American Indian Museum

The Museum and the book were quite the compliments. I enjoyed the Museum of the American Indian. I love the section that had on the Hupa tribe. They’re from my area and they had a picture of a guy I know. That was exciting. Kind of weird to see though. Here’s this picture of a guy I know presented as if he was from some totally different world and era. That was how the entire museum felt in some ways --- as if they were presenting the tribes as some strange beasts from another land quite separate from us. It was like a cultural zoo where one could go station to station and see isolated tribe with only reference to their “natural habitat.”

Also, it was quite interesting how the only use of the word genocide was in reference to the massacres in Guatemala in the 1990’s.

I found Todorov’s portrayal of Cortez to be somewhat lopsided. He presented the man as this master planner who figured out what to do and then executed it. However, based upon “Guns, Germs, and Steel” and “The People’s History of the United States” he seemed much luckier then skilled. Now, because of his intelligence he was able to capitalize on his luck. For example, in “Gun, Germs, and Steel” Diamond wrote that he basically rode into the city not knowing exactly what o expect. Upon seeing the huge army of the Montezuma he did what any general at the time would do, send his cavalry around to set up for a flanking maneuver. When he charged to take hold of Montezuma he signaled the cavalry to charge and the Aztecs were so frightened of the horses that they did not mount an effective defense.

Overall though, I’m really enjoying the book. The linguistic spin he’s using is great. Some of the etymology he does reminds of Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil though hopefully his is a bit more accurate and researched.