History According to Haswell
Throughout the development of history we have always been mislead by those who wrote the history. In A Voyage Round the World Onboard the Ship Columbia-Rediviva and Sloop Washington Haswell misrepresents the culture, identity, and history of the Native American people. Haswell, being one of the first non-natives to visit the North western coast documents the natives in a way that history has since shown to be a fallacy and a ill-legitimate depiction of the events that occurred on his voyage through the Northwest. Furthermore, it is key to note that the majority of all written history unfortunately contains the opinions, and agendas of the ones who it is written by, and who has interpreted what has been recorded, therefore the points presented in this essay cannot necessarily be taken as complete fact.
It is clear throughout the text that Haswell does not hold positive opinions of the original habitants of the Northwest. Throughout his log he refers to the natives several times as savages, “The implements for Fishing are for savages”(Haswell, 66) His opinions of the Indians reflect on his interpretation of the events that took place. He also referred to the natives as “Intolerably filthy and in warm weather they isue no very pleasant efluvia.”(Haswell, 62) Haswell’s undisputable dislike for the natives is apparent in his description of the culture of the indigenous. Haswell describes an incident the he supposedly observed, “Thes people are canables and eat the flesh of their vanqu[i]shed enemies and frequently of their slaves who they kill in Cool blud they make but little serimoney in owning the fact and I have seen them eat human flesh Myself”(Haswell, 67)
It is not clear to why Haswell would create such a lie about the natives; maybe he had mistaken an incident of cannibalism, but non-the-less he categorizes the indigenous people to the northwest into a generalized group that created an opinion of the natives for years to come. According to the footnote on page 66 “ The established opinion today is that the Indians of the Northwest Coast were not cannibals; and that anything that appeared to be cannibalism was in reality merely formal and a part of some ceremonial. Cook, Ledyard, Meares, Galiano and Valdes, Malaspina, Roquefeuil, and many others entertained the view that these people were cannibals; but not one well authenticated instance of cannibalism has been produced.” (Haswell, 66) This statement shows how Haswell’s opinion of the natives has produced history that is inaccurate. It is unclear why Haswell is determined to project such a negative image of the natives, but it is clear that he did have an agenda.
Haswell makes it more than apparent that he believes that natives are uncivilized. “A coast inhabited by a most horrid race of savage canables in whose hands we could not hope for life and even tho’ not inhabited so destitute of every thing that we esteem requisite to sustain life that a Europain could not exist.” (Haswell, 95) His fabrication of portraying the indigenous people as cannibals is a prime example of how the people who wrote history are able to voice there opinions and manipulate there interpretation of history in order to achieve a certain agenda.
Kurtis
Throughout the development of history we have always been mislead by those who wrote the history. In A Voyage Round the World Onboard the Ship Columbia-Rediviva and Sloop Washington Haswell misrepresents the culture, identity, and history of the Native American people. Haswell, being one of the first non-natives to visit the North western coast documents the natives in a way that history has since shown to be a fallacy and a ill-legitimate depiction of the events that occurred on his voyage through the Northwest. Furthermore, it is key to note that the majority of all written history unfortunately contains the opinions, and agendas of the ones who it is written by, and who has interpreted what has been recorded, therefore the points presented in this essay cannot necessarily be taken as complete fact.
It is clear throughout the text that Haswell does not hold positive opinions of the original habitants of the Northwest. Throughout his log he refers to the natives several times as savages, “The implements for Fishing are for savages”(Haswell, 66) His opinions of the Indians reflect on his interpretation of the events that took place. He also referred to the natives as “Intolerably filthy and in warm weather they isue no very pleasant efluvia.”(Haswell, 62) Haswell’s undisputable dislike for the natives is apparent in his description of the culture of the indigenous. Haswell describes an incident the he supposedly observed, “Thes people are canables and eat the flesh of their vanqu[i]shed enemies and frequently of their slaves who they kill in Cool blud they make but little serimoney in owning the fact and I have seen them eat human flesh Myself”(Haswell, 67)
It is not clear to why Haswell would create such a lie about the natives; maybe he had mistaken an incident of cannibalism, but non-the-less he categorizes the indigenous people to the northwest into a generalized group that created an opinion of the natives for years to come. According to the footnote on page 66 “ The established opinion today is that the Indians of the Northwest Coast were not cannibals; and that anything that appeared to be cannibalism was in reality merely formal and a part of some ceremonial. Cook, Ledyard, Meares, Galiano and Valdes, Malaspina, Roquefeuil, and many others entertained the view that these people were cannibals; but not one well authenticated instance of cannibalism has been produced.” (Haswell, 66) This statement shows how Haswell’s opinion of the natives has produced history that is inaccurate. It is unclear why Haswell is determined to project such a negative image of the natives, but it is clear that he did have an agenda.
Haswell makes it more than apparent that he believes that natives are uncivilized. “A coast inhabited by a most horrid race of savage canables in whose hands we could not hope for life and even tho’ not inhabited so destitute of every thing that we esteem requisite to sustain life that a Europain could not exist.” (Haswell, 95) His fabrication of portraying the indigenous people as cannibals is a prime example of how the people who wrote history are able to voice there opinions and manipulate there interpretation of history in order to achieve a certain agenda.
Kurtis