Christopher Schipper
POR 204
October 30, 2013
Tupinambá:
The Victims of Intolerant Europeans
The movie Hans
Staden provides the viewers with an accurate account of Hans Staden's life
in 1553. By analyzing the events throughout his imprisonment by the Tupinambá
people, one is able to witness the original culture shock that is felt by
Staden. This exposure to the extreme difference in lifestyles can be paralleled
to what all Europeans experienced during their initial migration to
Brazil. Along with this, the events that
Staden lived through can be seen as a microcosmical foreshadow of the current
cultural unity that is alive in Brazil.
Despite the fact that Hans Staden did not participate in
or accept the religious practices of the Tupinambá, they accepted and respected
his beliefs. Although the native people were radical in their ritualistic
cannibalism of enemies, they were an open minded people. They were willing to
accept Staden's belief and even went as far as to incorporate his God into the
events of their lives. For instance, the Amerindians requested that Staden pray
to his God so that the seemingly endless rain would cease (Pereira). Adding to this, they did not
force their beliefs upon him. Although Staden was completely immersed in the
Tupinambá culture, they never forced him to pray to their deities or
participate in their religious ceremonies. This is contrary to the
stereotypical closed-mindedness of the Europeans at the time. They saw natives
as a naive people led astray that needed to be converted to Christianity.
Although the native people were violent towards their
enemies, they were very hospitable to their allies. As is seen in the movie,
the natives treated the French very highly and thought of them as an equal
people from a different culture (Pereira). The
French offered the Tupinambá and other Amerindians weapons and various other
European resources for barterting; The French were not hostile towards the
Tupinambá and thus they had no reason to be aggressive towards the French. These
people saw the French as allies[1]. The French thought of the
Tupinambá people as allies too ; however, it was not because they thought of
the natives as equals. The Europeans thought of themselves as better than the
natives because they viewed the natives as an underdeveloped people. On top of
this, the Europeans were frightened by the Amerindians' violence towards their
enemies and thus did not wish to develop a hostile relationship with them (Lecture by Dr. Gandara, 10-25-2013).
These examples of the native's cultural acceptance of the
Europeans foreshadows the future integration of the European and native people.
Because of the fact that this integration began in small villages like these
and eventually spread all over Brazil, it can be viewed as a microcosmical
foreshadowing. An interesting feature that was unique to the film was the scene
where Staden allows a runaway slave to escape and explains to him which path is
the safest path to take (Pereira). By
allowing the slave to escape, it reveals Staden's newfound appreciation for
freedom and his revelation that slavery is wrong. Although this scene never
occurred in actuality, it further broadens the microcosm to not only European
and Brazilian people, but to the Africans as well. These beginning steps to
accepting peoples of different races has led to what is now the cohesion of the
African, European, and Amerindian people throughout all of Brazil.
Another foreshadowing event that happens in Staden's
tales is the blending of religious practices. Although Staden did not respect
the beliefs of the Tupinambá, they respected his. On top of this, they
incorporated Staden's deity into their own religion because Staden convinced
them that their misfortunes were happening due to their intent to kill him.
Likewise, their fortunes came from Staden's happiness (Pereira). They became so concerned
with the power of the God that Staden worshipped that they did not only allow
him to pray to his God, they occasionally requested that he pray to his God. This
mixture of religion would soon sweep all of Brazil in different forms. Whether
it be an African religion mixed with Catholicism, a native religion mixed with
Catholicism, or a native religion mixed with an African religion, this example
of religious intermingling can be seen as a foreshadowing for what would soon
take place in the rest of Brazil.
Viewing the events that happened to Staden in 1553 from
an outside perspective is difficult. Without the proper knowledge of Brazil and
its developmental process, any views on this story will be one-sided. When
looked upon with no prior knowledge, the native people of Brazil may come
across as an uncivilized, violent people. In reality, they had been practicing
their cannibalistic ways long before any European influence was present in
Brazil. When the Europeans arrived, the natives were accepting of them;
however, the Europeans were not accepting of the natives due to their
differences. Another issue with viewing these events from an outside
perspective is that Hans Staden portrays himself as a completely innocent
figure. In truth, Staden had been a mercenary for the Portuguese people and
because of this he was an enemy to the Tupinambá people. Although the Tupinambá
were prepared to kill him due to his supposed Portuguese ancestry, who is to
say that a Staden would not have killed a native due to their Tupinambá descent?
Being a mercenary for the Portuguese, the chances are likely that he would have
killed a Tupinambá native if given the opportunity to do so. This is never
mentioned in the novel or the movie due to the fact that Staden had a
reputation in Europe at the time and did not want to be seen by his people as
someone who was on the same level as the natives in terms of nonsensical violence.
From my perspective, I see the clash of Staden's beliefs
and ethics with those of the Tupinambá people as a beautiful display of
cultural interaction. Although the native people did participate in horrifying
acts of cannibalism, they were very kind to their allies and were a people that
were willing to negotiate. On top of this, they were both accepting and
tolerant of outside religions and cultures. As is seen in the movie, although
reluctant, the natives were willing to give Staden to the French in exchange
for various weaponry (Pereira). Their
religious tolerance can be seen in their allowance of Staden's setting up of a
cross in their village even before they believed that his God was powerful
enough to protect him. Although he was reluctant to trust them, Staden
eventually joined the natives on hunting missions; however, he never fully
integrated into their society due to the fact that he was constantly on edge
because the natives could kill him at any given moment and eat him at their
next ceremony. Due to this lack of integration, Staden continued to
discriminate against the natives. However, history proves that the European
people eventually accept the natives and discrimination between the races comes
to be less accentuated.
Whether it be through their acceptance of outside
religions or their hospitality towards their allies, the open-mindedness of the
Amerindians can be seen in Hans Staden's telling of the events of his life in
1553. This openness acts as a microcosm that foreshadows what soon occurs
throughout Brazil: equalization of all ethnicities. Although his accounts do
not reveal anything in terms of the acceptance of Africans, the director of Hans Staden reveals to the viewer that
the Europeans eventually corrected their unjust practices of slavery through
his addition of a scene that did not occur in reality. As Michel de Montaigne, an influential French
writer during the sixteenth century, states: “Each
man calls barbarism whatever is not his own practice”[2].
Works
Cited
Gandara, Paula. "Class
Lecture for 10-25-2013." Irvin Hall, Oxford.
25 Oct. 2013. Lecture.
Hans Staden. Dir. Luís A. Pereira. Grupo Novo De Cinema & TV
(GNCTV) - Foreign Distribution Sales
Lapfilme Do Brasil and Jorge Neves Producoes Audiovisuais, 1999. Film.
Jáuregui, Carlos A.
"Project MUSE - Hans Staden's True History: An Account of Cannibal Captivity in Brazil." Project
MUSE - Hans Staden's True History: An Account of Cannibal Captivity in Brazil (review). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/lbr/summary/v047/47.1.jauregui.html>.
"Michel
De Montaigne." Goodreads.
Goodreads Inc, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17241.Michel_de_Montaigne>.
No comments:
Post a Comment