The Marxist Myth of the Noble Savage

The Left's narrative that Native Americans were universally peaceful and lived in complete harmony with nature and each other before European contact is an oversimplification that does not hold up under historical scrutiny.
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The concept of the "Noble Savage" has been romanticized in modern media, education, and entertainment, portraying indigenous peoples as inherently peaceful, living in an Edenic state until disrupted by European colonists. However, this portrayal ignores the complex and often violent history of intertribal relations in pre-Columbian America.
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Historical Evidence of Warfare and Conflict
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Archaeological evidence and historical accounts show that warfare was a significant aspect of life among many Native American tribes. For instance, the Crow Creek massacre site in South Dakota, dating back to around 1325 AD, reveals a brutal conflict where nearly 500 men, women, and children were killed, scalped, and mutilated, long before any European influence.
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The Iroquois Confederacy, known for its sophisticated political system, also engaged in what were called "Mourning Wars," where raids were conducted to capture (enslave) or kill members of other tribes to replace lost members, indicating a cycle of vengeance and warfare.
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The Comanche were known as the "Lords of the Plains" due to their military prowess. They conducted raids, warfare, and expanded their territory aggressively, often at the expense of other tribes like the Apache, whom they nearly eradicated.
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Some tribes practiced rituals that included human sacrifice and cannibalism, like certain groups within the Mississippian culture, which also contradicts the idea of universally peaceful coexistence among Native American cultures.
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Cultural Misrepresentation
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The portrayal of all Native Americans as uniformly peaceful not only does a disservice to history but also to the tribes themselves by stripping them of their agency, complexity, and the full spectrum of human behavior, which includes violence and conflict. This romanticization can be seen as another form of paternalism, where indigenous peoples are not afforded the dignity of having a history as rich and varied as any other human society.
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Why This Matters
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Acknowledging the full scope of Native American history, including its darker aspects like warfare, slavery, cannibalism, and territorial expansion, is crucial for a truthful historical narrative.
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It helps in understanding that like all civilizations, Native American tribes had complex social structures, where peace and war coexisted. This perspective prevents the oversimplification that can lead to stereotyping.
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There's a huge responsibility in how history is taught and portrayed to American children. While it's important to highlight the injustices Native Americans faced due to European colonization, it's equally important not to erase their pre-colonial history, which includes intertribal conflicts, the practice of human slavery, mass rape, human sacrifice, torture, and yes, even cannibalism.
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While it's undeniable that European colonization brought a certain level of suffering, disease, and land loss to Native populations, pre-existing conditions of intertribal warfare and territorial disputes were also part of the historical reality. Recognizing this enriches our understanding of history as a tapestry woven with many threads, including those of conflict and conquest inherent in human nature across all cultures, including the cultures of pre-Columbian Native Americans.