Not intended to be an argument akin to angels on a pinhead, just an observation....
I expect them Seminoles, Cherokees etc would strongly contest, even today, that they ever "acted like White men"
I dunno that the Indians ever confused the implements with the culture. Mostly them Easterners didn't belong either, and worse, they could shoot good. Could track too, hence their frequent employment as scouts.
W/regards to that famous (and still funny) old 19th Century Plains sarcasm "Lo, the Poor Indian."
Turns it goes all the way back to 1734, Alexander Pope. He starts strong, gets fuzzy in the middle, but I like the way he closes with mentioning of the dog. I mean, most of us here would like to see our dogs in Heaven too.
Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutor'd mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind;
His soul proud Science never taught to stray
Far as the solar walk or milky way;
Yet simple Nature to his hope has giv'n,
Behind the cloud-topp'd hill, a humbler heav'n;
Some safer world in depth of woods embrac'd,
Some happier island in the wat'ry waste,
Where slaves once more their native land behold,
No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold!
To be, contents his natural desire;
He asks no angel's wing, no seraph's fire:
But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company. Mr Pope, sure had a way with words, check out some of his other quotes...
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alexanderp166681.html Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Birdwatcher
