US History From a Brasilian's Perspective

Compare Philbrick’s portrayals of natives in Mayflower with the ways in which they have been represented in popular culture, for instance, in Hollywood movies. How does Mayflower encourage us to rethink those representations? On the other hand, are there some popular images of Native Americans that seem to be somewhat rooted in what actually happened in the seventeenth century?

If you were to ask any American, especially those from an older generation, what their visual idea of a Native American was, you would mostly hear words such as savage, primitive, godless, and other such adjectives. It's likely that the image in their would be of an ugly, tall, tan man wearing only a cloth around his hips, his body painted with bright colors,a head dress adorned with feathers on his head, a quiver of arrows on his back and a bow in his hand. But while this image may have truth to it, there was so much more to the Native Americans. Philbrick shows very good comparison in his book. In Mayflower, Natives are not portrayed as a savage, weak community. Instead, they are shown as the main forces in New England, which is so much closer to the truth. America was their area, their land. They most likely knew it forward and back. When the Pilgrims arrived, they were scared, terrified of the natives. They knew that if the Natives attacked them, they would be the ones to perish, even with their advanced technology. They were hospitable to the Pilgrims after peace was established, helping them with food in the beginning years, attending them well when they visited the tribe, etc. To me, this is the biggest contrast because instead of seeing them as the terrorizing savages I read about in so many stories, I see them as a group of people who simply wanted to live their lives in peace (for the most part). They are kind, an adjective Mary Rowlandson attached to Phillip's actions toward her even during her captivity.

However, even if the Natives are different then what is imagined in today's society, the existing image had to come from somewhere. For example, the Native's practice of scalping their enemies. Multiple tribes used h methods to portray themselves as fearsome in an attempt to scare away the enemy (I guess the English didn't get the message). Or the image of Native Americans as warriors. If anything else, the Natives knew how to fight by using their surroundings to their advantage. Such images were derived from very non-fictional occurrences.