Where White Men Went Wrong

Written by Stefanie Testa

I came across this thought-provoking document as I was scrolling Twitter this past week. I found it really interesting that one of my peers posted something like this because usually what I find on my social media accounts are "selfies", people complaining about their mediocre lives, and the next rising celebrity scandals. Surprisingly enough, this article is related to what we began discussing this past Tuesday in class; Native American history. If you cannot read the picture, an Indian Chief Two Eagles was questioned by some government official, asking “where did the white men go wrong?” 

His response :

“When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work. Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing, all night having sex….Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.”[1]

I am not sure of the source of this picture or legitimacy of the “Indian” chief (since we learned that the word “Indian” was not an appropriate name for the indigenous people of the Americas), but coming from a historical aspect, everything the Chief stated seemed to be accurate. We learned from lecture that many native tribes were matriarchies in which women were the bread winners of the family, relationships were determined through the female, and a woman most likely held a leadership position in the community. [2]

Moreover, they “did all the work”. [1]

Another comment the Chief detailed, spending “all night having sex” relates even more closely to the topic of our class. Lecture explained that sex during these times, and to these indigenous people, was not considered sinful or something to be hidden but an experience that is natural and should be embraced. It’s a really unique way of thinking about a topic that has so much controversy. In today’s society, many people still view the word sex linked to uncleanliness and sinful pleasure. But then again, sex is everywhere. You can not watch TV without seeing some type of sexualized commercial, let alone the show you are probably watching includes an affair of some sort, and most likely based on relationships and the sexual tendencies of young and carefree individuals (AKA any show on MTV). Any kind of media for that matter has something involved with sex. Sex sells. So why, with all the sexual innuendos that surround our every day life, do we still have so much secrecy and negative connotations with sex? These are questions I ask myself, too, because I have had very conflicting opinions about it over the years. 

I think the Native Americans had it right. No media and no cell phones and no society that controls the way we live. Just nature, our bodies, and wide-open-spaces.

¹ Google Image.”Where White Men Went Wrong”. Accessed January 20, 2014.

² Moore, Crystal. “Native Americans Sexuality and Sexual Violation in the Conquest of the Americas”. Lecture. History of Sexuality. University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, January 14, 2014.