"Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination"

In "Going Native," Shari M. Huhndorf argues that images of “Indians” are essential (even foundational) to the American identity, but that their places in the “collective cultural imagination” (55) are uniformly overlooked. Throughout the book, Huhndorf works to reveal both the pervasiveness of “going native,” as well as its problematic and contradictory nature. She hopes to show us that “going native fundamentally confirms (rather than criticizes) Western ideals and white racial dominance” (116).

"Going Native" looks at the way America has adapted the “Indian” identity to serve different functions within society, reacting to the specific needs and concerns of the time. Because of this, Indians and Eskimos are often assigned conflicting natures. Thus, the Indian can be presented both as a savage threat to American civilization, and as the embodiment of the American spirit itself, while Eskimos can be touted both as peaceful, happy-go-lucky figures, as well as brave, masculine, hunters. In order to demonstrate the significance of these images, Huhndorf shows us the trends within American society that called for their propagation.

One reason for “going native” was to reconcile America’s violent past with its ideals of “freedom, equality, and democracy” (22), and to justify both past and future colonial acts. Huhndorf discusses the way in which white men used “going native” to conceal their own role in colonization, and how the nation as a whole appropriates Indian-ness in order to perpetuate ideas of national innocence. She shows that the very act of “going native,” however, betrays, depends upon, and reinforces white American’s position of power. Huhndorf uses “Nanook of the North” as an example of how Westerners both invisibilize and perpetuate colonialism. Huhndorf also discusses the ways in which America naturalized the process of colonialism. She demonstrates how the World’s Columbian Exposition presented a primitive, chaotic view of native cultures, which Americans took as proof that conquest was necessary for the progress of civilization. She also shows that the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition naturalized colonialism by demonstrating that natives “belonged to the interminable wasteland of humanity’s dark and stormy beginnings” (28) and that they were therefore “casualties of progress rather than of violence” (58).

Huhndorf also examines how images of Indians were used to address American anxieties about modernity and the degeneration of the nation. The Columbian Exposition’s White City, for example, “assured middle-class white American of their continued dominance during this period of rapid social change” (50). She also examines how, disillusioned by industrialization and war, European-Americans sought the true manifestation of American values within the native sphere. Huhndorf investigates how Eskimos in particular were associated with “cleanliness, purity, virtue” (100) and whiteness, which contributed to a racial ambiguity that allowed them to be accessible and appealing to the American public. She shows that both Indians and Eskimos were used to perpetuate American ideals of masculinity, responding to the fear that American masculinity (and therefore civilization) was on the decline.

I found "Going Native" extremely compelling. Huhndorf presented her arguments in eloquent, inventive, and thought provoking ways. I particularly enjoyed her examination of the role that “Eskimos” have played in our cultural imagination since we rarely examine the effects of Arctic colonization. I also appreciated her discussions about the commodification of native bodies and cultures, as well as the relationship between science and colonization. At the end of chapter two, Huhndorf touches on Minik’s battle against America’s colonial practices; I would love to learn even more about how indigenous peoples are working to rewrite the history of their colonization.