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Skin Color Always Mattered

Were Native Americans wrong in following the traditions from their ancestors? In James Axtell’s “The Invasion Within”, he talks about how the European missionaries think they are savages and not men. It was believed by the missionaries that the only way to do this was convert them to Christianity. In doing this the missionaries set out to change everything about these natives. They sought to change identifying features of the natives such as hair, clothing, and even farming techniques. The European missionaries sought to “reduce” them into men. Soon came along French missionaries that opened boarding schools and treated the Native Americans well. The French sought to change them without punishment for their past wrongdoings. They eventually gave up trying to teach them in classrooms and decided to use the forest where they were most comfortable. The priests would enter a land, learn their language, and overall prove to the Native Americans that they were there to help. The French were much more successful in converting Native Americans by customizing their teaching to conform to ways the Native Americans were comfortable.

In Joel Martin’s “Almost White”, he goes into great detail about a Cherokee woman named Catherine Brown. She willingly showed up to a mission school and was harshly judged by the missionaries there. All New England missionaries would have a comment about her appearance. She dressed in traditional Cherokee dress and adorned her body with many jewels. Even when looking past the traditional dress they could still not accept the sexual actions of any Cherokee woman. They soon learned that Catherine Brown would become a very modest, devout woman who gave up her fine jewelry for love from Christ. After all this hard work by the missionaries and the Cherokee themselves to become more civilized they determined it was useless because they would always be Indian due to autonomy of their bodies. Their skin...