According to Steven L. Winter, in his book “A Clearing in the Forest: Law, Life, and Mind” (2001), recent
\nfindings in cognitive science (study of the human mind) reveal that the mind functions largely by means of
\nmetaphors and other cognitive operations. Metaphor is thinking of one thing in terms of something else. As
\nWinter explains, cognitive science has revealed that all thought is innately imaginative, and metaphor is one
\nof the ways that human beings use the imaginative power of human thought.<\/p>\n
But the question arises, are some metaphors and other mental processes more likely to lead to thoughts and
\nbehavior that are dehumanizing and pathological? For example, if one group of people thinks of and
\ndehumanizes another group of people as “beasts,” or sub-human, isn\u2019t this likely to lead to negative,
\nperhaps even heinous behavior towards the people being labeled? Is it correct to consider such negative
\nthoughts and behavior to be pathological?<\/p>\n
Take the example of George Washington thinking of and referring to Indians as “savages” and “beasts.” In
\n1783, Washington wrote that, “the gradual extension of our settlements will as certainly cause the savage, as
\nthe wolf, to retire.” By retire he meant, move away or be killed. Both “the savage” and “the wolf” were
\ndescribed by Washington as, “beasts of prey, tho\u2019 they differ in shape.” This is an example of Washington
\nusing the imaginative power of thought in a dehumanizing, and, arguably, pathological manner.<\/p>\n
Cognitive theory posits that how we conceive (think) of something predetermines how we will behave toward
\nthat thing. Thus, the imaginative American conception of Indians as “beasts of prey” led to very specific kinds
\nof pathological behavior consistent with that mental image (thought, or idea).<\/p>\n
For example, American troops – at Washington\u2019s instruction – carried out a scorched earth policy against the
\nSeneca Nation by destroying entire towns and vast food supplies. In some cases, American troops skinned
\nthe bodies of the Seneca people who had been killed. The troops would skin the bodies “from the hips
\ndownward to make boot tops or leggings.” Since the Seneca killed were imagined or conceived of as
\n“beasts,” they could, without any twinge of American conscience, be skinned like wild beasts.<\/p>\n
Greed was a powerful motive for this kind of thought and behavior towards the Seneca and other Native
\nnations: Millions of acres of land and all the material wealth those lands represented. Genocide can be good
\nfor business.<\/p>\n
That Hitler exhibited a pathological mentality and behavior toward Jews, which was reflected in their mass
\nannihilation at the hands of the Nazis, is taken for granted by most people. Fewer people would be of the
\nopinion that the United States, over the course of its history, has exhibited a pathological mentality and
\nbehavior toward American Indian nations and peoples. Yet who could deny that skinning human beings such
\nas Washington\u2019s soldiers did to the Seneca people reflects some kind of pathology?<\/p>\n
If a child kills cats and blows up frogs with firecrackers, is this the sign of a balanced and well-adjusted
\nhuman being? Or is such behavior indicative of deep emotional and perhaps mental pathology? Serial killers
\noften start out with these “small killings” and eventually begin killing other human beings. The pathology that
\nthe future serial killer exhibits in childhood becomes fully manifested in heinous acts of murder in adulthood.<\/p>\n
By way of analogy, during its “infancy” and “youth” the United States started out killing off Indians, while
\ncompulsively stealing massive amounts of lands and resources from Native nations. Over the course of its
\nentire lifespan the United States has continued to exhibit compulsive pathological behavior toward Native
\npeoples.<\/p>\n
Because the people of the United States understandably desire to view their country in a positive light, they
\ntend to conveniently overlook or deny the U.S.\u2019s reprehensible thought and behavior towards Native nations.
\nThe subject of U.S. genocide against American Indians is conveniently swept under the rug, so to speak, and
\nin mainstream media we never see a discussion of the possibility of an American pathology towards Native
\nnations and peoples. Being able to avoid this uncomfortable subject makes it a lot easier on those wishing to
\nextol the virtues of the United States without contradiction.<\/p>\n
When one thinks about it, it would seem that the American empire\u2019s mental and behavioral pathology toward
\nNative nations has passed through different phases.<\/p>\n
One phase was the outright killing of Indians from the Ohio Valley to the gold fields of California, and
\neverywhere in between. Another phase was the U.S.\u2019s never-ending kleptomaniacal compulsion to steal
\nIndian lands and resources. (Recent passage of the Western Shoshone bill is evidence that this phase is still
\nongoing). Yet another phase was the U.S.\u2019s efforts to destroy the economic and political independence of
\nNative nations, to destroy Native languages, cultures, and to destroy our ability to live our respective spiritual
\ntraditions in our sacred places. Is this compulsively destructive mentality and behavior toward Native peoples
\nevidence that the U.S. society has a deep and underlying illness (pathology)? Or is it just “the American
\nway,” along with apple pie and the American flag?<\/p>\n
America\u2019s pathological mentality and behavior toward Native nations has old cognitive roots that can be
\ntraced back many centuries. Take for example one of Cristobal Colon\u2019s favorite passages from the Bible: “O
\nclap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy, for the Lord is high, terrible: a great
\nking over all the earth. He hath subdued the people under us: and the nations under our feet & God shall
\nreign over the nations.”<\/p>\n
From a Native perspective, one could say that applying the above way of thinking to indigenous peoples is
\npathological because it led to a brutal and hierarchical structuring of the physical and social world. Core
\nmetaphorical concepts in the above passage include the concept of “the Lord” being “high and terrible.”
\nThose who subscribed to this viewpoint, felt justified in conducting themselves as European “lords” who were
\n“high and terrible.” This attitude is exemplified by the Spaniards\u2019 use of vicious dogs to hunt down Indians
\nand tear them apart, or conquistadors cutting off an Indian\u2019s hand for not “handing” the Spaniards an
\nimposed quota of gold.<\/p>\n
The metaphors in the above passage resulted in thinking of indigenous peoples as destined to be “subdued”
\nbecause “the Lord \u2026 hath subdued” them. Once they were viewed as destined to be “subdued,” the
\nindigenous peoples were then also viewed as destined to exist forever “under” the representatives of “the
\nLord.” The Christian Europeans then viewed the indigenous peoples as existing “under” their “feet,”
\nmeaning, subject to Christian European authority. Many similar conceptual patterns form the basis of
\nAmerica\u2019s present day pathological mentality and behavior towards Native nations and peoples. A “reality”
\nconstructed on the basis of such cognitive patterns is a “reality” of domination.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s mental and behavioral patterns of pathology toward Native nations generally remain at an
\nunconscious level of awareness in society. This means that although these patterns do exist, the average
\nperson is usually oblivious to this fact. It is up to us to identify these cognitive and behavioral patterns of
\ndomination, and suggest what ought to be done about them.<\/p>\n
If we accept that there is such a thing as an American pathology toward Native nations and peoples, it stands
\nto reason that we ought to search for ways to heal this pathology. Such a task is extremely difficult because
\nof the extent to which America\u2019s cognitive and behavioral patterns of domination toward Native nations and
\npeoples seem to be inextricably woven into the social, legal, political, and economic fabric and institutions of
\nthe United States. The pathology then becomes manifested through largely taken for granted and seemingly
\n“normal” everyday activities, such as federal legislation and policy decisions, Supreme Court and other court
\nrulings, state legislation and policy decisions, National Labor Relations Board decisions and so forth.<\/p>\n
Ironically, history suggests that for centuries the cultures and cognitive systems of indigenous peoples
\ncontain transformative and healing alternatives to the American pathology. Although we must be cautious to
\nrefrain from romanticizing Native cultures, it is fair to say that the traditional worldviews and conceptual
\nsystems of indigenous nations and peoples contain healing metaphors and values that stand in stark
\ncontrast to the Euro-American system of thought and behavior.<\/p>\n
One clear example of how indigenous societies have influenced the world in the political realm is the extent
\nto which the model of the Iroquois Confederacy influenced many of the founders of the United States such as
\nBenjamin Franklin. “From America have emerged the cornerstones of the political philosophy that has
\ntransformed the world,” wrote German Arciniegas in his book “America in Europe” (1980). The indigenous
\nworlds – concepts, technologies, medicines, foodstuffs, etc., – of the Americas had a transforming effect on
\nthe dank and oppressive medieval culture of Christendom. Seeing examples of indigenous democracies of
\nNorth America, eventually led European intellectuals to envision the possibility of a different kind of political
\norder based on “liberty,” without monarchy.<\/p>\n
The French thinker La Boetie related the following: “If by chance different people are born today, who are
\nnot accustomed to servitude nor fear liberty, and they are bidden to choose between being slaves or living in
\nfreedom … there is not doubt that they will be more inclined to obey reason than to serve other men.” Such
\nideas flew in the face of the rigid hierarchical structuring of European society; and such ideas became a
\ncatalyst that transformed the world by giving voice to a concept unknown in medieval Christendom: “to be
\nfree.”<\/p>\n
Indigenous representatives have consistently provided insightful commentary on the taken for granted norms
\nof European societies. Early on, such commentaries influenced European political philosophers and other
\nEnlightenment intellectuals. What was normative for the Christo-European world was generally seen as
\npathological from an indigenous perspective. That this is so is reflected in a story related by the French
\nessayist Montaigne about a time when King Charles of France thought that the splendor of his court might
\nhave greatly impressed some visiting Indians. When the king asked them for their opinion, the Indians made
\ntwo key observations.<\/p>\n
As German Arciniegas tells the story: “\u2026 they found it strange that so many older men, bearded and well
\narmed, like the ones who make up his Majesty\u2019s entourage, rendered obedience to the monarch, who is a
\nchild, and that they should not choose instead the eldest among them to command them. Secondly, that
\namong the people there should be a privileged half that enjoyed every luxury and comfort, while the other
\nhalf were beggars who implored at the doors, wasting away from hunger and poverty. It seemed strange to
\nthem that this half that suffered such great injustice should not fly at the rich one\u2019s throats and set fire to
\ntheir houses.” Was this prescient of the French Revolution?<\/p>\n
The American empire\u2019s pathological mentality and behavior toward Native nations is predicated upon very
\nold deep-seated metaphorical concepts transplanted from Europe, such as lordship, monarchy, dominion,
\ndomination, subjugation, subduing, exploiting, and the desire to profit as much as possible from all aspects
\nof life. Native commentators have long noted that greed and lust for power lie at the heart of American
\npathology. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce remarked: “My father was the first to see through the schemes of
\nthe white man, and he warned his tribe to be careful about trading with them. He had suspicion of men whom
\nseemed anxious to make money.”<\/p>\n
Indigenous knowledge systems contain thousands of years of accumulated ecological wisdom, and the
\npolitical heritage of a free and independent existence. Perhaps these indigenous conceptual and behavioral
\nsystems are able to provide a healing alternative to American and Western pathology. If given a chance,
\nperhaps indigenous knowledge and wisdom will be able to teach human beings how essential it is for us to
\nharmonize our thoughts and our behaviors with the natural rhythms and ecological systems of Mother Earth,
\nfor the benefit of our future generations and all living things.<\/p>\n
Steven Newcomb is the Indigenous Law research coordinator at Kumeyaay Community College (located on
\nthe reservation of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation), co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous
\nLaw Institute, and a columnist for Indian Country Today.<\/p>\n