The World-View in Narratives: Voyages of Columbus and Impact on Natives
The power granted to Christopher Columbus by the King of Spain for conquering the Native American settlements points to the victory of language. The natives were the cultural embodiments of American Indian life. These natives, whom Columbus reports to his sovereign as gullible and guileless, are the Zunis and the Navaho who can never imagine any power conflict (Heath Anthology 130). Their text of the origins of the world is filled with words relating to Nature whereas the texts of Columbus are full of words relating to ‘commodities’ to be traded (Heath Anthology 125-127). There are clear references to spices, cotton, tobacco, and rich mines which the Europeans hope to locate with the help of these guileless natives. Here is a difference between nature and culture that language-use effectively conveys. The absence of institutionalized form of religion in their midst makes the visitor think they are easy game for conversion (Heath Anthology 130). Thus they conceive an imperial design to politicise the existence of these natives by tacitly making them accept their backwardness and making them lend themselves to improvement, as seen in Columbus’s appeal to his sovereign in the First Narrative (Heath Anthology 130-131). Introducing religion thus aids imperial expansion and also carves an episode in a centuries-long European religious crusade. The sign language that the Spaniards used with the guileless natives was adroit enough to help them learn where they could locate spices and gold and other riches in this unguarded native domain, as evident throughout the Journal of the First Voyage (1492-1493). Gradually they set the seal of Christendom on this new soil. Towards the end of the Third Narrative (1498-1500) Columbus is seen in the role of a circumnavigator-turned-astronomer who is triumphant about having found the earth’s shape and centre. The “pear-like” shape that shifts the centre from a spherical midpoint to a point below in the south, where “No one had ever entered,” justifies the newly entered mainland as not just a geographical centre rediscovered, but as a predestined goal, a gift of “Our Lord” to the sovereign whose work must be carried out there (Heath Anthology 133-134).
The European-Amerindian encounter is best understood in terms of the operating linguistic and semiotic features. In the “Journal of the First Voyage to America (1492-1493)” the narrative is more of the probing kind and is very focused on probable results. The aggressive mode is not noticed till perhaps towards the end when the strategy becomes clear. The lexical field he creates out of his epithets seems later to be the prelude to planned conquest. The natives are said to be “an inoffensive, unwarlike people,” whose “manners [are] very decent” (Heath Anthology 130).Thus he is able to convince his king that the natives are ready game for imperialist plans of expansion and the holy exercise of conversion. And the exhortation is in such a manner as to impel the monarch to secure a place in heaven by securing this territory in the name of Christianity:
so that having ended your days (as we are all mortal) you may leave your domains in a tranquil condition, and meet with a favourable reception before the eternal Creator, whom it may please to grant you a long life and great increase of kingdoms and dominions, with the will and disposition to promote, , the holy Christian religion. Amen. (130)
The cunning manipulator thus uses a hidden but powerful metalanguage which triumphs over the sign language competence of these natives. Thus it is no wonder that they toil by night in torchlight to drill the shores for gold and latter to hammer them into bars for the divine sovereign in a distant land (Heath Anthology 125-126). All through the two narratives of Columbus there is no single incident reported where a Babel-like cacophony resulted which marred communication and defeated practical ends.
Apart from the new continent being a metaphoric gold mine, it is a fine destination for trade, being geographically cut off from the strife that plagues Europe and the Levantine nations. With the Ottoman expansion and the fall of Constantinople the papacy has come to a lower octave. Spreading the gospel over the vast new land would give the faith a new life. Thus the hinterland becomes a strategic mainland. Columbus apprises the sovereign in high spirits:
these people have no religion, neither are they idolaters, but they are a very gentle race, without the knowledge of any inequity. They have a knowledge that there is a God above, and are firmly persuaded that we have come from heaven. (130)
In the “Narrative of the Third Voyage (1498-1500)” He speaks of the “pear-like” structure which is tallest at the poles and flat towards the base, in contradistinction to Ptolemy’s view of the spherical symmetry of the earth. He seeks to confirm the work of “Our Lord” whose will was carried out by himself, the voyager, at the command of his monarch. He makes use of simple common-sense which has always known that the best way to tame an alien is to bring him under the linguistic baton:
[They may be brought to Spain] that they might acquire our language, and inform us what their country contained, besides becoming Christians and serving us at their return as interpreters. (131)
When taking the chain of motivational phrases used by the Spaniard one may discern an opportunistic, pragmatic, unscrupulous, domineering and inherently violent streak of the imperialist representative—“firmly persuaded,” “might acquire our language,” inform us,” “becoming Christians,” and “serving us as interpreters.” Despite the complacency of the sailor this tactic of communication demonstrates a communicative hiatus, as the unsuspecting Indian learner learns the new language unaware of his exploitation and consequent downfall.
Word as Weapon
The literary document of the voyager in its next stage (1498-1500) which is called the “Narrative of the Third Voyage” reveals the Spaniard as getting nearer his goal. His voyage, which he deems the mercy of his sovereign, has led him to many discoveries which provide him ample material to dispute the theories of icons like Ptolemy. He declares on the authority of his voyage and findings that the world or earth is not spherical as Ptolemy suggested but “pear-like,” highest at the North Pole.
No one had ever entered [the southern hemisphere] or gone in search of it until now when your Highness commanded me to explore and discover these seas and lands” (134)
The highly literate navigator replenishes the ears of his sovereign with an array of powerful content words to convey the success of his mission along with winning courtly favour.
Chieftain’s Sermon
When one looks at the aboriginal cultures that the Europeans are out to plunder, it must be remembered that theirs was no less complex a discourse or system of beliefs. The Zuni text of cosmogony called “The Talk Concerning the First Beginnings” is suggestive of a strong native culture despite being apocryphal. Andrew Wiget in “A Talk Concerning First Beginnings: Teaching Native American Oral Literature” speaks of a four-tier mythology and suggests a comparison with Genesis. The American anthropologist Ruth Bunzel too has given an exhaustive critique of Zuni myths and cosmogony. Bunzel reproduces the text of “Talk Concerning the First Beginnings” which is the Zuni equivalent of the Book of Genesis. The “Talk” as the name suggests is conversational in form, often verging on the colloquial, and it begins with the Sun Father sending his two sons to the dark hollow of the earth to demand his oblation. The inhabitants of the hollow live without light as the Sun has not shown his bounty. In the course of the journey the two figures bring out every creature to the world of light and warmth and they show their loyalty to the Sun Father. This long rambling tale is very repetitive, or it is rather a motivated tautology, to impress upon the hearer the key points in the theme. This is a feature of oral discourse which depends on tautology, parallelism and iteration for transmission. Typified refrains assume variations as the same speakers move to diverse surroundings. The two sons of Sun Father characteristically say everywhere in their mission,
Now after a little while when your sun father comes forth standing to his sacred place you will see him face to face. Do not close your eyes. (551-604)
Apart from this and regular vocatives actions too resemble structured mime, “They rose and carried their sacred objects with them” (551-604). Finally Zunis find their ‘centre’ when they come out of darkness into the light of the sun at a particular point on the earth after they have offered oblation.
Conclusion
The world-view of Zuni narrative suggests a simple faith contrasting with the fact-searching and mercenary motives of Columbus. Theirs is an indigenous faith which relates directly with Nature. The Spanish conquest deprives them of their riverine culture when they disclose the important trade routes to the guests. The names of rivers and towns are replaced by heavily Latinised names. New ports are created alongside with names like Rio del Sol, San Salvador, and Cabe del Isleo. Eventually the upper hand of the European language displaces the native languages, and consequently, the native cultures.
Works Cited
Lauter, Paul. Ed. Heath Anthology of American Literature: Volume A (7th edn) 2013 Print. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing.
Bunzel, Ruth. “Talk Concerning the First Beginnings” From 47th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1929-1930, Smithsonian Institute, Washington. P 549-605
Wiget, Andrew. “A Talk Concerning First Beginnings: Teaching Native American Oral Literature” Accessed March 7, 2016 at https://www.faculty.georgetown.edu/tamlit/Wiget
