Summary Of Jerold Auerbach's Explorers Of Eden

In Explorers of Eden by Jerold Auerbach, he writes about Charles F. Lummis, a author and adventurer. In the book it’s written that, “In Tesuque Pueblo, he [Lummis] encountered Indians who, he conceded, were “intelligent, rather neat, and industrious after their own funny fashion.” Especially in comparison with the Navajos, who were “still savages,” Pueblo Indians were “cleanly (for Indians), honest, hospitable, and chaste”—in a word, “civilized.” By the time he reached Isleta Pueblo, he conceded that they were “peaceful, well-to-do, happy farmers,” who live in a “quiet town” as “members of the church.” (page 53). Lummis, like many other Western explorers and anthropologist believed that Pueblos were ‘civilized’ and Navajos as well as other nomadic tribes were ‘uncivilized’. Why was this so? What characteristics made the Pueblo more civilized than the nomadic tribes? In what way did this affect both groups of people?

There were photographers who were respectful and those who were not. What effect did photographers like George Wharton James who, “behaved like an avaricious Easterner. He bullied and bribed Indians for pictures, intruded (much like Matilda Stevenson) into sacred kivas, and plundered Pueblo artifacts while collecting and selling Indian crafts and religious objects. (Whenever he acquired any sacred or ceremonial artifact, he conceded, ‘it was always at night, and secretly.’)” have on the indigenous Southwest communities? (page 77). Did he compromise other relationships with tribes and more ethical photographers? Does this better explain tribes wariness to