperature was punishingly above 100 degrees — seasonal extremes are just how it rolls in Salt Lake City — and I was pushing dehydration. Still, the pow-wow was a fun time. This, of course, involved lots of drumming, chanting, and colorful outfits. It’s an experience rather similar to the several Kraut cultural events I’ve attended. The differences are mainly the oompah band, kegs of suds, and the outfits. For the record, although these are my people, I’d have to be held at gunpoint to get in Lederhosen.

The second take

I attended another pow-wow recently — a different one. The event was at a community center equipped with an interior athletic stadium; you know the type. Aside from modern innovations such as electric lighting and indoor plumbing, it’s a concept dating back to the Roman Colosseum. Since I wasn’t about to keel over in the heat this time, I had lots of opportunity to reflect on the long history of relations between whites and American Indians, and how that shapes conditions today. I could see that the participants were keeping it real in the face of modernity, yet finding ways to benefit from cultural exchange without being overwhelmed by it.

Two drum corps were present, providing chanting and percussion to accompany the dancing. An announcer in the end zone was there, too, rather obviously jonesing for cheeseburgers, since the subject came up frequently. The audio was run through a sound board, and ultimately to a pair of public address-style speakers. Although a drum corps obviously is pretty loud, amplification was necessary in an area as large as a stadium.

I couldn’t help but think of William Shockley, the physicist who invented the transistor, a race realist as well as a towering semiconductor pioneer. Of course, for having made the emergence of electronics as a mature technology possible in the first place, I’d have to credit predecessors such as Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, James Clerk Maxwell, and Oliver Heaviside. They in turn built on the research of early pioneers such as Alessandro Volta, André-Marie Ampère, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, Georg Ohm, and many others. Whenever anyone switches on a transistor radio, the work of quite a few eminent white men made it possible!

But, I digress. Of course, the dancers and their colorful outfits are the main attraction at a pow-wow. I already knew that Comanches use a design copied from the nineteenth-century United States Cavalry. This time, I was surprised to see several outfits from a northeastern tribe derived from the British “Redcoat” uniform. (I’ll have to hand it to Blighty, they had some cool threads in those days!) Perhaps this became fashionable in that part of Indian Country, remaining popular for two and a half centuries. Much like the first pow-wow I attended, I noted that several of the outfits were covered in silver bells. That was obviously a post-Columbian innovation. The same could be said for those outfits which used small mirrors as design elements. Hey, why not? It works.

Many different tribes were represented there. This includes some that were notable in the past for being especially warlike. A couple of centuries ago, if delegations from disparate tribes — allies and enemies alike — had been placed haphazardly into an area the size of a stadium, a bloodbath would’ve occurred. Now, there wasn’t even a hint of conflict; not even a hairy eyeball. After whites conquered the frontier and achieved dominance from coast to coast, the result was an end to ten millennia of brutal conflict.

You can buy Jonathan Bowden’s Western Civilization Bites Back here.

There’s something frequently forgotten by those who believe certain popular narratives about the American Indians of the past, romanticizing them and thinking of them rather like red hippies. The truth is that those guys weren’t on board with the Geneva Conventions. The ghastly tortures inflicted on missionaries with more faith than good sense was simply the sort of thing that American Indians had been doing to each other from the beginning. Not anymore; tribes that were former rivals can gather among each other in peace and friendship, something that would’ve been unthinkable in times past. This is because American cavalry forces instructed them in the virtues of the Libertarian Non-Aggression Principle.

A number of vendors were offering refreshments outside the stadium, mostly typical carny fare. Some were keeping it culturally relevant, such as one serving ground buffalo on fry bread. (My girlfriend gave me part of hers, and I must say, the buffalo chip was pretty good.) The line for buffalo chips was pretty long, so I went to another vendor and got a cheeseburger. The prices weren’t posted, and I found to my surprise that this one cheeseburger set me back 22 bucks, almost as bad as the rip-off prices charged on the Vegas Strip. That’s about three times what a premium double cheeseburger costs at my favorite junk-food establishment, a price that itself has tripled since the early 1990s. I think even the announcer, who had been particularly enthusiastic about cheeseburgers, would’ve winced at the price!

So I inserted my credit card into the reader to receive my punishment. Then, the software asked me what kind of tip I’d like to add. Not quite feeling the love after being ripped off, I grudgingly added 15%, not wishing to be a complete cheapskate. Goodness only knows if it went to the people working the counter, who are merely bagmen for the price-gouging company they work for. As for the total sum, though, I do know where it went. It was processed through a sophisticated financial network that, in seconds, dinged my account at a house of usura headquartered in Boston. The same client/server financial magic was much in use at a nearby enclosure where American Indian vendors sold their wares: clothing, jewelry, rugs, etc. Say what one will about how screwy our economic system is, at least it’s remarkably nimble. Bartering arrowheads for an overpriced cheeseburger at an ancient trading post would’ve been quite a headache.

All told, it was a fun event. There only was a tiny bit of politicization, and to a forgivable degree. That day the American Indians got a chance to celebrate their culture with their Volksgenossen. That’s keeping it real! I’d say a pow-wow works better in that regard than breakdancing and midnight basketball.

Afterwards, of course, it was time to drive home. As for the participants, I suspect they did the same; many were from Oklahoma, and it’s a little too far to walk there. (Even in 1847, it was no picnic to hoof it across the plains while schlepping a handcart!) Chances are that most of the driving was on a nice road that is part of the interstate highway system, a concept copied from that of a notable German Chancellor.

The great cultural exchange

Following the post-Columbian colonization of the Americas, it’s true that there was a general loss of culture among the natives to some degree. Part of this loss came from overzealous missionaries, some was from general upheaval, and the rest — perhaps most of it — was due to the generational forgetfulness that often accompanies adopting another society’s customs and way of life. (The latter is, of course, one of the drawbacks of assimilation. For example, the multitudes enjoy green beer on St. Paddy’s Day, during which everyone is honorary Irish. But few Americans know who Cú Chulainn was, much less speak Gaelic.) In earlier times there were whites who saw value in American Indian culture and recorded what they could of their languages and customs for posterity, although they only were able to accomplish so much.

Loss of culture is unfortunate, though hardly unprecedented in history. Most of what we know of Gaul comes from the writings of Julius Caesar, the guy who came, saw, and conquered the place. As for all the things he didn’t write down, most of that is now shrouded in the mists of time. Likewise, we know little of the pre-Christian religion of the Goths, aside from a brief paragraph by Jordanes; apparently nobody was taking thorough notes at the time. Almost all we know of their language comes from a partial copy of the Bible. The good news is that in the Information Age, cultural characteristics are much better documented and protected from generational forgetfulness.

Upon the ashes of the old, the new emerges. American Indian culture today is a synthesis in which they borrow as they please from elements of Western culture. I have no objection to that. (There’s been much blather in recent years about “cultural appropriation,” quite often by self-righteous, white, Leftist busybodies who habitually get offended on behalf of other races. But white people don’t get huffy when others copy facets of our own societies.) As I’ve demonstrated, American Indians benefited from this cultural exchange. This isn’t to say that they’re unoriginal. Instead, I mean that this process of cultural exchange is normal.

Other than that, despite bitter conflict in the past, whites have showed interest and appreciation as well. (This was going on as early as Mark Twain’s time, about which he had some rather caustic remarks.) There are even instances in which it goes too far, such as New Age twits who pretend to be medicine men. In that case, charges of cultural appropriation actually make sense, and it’s not just the usual petty badgering. (These people aren’t harmful; just profoundly annoying.) The problem with these crystal weenies is that they don’t know they have a culture of their own. Although the present-day political climate hasn’t been encouraging white people to look into their ancient folkways, it’s not impossible to discover one’s heritage.

Culturally, the United States’ westward expansion produced a similar dynamic to that of the Meiji Restoration, in which contact with American trade and technology brought Japan from the feudal era to the Industrial Age very rapidly. That itself entailed some disruption; the movie The Last Samurai is a capsule summary of that. In later generations, Japan received a great deal of cultural influence from the US. Likewise, Americans began to import much Japanese culture. (Godzilla seemed to be the turning point for that.) Cultural exchange can be a good thing.

Give war a chance

You can buy Tito Perdue’s The Gizmo here.

There has been considerable discussion about the conquest of the American frontier. Since the 1960s, because of some rather obvious political trends, most of it has been quite negative. It is indeed true that the warfare of that time was destructive, and that the Indians got the worst of it. Even so, The Narrative from Leftist academia and post-1960s Hollywood is inexcusably exaggerated and one-sided. To put it more plainly, this Black Legend is demoralization propaganda meant to inculcate white guilt.

First of all, when dealing with aggressive Neolithic tribesmen who aren’t hip to the Geneva Conventions, it’s necessary to use a firm hand. The English colonists had to learn that the hard way. The fact is that since the beginning, there were times when whites tried to coexist peacefully with the various tribes. Also, much is said about broken treaties and unprovoked attacks, but whites certainly weren’t the only ones who did so. Furthermore, for all the talk about whites driving Indians off of their territory, that’s exactly the same thing that rival tribes had been doing to each other for thousands of years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. (The victors weren’t in the habit of reserving land in perpetuity for the losers, where they could run things their way.) These are some of the things that The Narrative deliberately disregards.

Fortunately, everyone’s been at peace now for over a century, because whites won a decisive victory. Considering the extreme brutality of tribal warfare, putting an end to it once and for all was a service to humanity. The Indians were granted citizenship later on. This means that they didn’t lose a country; instead they became part of a vast and united country. They can move wherever they like, along with enjoying all the other rights and benefits of American citizens. In fact, they have more rights and benefits: dual citizenship, territory reserved for their exclusive use, tax breaks on casinos and tobacco sales, and a cornucopia of federal programs. It’s time for white Americans to stop feeling guilty about the settlement of the frontier, especially those Leftists who spread demoralization propaganda.

Did whites bring “racism” to spoil the idyllic paradise of the pre-Columbian Americas? It’s actually true if the term used in a completely neutral context of racial consciousness, rather than in the usual fashion as a devil word. After all, they didn’t think of themselves as Native Americans, and weren’t aware that other races existed until we showed up. What were the results, though? Now the disparate tribes — some of which were bitter enemies — realize that they’re Volksgenossen and have much in common with each other.

We came, we saw, we conquered — and established a golden peace that’s endured for over a century. Any bitter-enders among them — fortunately becoming scarce, at least from what I’ve seen — can complain about us on their iPhones. Moreover, now that they enjoy the benefits of a highly advanced society, their lives are immeasurably more comfortable than those of their ancestors who led a harsh existence with only the aid of Stone Age technology. Although things were quite tumultuous for a while, colonization wasn’t entirely a bust.

As for the Leftists spreading white guilt narratives, me thinkum them smokeum locoweed in peace pipe.