The good native, another mental parasite

By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 13/04/2026

Guest columnist.
Share:     

By the 1500s, the same era in which Spain, England, Portugal, and other European nations were exploring the Americas, many still believed that the Garden of Eden existed somewhere in the world. Obviously, the novelty of the Americas led to this myth being transferred to this corner of the planet.

Michel de Montaigne, for example, asserted that Native Americans were noble beings, incapable of malice. According to him, envy and greed did not exist in this "earthly paradise." In contrast, Europeans had already been corrupted by the sins of ambition and power. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for his part, linked the myth of the noble savage with his condemnation of private property and business activities—the same narratives now used by proponents of the Wok movement.

Tired of all this irrationality, in 1853, Charles Dickens wrote *The Noble Savage*, a scathing and sarcastic critique of the romanticization that European intellectuals felt toward the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Dickens pointed out from the outset what, even to this day, most of the Western intellectual and social elite refuses to acknowledge: that there was nothing innocent about the native peoples of the Americas.

In contrast to the myth of the noble savage, Christina Snyder, in her book: 𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 Earl America explains that North American tribes practiced slavery many years before the arrival of Europeans. In fact, Powhatan, Pocahontas's father, helped the English subjugate other tribes, especially those that were their enemies.

Similarly, historical research has shown that Hernán Cortés was able to subdue the Aztecs because he had the support of the tribes who suffered under Moctezuma's abuses and cruelties. It wasn't an army of 400 Spaniards, but a military force comprised of thousands of people seeking freedom.

Although the human sacrifices ordered by Moctezuma were denied by the panegyrists of indigenism, the discovery of the tower of skulls in Mexico City, many of them of children, is irrefutable evidence of the cruelties to which thousands of human beings were subjected.

In the south of the continent, the Araucanians practiced polygamy. A man's wives were practically his property, not unlike farm animals. Incest was common, with all the consequences that entails, such as congenital diseases.

In the areas dominated by the Incas, the Capacocha was practiced, a child sacrifice offered to the gods in the name of abundance. The children were gathered from different parts of the empire, even from the Amazon rainforest of present-day Bolivia, to be sacrificed in the high Andean plateau. In many cases, parents gave up their children as a way to pay the excessive tributes imposed by the rulers based in Cusco.

All of the above are just a few facts that debunk the fictions of indigenism. In any case, I recommend two books: Imaginary Peoples by Cristian Rodrigo Iturralde, and Mental Parasites by Axel Kaiser. Both works will help deepen understanding and, especially, help dispel woke myths about Indigenous peoples of the Americas.

If there is one conclusion to be drawn from these cases, it is that, as Dickens asserted, European colonization was the best thing that could have happened to the indigenous populations of the Americas. In fact, Queen Isabella I of Castile made a number of efforts to protect the indigenous peoples. Along the same lines, Friar Antonio de Montesinos initiated the movement for indigenous human rights as early as 1511, leading to several royal decrees such as the Laws of Burgos in 1512 and the Laws of Valladolid in 1513. For the first time, the indigenous peoples of the Americas came into contact with civilization and the respect for life.

So why does the myth of the noble savage still persist?

Because it serves to generate conflict and destabilize democratic systems. It's not about defending anyone, but about plunging countries into bloodshed to seize power; a clear example of this is my native Bolivia.

«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».