Review of "The Ecologically Noble Savage" by Kent Redford.

“The figure of the ‘noble savage’ has deep roots in Australia colonialism. Shipwreck of the Stirling Castle, John Curtis, 1838” (Gardner, n.d.).

Romanticism, a common theme we find ourselves chasing throughout history is the overall sentiment found in Kent Redford’s “The Ecologically Noble Savage”.

Despite being written in 1991, his interpretation touches upon the crux between scientific exploration and the blessing and the curse that is humankind.

Humans are a fickle species and the hard truths that we are just now beginning to dissect and understand are that of the emotional mind.

We have a tendency to create a narrative within our minds built upon social conditioning and the social constructs that in more cases than not, aren't factually accurate.

Redford’s rendition of a noble savage puts a fine point on how Colonial Europeans glamourized the New World.

Meanwhile, the “Chroniclers" reinforced those assumptions by dazzling their readers with the notion that Indigenous Peoples were other-worldly or cosmic in origin.

The grand illusion perpetuated was that these cosmic indigenous peoples were so at one with their lands, that absolutely nothing could phase them.

The truth was shrouded to outsiders as to the realities of what far-off places actually provide to both indigenous peoples and to the pioneers who invaded their homeland.

Victor Hugo’s novel Bug-Jargal (1826) used the ‘nobel savage’ trope. Illustration from Bug-Jargal (1826) (*Victims of the Image*, n.d.).

Today, there has been a significant uptick in the space race to colonize Mars so that human beings become an interplanetary species.

However, many things are lost in translation throughout the process. Humans as a whole tend to overlook that we are the most flawed species on the planet because we are in fact, human.

History has proven that human factors alone could make or break any mission. This sentiment alone will reign true until the end of our time.

Redford also touches upon the idea that these distant places have remained untouched, lush wonderlands - just waiting to be pillaged by intruders while the indigenous peoples become the ones they can blame when all goes wrong.

On the other hand, experts have discovered that these wonderland’s other-than-human inhabitants actually did suffer throughout the millennia.

Whether wildfires swept away their virgin rainforests or they misused the land around them, the coveted refuge that awaited the pioneers was not immune to any consequences.

This fantasy that the New World is a Utopia that mimics that of Eden is just not realistic.

Humans, whether they are indigenous tribal peoples or not, we are all meant to evolve.

An idealized location does not take away from the innate need to become more than what is within your bubble.

Greed is a part of being human and to believe that indigenous peoples are incapable of greed just based upon their geographic location and connection with the forest is ludicrous.

“ The cigar store Indian was one of the earliest advertising and marketing exploitations of the Native American, equivalent to the Uncle Tom in African American culture and the rapacious Jew in immigrant culture. In fact, it dates in the Americas from the late 1700s and only began to decline and largely vanish in the twentieth century as restrictions on public spaces limited their use on sidewalks. Transforming the Native into a comical character holding cigars was an effective means to tame the idea of the heathen into submission through ridicule” (*Victims of the Image*, 2017).

On the contrary, the article does touch upon that there are three factors that contribute to the superiority of others in regards to methods of the suitability of their lands which are:

• Polycropping.

• Techniques to enhance soil fertility.

• Sustainable harvesting of forest plants.

However, these methods are only proven practical with a special recipe of:

• Low population density.

• Abundance of land.

• Very limited involvement with society and/or the economy,

All of which makes perfect sense.

The less involved you are with modern civilization, the better chance you have for survival.

The takeaway from this article is that humans are always going to be humans.

We all have an agenda, whether you're running through an ancient forest wearing bark cloth; or peacocking down Wall Street in Dolce and Gabbana, what it all boils down to are our intentions.

With regard to the indigenous tribal peoples of the New World, the scientific explorers, and chroniclers; romanticism is what drove these pioneers to make the decision to leave their homelands in search of something more.

The stark reality that we are all same, same but different, is the byproduct that they had to learn on their own.

Sometimes, the hard way.

The European reaction to the death of James Cook revealed the conflicting stereotype of the ‘brutal savage’. Johanne Zoffany, The Death of Captain James Cook, 1779. (*Victims of the Image*, n.d.)

References

Gardner, H. (n.d.). Explainer: The myth of the Noble Savage. The Conversation. Retrieved August 3, 2022, from http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-myth-of-the-noble-savage-55316

The Ecologically Noble Savage | Cultural Survival. (1991). Retrieved August 3, 2022, from https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/ecologically-noble-savage

Victims of the Image: Ignobility for the Noble Savage. (2017). Design Observer. Retrieved August 3, 2022, from http://designobserver.com/feature/victims-of-the-image-ignobility-for-the-noble-savage/39654

About the author:

Melanie began attending Harvard in 2020 to complete a Graduate Certificate in Human Behavior with a specialization in Neuropsychology. Boling’s research has examined extreme environments and how they can have a potential negative impact on humans operating in the extreme environment. During her time at Harvard, she has built a mental wellness tool called a psychological field kit. Implementing these tools will allow an individual to thrive in an extreme environment while mitigating negative variables such as abnormal human behavior which can play a role in team degradation.