In the collection of essays presented in Civilizing the Wilderness, A. A. den Otter examines the contrasting perspectives on the definition of “civilization” and “wilderness”, in relations to Canada, throughout history. “Civilization as a term dates back to the mid-eighteenth century” (Otter 2012, xiii) and “most writers perceived the concepts of civilization and wilderness as opposing poles” (Otter 2012, xii) and as such defines each other. “There is no perception to wilderness that does not take its meaning from whatever we believe civilization to be” (Otter 2012, xii) and for the Europeans civilization “encompassed literate knowledge, formal education, advanced science and technology, as well as arts and literature” (Otter 2012, xiii).
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Just like the “wilderness”, the Aboriginal people were seen as “uncivilized, partly because they lacked European social skills (civilité)” (Otter 2012, 3), thus initially they “were ignored, largely because they were viewed as marginal characters who would eventually disappear” (Otter 2012,27) as the European power grew superior. This was mostly due to Susanna Moodie, an English-born Canadian author, who “admired the craftsmanship and knowledge of herbal medicines of the Indigenous peoples as well as their integrity and bravery, their kindness, their love for their children, and their good sense of humour” (Otter 2012, …show more content…
William Mason, described by his supervisor, as being too English and as a result he found it very difficult to adjust to his surroundings, always describing his environment negatively. In an attempt to evangelize and civilize the Aboriginals he created a day and night school. While he disdain his surrounding environment, he pitied the Indigenous people and stated, “‘I find them a simple hearted and obliging race, honest and sincere, ignorant and poor in the greatest extreme it is true, yet ripe for the gospel’” (Otter 2012, 37). In addition to this he believed them to be “savage and condemned, heathens in need of redemption and regeneration” (Otter 2012, 44) only becoming positive when he declared that “civilization was winning the battle against the wilderness…[when describing] … Christmas and New Year’s festivities” (Otter 2012, 46) in Rossville, Norway House. Contrasting to William Masons view, Robert Rundle saw the environment differently and “instead of shunning wilderness as a hostile space that needed to be conquered, [he] revelled in it; instead of deploring the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Native Americans, he accepted it” (Otter 2012, 49). Unlike Mason who saw the Aboriginal inhabitants as primitive, Rundle “envisioned a noble savage, mistaken
Just like the “wilderness”, the Aboriginal people were seen as “uncivilized, partly because they lacked European social skills (civilité)” (Otter 2012, 3), thus initially they “were ignored, largely because they were viewed as marginal characters who would eventually disappear” (Otter 2012,27) as the European power grew superior. This was mostly due to Susanna Moodie, an English-born Canadian author, who “admired the craftsmanship and knowledge of herbal medicines of the Indigenous peoples as well as their integrity and bravery, their kindness, their love for their children, and their good sense of humour” (Otter 2012, …show more content…
William Mason, described by his supervisor, as being too English and as a result he found it very difficult to adjust to his surroundings, always describing his environment negatively. In an attempt to evangelize and civilize the Aboriginals he created a day and night school. While he disdain his surrounding environment, he pitied the Indigenous people and stated, “‘I find them a simple hearted and obliging race, honest and sincere, ignorant and poor in the greatest extreme it is true, yet ripe for the gospel’” (Otter 2012, 37). In addition to this he believed them to be “savage and condemned, heathens in need of redemption and regeneration” (Otter 2012, 44) only becoming positive when he declared that “civilization was winning the battle against the wilderness…[when describing] … Christmas and New Year’s festivities” (Otter 2012, 46) in Rossville, Norway House. Contrasting to William Masons view, Robert Rundle saw the environment differently and “instead of shunning wilderness as a hostile space that needed to be conquered, [he] revelled in it; instead of deploring the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Native Americans, he accepted it” (Otter 2012, 49). Unlike Mason who saw the Aboriginal inhabitants as primitive, Rundle “envisioned a noble savage, mistaken