Educational Adventures Tour Guide: But Where Is the Education?
They call these tours for the youth “educational adventures”. I don’t understand why. Due to misunderstandings that were fabricated by the inauthentic design of these “tours” I, as a child, learned very little about the lives of those who first claimed land and began the Jamestown settlement. “Listen here, youngster,” began an old man dressed as if a blacksmith. “You can’t brandish that sword that you’re so willing to lay upon your friend,” said the old man with a glint in his eyes taking the very sword from my small eager hands. “We are not barbaric, nor will we resort to violence here at this settlement,” he scolded. Liar!
If there is one thing I’ve learned about the history of America, it is that settlers played a daring role to rid the Indians of their own land through raid. How little I had learned from that expedition to the original Jamestown Settlement. The characters were only too eager to direct 'youngsters' such as myself to the path towards the neighboring villages where the Indians resided. Public schooling had taught me that Indians and white settlers did not get along too well; therefore I was in a strange position as I remember thinking “do they want us to die? Why are they encouraging us?” Of course, I didn't realize at that time that they just wished for us to move along and explore the 'New World,' like those settlers on the fated day of May 14, 1607. The nearest Indian village was nearly twenty yards from the camp of the settlers, which confused me even more. “Enemies that close? What is going on?”
As I stepped closer with the rest of my group, I saw metal spikes glued together by cement in order to make tepee. More confusion loomed within the inner contents of my delicately growing brain. “Cement, eh? I thought it was clay...” Being so young, I actually believed that these false villages were made from sticks, stones, metal spikes and cement. Why would I be on this trip during school hours if this whole thing was a sham? I went along with it, taking detail as I thought that I could prove my teacher wrong when I told her what we, as a class, actually witnessed.
A blond headed woman was sitting calmly outside one of these tepees, knitting. I looked upon the woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. This was surely no Indian. Only once before had I seen a white person portrayed as an Indian, and that was in a movie called “Dances With Wolves”. But I was smart, and I knew that movies were merely fictional. This was the first successful settlement from England, so she can't be white! If she was from Europe, she would at least be Spanish or Portuguese because they were actually the first to reach this strange inhabited land. “You’re no Injun!” I said, immediately stereotyping her. “Yes, I am,” she replied coolly, setting down her yarn. “See little girl, I am wearing skins of animals to protect my body from the cold. Just like any regular Indian would do.” I furrowed my brow and touched the sock she was making with the strings of yarn. This too was very odd to me. Why do they need socks when they have no use for shoes?
“Injuns are naked,” I said. “Let’s see you naked. Are you browner in your skin color under the skins that you’re wearing? Aren’t Indians supposed to be brown?” I questioned. Eying me carefully, she put down her knitting and examined the group of tykes idly standing before her. All the children began to mutter amongst themselves, trying to patch together loose strands of information. “I am an Indian. Truly,” she said, affirming her stance. Some of us gasped. Our perception of this land was somehow wrong. Had our school failed us? Questions began to form within the baffled group. Screaming ensued once the children began to argue over eachother about the facts. Possibly feeling threatened, the Indian called over the Blacksmith who had taken away the sword I was playing with earlier. “Don’t call him over,” I told the woman. “He will kill your people. He is the enemy, isn’t he? Why are you so close with the enemy? Quick, run! He will take your land,” I cried as I attempted to help her. Seeing me amongst the frazzled young woman, the Blacksmith quickly took me by the arm and led me away from the group. I was surprised that he came after a fellow white instead of attacking this Indian.
Amid the confusion, the children walked away with ambiguous knowledge. Those that read the plaques bolted to the trees had little insight, but no new information beyond our prior knowledge. Unsure of what to believe, the children lost interest in the facts. To occupy the rest of our field trip time, the gift shop opened early due to the increase of student's apprehension to leave. This, unfortunately, became the ultimate attraction. Cork pop guns and tomahawks gratified the children, and all the misplaced information was forgotten. Only later in life did I realize that my speculations were correct. That man was not a real blacksmith, nor the blonde hair blue eyed woman a real Indian. What has happened to these so called “educational adventures”? Sure, they can be fun and entertaining, but are they entirely truthful? Perhaps seeing is not believing after all. The entirety of the trip was ruined by this false impression of how life was lived during the settlement of Jamestown. Even Disney suggested that there was conflict between Pochantas’ tribe compared to that of John Smith’s white settlement. What truth is hidden behind this false stage of reenactment when the production is meant as an attraction instead of an actual “educational adventure”? The entire student population did not care for the ships, the history, nor the common life of the Indians purely for the fact that it was incorrect. Arguments over the authenticity began to surface, which led to a depression that extinguished the excitement of meeting a “real Indian”. By allowing us to walk around and read small bronze plaques bolted to the trees, the children were deceived by this new creation of the Jamestown Settlement. As one of the children in the group of “educational adventurers,” I can tell you that most children are influenced when their imaginations come to life, not when their perceptions are skewed. No correct historical timeline was learned, nor any insight into the first successful settlement of the English in America. All that was gained was an extended recess where an Indian woman taught an old Blacksmith how to knit while children sat around the circle outside the tepee. If the original settlers and Indians would see this, would they be proud?
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