The dangers of misperceptions

I’m going off script a little again but I noticed something while I was reading this book that really caught my attention and that I think is important to highlight.

While reading historical narratives I’ve seen many instances of misperceptions. These misperceptions are usually the fault of the author, either from a lack of research or from a different cultural mind misinterpreting things they do not understand. Although, Changes in the Land is an ecological history, I saw an underlying discussion of the misperceptions on the part of the colonists regarding Indian culture. Even John Locke was not immune as shown by the discussion of Locke’s treatment of Indian land ownership.  Cronon states that “What Locke failed to notice was that the Indians did not recognize themselves as poor.” (p. 91, Nook)

To best understand a group of people a researcher has to first understand that those people do not see themselves as we do. The Indians did not, and could not, see themselves through European eyes. At the same time, the Europeans did not, and could not, see themselves through Indian eyes. The colonists did not view their lifestyles the same way we view them and we do not view ours as they would.

One thing that many reenactors try to do is something that could be called “experimental archaeology/anthropology.” Instead of thinking about how they did things and why, we try it ourselves. This could be dying different fibers to see what happens, trying a historical manual tool, cooking on a fire, or wearing different types of stays (18th century corset). For example, as a woman I get a lot of questions about my clothing. I can tell you through wearing them that my gown was far easier to make using historical techniques than modern ones, my stays are a godsend when I’m doing manual labor, and my gown and petticoats are cooler in July than shorts and a t-shirt.

As history workers in the 21st century we can never see history as those who lived it did unless we can somehow get a hold of a time machine and memory wipe. However, understanding our modern bias and doing what we are able to meet them on their own ground can help us better represent those people we say that we do. So hear this plea from a fellow history worker: be careful about how you view the people from the past. They may not be the people you want to think they are.