Difference Between Columbus And The Amerindians

In the Caribbean, prior to contact, aboriginals implanted certain meanings and values to pearls and pearl fisheries. Oysters provided food for many Caribbean aboriginal peoples. However, the pearls were sought because they were perceived as material items “infused with a spiritual brilliance.” According to Nicholas Saunders, an anthropologist, Amerindians perceived their world as infused with spiritual significance. Natural materials, such as pearls, feathers, shells, and minerals, were manifestations imbued with mythical forces. Pearls were valued for personal adornment and decorating temples but were not seen as extravagant prized objects, often being exchanged for small returns. This worldview affected the trade relations when Columbus and his men traded with Caribbean Amerindians, causing the Spanish to see Amerindian people as inferior. On April 17, 1492, Columbus entered into a contract with the Spanish monarchs in search of a new route to the East and pearls, valuable stones, gold, silver, spices and other goods. Although there is no record that …show more content…
Although it was incomprehensible for Europeans that Amerindians were so willing to trade pearls, gold, and silver for “commonplace items” like glass, the value that glass had for Amerindians was the “shiny-ness” which signalled its “nature as powerful cosmological matter.” Pearls and the items Amerindians traded them for were displayed “aesthetic brilliance” that emanated spiritual significance, making them interchangeable for Amerindians in the early contact period. Their willingness to exchange pearls for items that were seen as worthless to the Spanish was indicative of “their childlike foolishnessess and gullibility.” While oysters provided food, pearls were ornaments that could be easily exchanged for other items of more or equal value for