SOURCE: Vaughan, Alden T. “Early English Paradigms for New World Natives.” In Roots of American Racism: Essays on the Colonial Experience, pp. 34-54. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

In the following essay, Vaughan analyzes five of the most common paradigms the English used to describe Native Americans, ranging from viewing them as wildmen or even monsters to considering them one of the lost tribes of Israel.

Even before Christopher Columbus returned from his revolutionary voyage of 1492-93, he began to describe for European readers the people he had encountered on the other side of the world. At times he portrayed the Indians in some detail, generalizing, to be sure, but avoiding stereotypical images. At other times he resorted to descriptive shorthand, saving time and space by comparing the unknown inhabitants of America and their customs with images familiar to Europeans. The Indians' skin, for example, he likened to...