"Civilized War"

There is a quote that Loewen uses taken from Jennings’ The Invasion of America that truly encompasses the attitude whites have for Native Americans when looking at history. He says, “Civilized war is the kind we fight against them, whereas savage war is the atrocious kind that they fight against us” (Loewen 115). In what context is war civilized? When, throughout history, has there ever been an instance of violence that can be described as enlightened or cultured? “Civilized war” must be one of the greatest paradoxes ever written. Loewen’s descriptions of the violence used by Europeans against the Natives are not at all of a civilized nature, in fact, the whites seem to have been more brutal than the American Indians were. The story of the English, the Pequots, and the Narragansetts provided a perfect example of this. English soldiers carried out an extermination of the Pequots so heartless that their rival tribe, the Narragensetts, cried out against such violence. Classrooms focus on the struggles and triumphs of the white “settlers” so much that we need to be reminded of how much suffering they inflicted on those who got between them and the dream of new land. Alexie also touches on this idea of civilized versus savage war. In his poem “Prayer Animals”, Alexie contrasts the man-made world with pure nature and confesses a fear of being hunted. The last line says, “My only question: Will the hunter use the rifle or his teeth?” (Alexie 84). Notice that there is no question of an attack, only of what form it will take. Violence against himself and his people has become something that Alexie expects. If contrasting civilized and savage warfare, the rifle would represent the former and teeth the latter. If Loewen had to choose which one he would use to describe the white-Indian wars over the centuries, there is no doubt that he would say the teeth.