The growth of attitudes, values and perceptions.
While a lot of the things that occurred in the different countries that experienced the influx of the emigrants from various countries, I believe that the scene in most of those countries had a lot in common. There was a problem of communication, as the emigrants came from different countries and would, quite naturally continue to communicate in the language of their country of origin. South Africa would, in the very early stages, mainly have received people who spoke English and Dutch, while the USA would have a number of languages, also including English, but adding a number of the other European countries. North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, India – the list is quite long, but the common denominator was the lack of a common medium.
What did all this mean? Merely introducing another language would not be the only change brought about by this universal migration/emigration. Religions, traditions, values – the list goes on, but there is one common denominator – communication in the early stages of the great international migration (spread over many years), was not easy. Perceptions of ‘them and us’, based on the experiences and observations of the earliest settlers on the one hand, and indigenous people on the other, must have been very complicated. One can only imagine the misconceptions experienced by either side, when the other, by signs and sounds, tried to communicate. A finger being pointed at one or other object could well have been seen as a threat, or even an insult. Truly not a situation that bode well for future contacts.
I wonder if it was at this stage that the perceptions of the immigrants, or settlers, by the indigenous people began to show the gulf between them. Clearly there was no common language, but the attitudes and actions of the settlers might well have set the scene for a complex relationship. How did each group perceive the other? I would have loved to be present at the discussions of either group (clearly, I would not have been able to understand what was being said), but have observed the non-verbal signals ranging from fear to curiosity. As humans, we very often deduce more from what we see than from what we hear, and as we are evaluating whatever is seen or heard, is interpreted by our own values, standards and perceptions.
Our world today, looking primarily at those countries where there was an influx of people from countries that had ‘progressed’ to the written word, and where history was recorded, it seems to have almost relegated the indigenous people to a lower ‘class’ or level in every case. The indigenous people invariably had no written word, although rock paintings may well have meant something to the people at that time – setting out a warning, or a message. Could it be that this situation caused the settlers from abroad to develop an attitude of superiority, an attitude which has remained with us over the years? The lack of a ‘common’ language’, different views and opinions, and the inability to communicate may well have contributed to the gulf that developed between the ‘settlers’ and the ‘settled’?
Colour, language, customs, all contributed to the developing situation as more and more settlers arrived, and it was very unlikely that any of them spoke or understood the people they encountered. The fact that some of these encounters were of a violent nature did not help to build good relationships between the different groups, and had a significant impact on the relationships, perceptions and values that developed. How did these influence the relationships in the future? More on this topic in the next blog.