Colonialism and Orientalism

North America (United States of America), during this time has been inhabited by the Native Americans (American Indians). When the Englishmen arrived, there was resistance from the natives who originally inhabit the land. The Americans we know now are actually great great grandchildren of Englishmen settlers in America; the Americans we know today are the Americans of the New World – as that is what England called North America during those times of exploration and colonization.

Colonialism always tells two sides of the story – one of the colonizing country, and another of the colonized country and people. As defined, “colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017, par. 1).

Subjugation implies the surrender of one person to another’s power, of one nation to another more powerful nation. And so, naturally, harmonious relationship between the colonizers and the colonized can never exist.

The Englishmen during those times already had a long history, they already have an established government, they had literature, language, religion. With this, we can totally agree with John Smith when he referred to the Indians as savage, devil, grim, ugly—uncivilized people. These are people who depend on rituals and their gods and goddesses for their decision, people who still used ancient weapons in fighting, people who haven’t seen a compass before as they were so amazed when the Capt. showed it to them in explaining that the world is round and eventually gave it to Opechancanough, King of Pamunkey.

The National Geographic discusses a number of signs of civilization as 1) having a settlement, 2) class structure and government, 3) things that indicate development such as language, art, trade, and technology. Meanwhile, other sources also include religion to be one indicating factors of civilization.

The journal itself implies what kind of society the Indians had upon the arrival of the Englishmen.

First, the Indians had settlements, they had villages, tribes, cities. That is evident with the events that follow John Smith’s captivity by the bowmen. He was initially brought to the village of Pamunkey led by their King, Opechancanough. This also implies class structure and government as the bowmen did not immediately kill him but brought him to their leader for trial and sentencing. Opechancanough did not even sentence him at once, the village had to do rituals for guidance from higher beings – a sign of religion. When Opechancanough was left undecided, thanks to John Smith bribing him with the compass (sign of trade), the Capt. was brought from one village to another until he was presented to the highest leader – Emperor Powhatan of Werowocomoco. This is yet another sign of government, of justice system on the part of the Indians. Finally, these people have their own language, and they also have their art, and technology. Kayaks and rubber are just some of the technology credited to the Indians even before Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered America (Columbus wanted to go to India but landed on America which he thought was India; hence, the natives were called American Indians). The Indians have also mastered corn planting that they were the ones who taught the English settlers how to grow them (History, 2020).

So why did Capt. John Smith depict an image of the Indians as savages and uncivilized in his journal?

This may be associated with the concept of Orientalism—a concept put forward by Edward Saïd in his 1978 book, which presents the distinction between the West and the East (Orient). This distinction is brought about by the Western political ideology so that the West could subjugate the East. In other words, Orientalism serves as a license for the Western people (which they give themselves) to present themselves a superior, while the Eastern people inferior. Specifically, the Western ideology presents the West as strong, rational, masculine, civilized, while presenting the East as weak, emotional, feminine, and degenerate. Therefore, representation of the colonized people as the way John Smith did is something that is expected in colonial literary pieces such as What Happened till The First Supply.