The Leeds Library has been buying the books its members have asked for since 1768. As a result, we have vast troves of texts from the last 250+ years; each a record of the interests of the people who requested them. When selecting books for our Myths and Legends exhibition, we found many Victorian and Edwardian books written by white British and American authors on the myths and legends of other cultures. During this period, colonialist systems like British Empire were large and well-established - as were the racist and colonialist attitudes it spread amongst the British and American people. The Leeds Library's books about the cultures and myths of non-white and indigenous peoples record not only the interest that the British public had in the cultures its government was colonizing but the attitudes they commonly held during the period.
We couldn't present The Leeds Library's copies of these books without discussing their colonialism and racism. So, instead, we will use them to explore the ways that white British and American societies thought of colonialism and the societies they colonized. There will be examples of racist and colonialist language and imagery throughout. We have balanced the focus of this exhibition between case studies of imperialist Victorian texts and information about the real peoples that the texts attempted to write about. The impact of colonial violence is still being felt by all of them - but they are still here, and so are their stories.
The British Empire at the turn of the Century
By the 1890s, the British colonial forces had seized control of around a quarter of Earth’s land surface and total population. When Queen Victoria died in 1901, Britain was on its way to conquering 20 new colonies in Africa; and by 1913, the British Empire ruled over 400 million people.
Britain relied upon its Empire's stolen resources for political power, trade dominance, and more. It was extremely lucrative for some British people - but it had to be supported by the majority if it was to be maintained. Colonies needed colonists to succeed, after all. Such a large imperialist project needed strong ideological backing, and by the 1890s the idea that white Western, Christian people were inherently superior was widespread amongst the British public.
An Imperial Culture: 'The Masai' by A.C. Hollis.
This delusion of superiority is clear in all of the books we will examine here - but it's most blunt in Hollis's 1905 book The Masai. It's not hard to guess why, given Hollis's personal history. In 1905, Alfred Hollis was Secretary to the British governor of the 'East Africa Protectorate' (British occupied Kenya) - and directly involved in the colonization of Maasai lands. He even had a hand in the arrangement of the EAP's 1904 'Masai [sic] Agreement', which attempted to move Maasai living in the fertile Rift Valley to other less fertile lands.
Hollis's book itself is a startlingly honest and chilling look into the mind of a British colonizer. In his preface he repeatedly discusses the approaching "extinction" of the Maasai, as if it's an inevitable truth and not a result of actions he and the EAP are taking. The idea that the titular cultures are 'dead' or historic relics is common throughout the books explored here - though acknowledgement of Britain and America's colonial role in killing them is far rarer.
Between 1907 and 1913, Hollis was appointed Secretary for Native Affairs. During this time, he stole and coerced heirlooms and belongings from the Maasai which he donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. He illustrated his book with drawings of some of these items, as can be seen here - presented like artifacts from Ancient Rome as opposed to objects still in use. In 2018, a group of Maasai representatives invited to the museum discovered that Hollis had incorrectly labelled most of the objects.
Hollis's most chilling statement comes as he concludes his book. After declaring himself "a well-wisher of the Masai [sic]", he states that:
"It has often been proved in other parts of the globe that the native, on the advent of the white man, alters his habits or ceases to exist, and it is to be hoped that the Masai (sic.) will choose the first of these alternatives" - A.C. Hollis
People Speaking Maa
'Masai' is a British Colonial misspelling of 'Maasai', which means 'people speaking Maa' - the language family for the Maasai's 14 diverse tribal groups!
This is a video of an Adamu filmed by Maasai the Maasai Lifestyle YouTube channel, which promotes their living culture and traditions. An Adamu a jumping contest done by Maasai men to prove their strength to potential partners. It was filmed in Ewanagan village, a community of Maasai in the Kenyan Maasai Mara national reserve who have opened their lives to visitors in the name of conservation and ecotourism.
According to the 2019 Kenyan census, the Maasai people number over 1 million today. Many modern Maasai follow the traditional nomadic lifestyle and claim grazing rights for their cattle in the nature reserves and national parks that were made from their ancestral homes. They are stewards of their environments, and move around the Great Rift Valley seasonally without disrupting wildlife. Despite this, the Tanzanian government has recently been attempting to illegally evict multiple groups of Maasai from their homes near national parks to make way for larger game reserves, popular with tourists.
Settling in: 'The Myths of the North American Indians' by Lewis Spence.
Lewis Spence was a Scottish scholar who wrote over 40 books on the myths of various cultures. His 1914 book on the myths of 'North American' Native Americans actually only covers legends from 4 of the 500+ Native American nations - but Spence wasn't directly involved in their oppression like Hollis was for the Maasai. Still, however, Spence's book highlights the way that support for colonialism and Western 'supremacy' was taught to the British public.
He begins his book with a 'full' "History of the Race", in which he calls the Native Americans "barbarians", "heraldric animal[s]", "childish", and "viciously cruel" in "war". Before this however, without a hint of irony, he chastises himself and the reader for viewing the Native American too harshly:
"In manhood we are [...] satiated with [the Native American's] constant recurrence in the tales of our youth, [and] are perhaps but too ready to hearken [...] accounts which picture him as a disreputable vagabond, living by petty theft or the manufacture of bead ornaments.”
With this lengthy sentence he reveals how British children are introduced to the concept of the Native American as a tool for their imagination and games, more akin to the "Faery" than a real people. Then he shows how this attitude is often shifted to suspicion and derision by adulthood, with an open ear to racist stereotypes. Spence does criticize this view - but the language he uses in the "History" that follows reveals how normalized this racism was.
Native American Nations
Today, there are over 5 million Native American people living in the US. There are 574 Native American and Native Alaskan Nations 'recognized' by the US Federal Government and yet more that aren't; 229 are in Alaska and the rest inhabit 35 other US states. Each is linguistically, ethnically, and culturally diverse - far more so than could be covered here! Spence claimed to have recorded the myths of the Algonquian, Iroquois, Pawnee, Lakota and "Northern and North Western" nations; all of which have unique and still living traditions which you can find out more about by clicking the nation's name above.
Native American peoples across the US still face economic, social, and criminal discrimination on interpersonal and institutional levels. Despite this, they have preserved their cultures and many of them continue to fight for their basic human rights and climate justice. An example of this work can be seen above, where Sequoia Crosswhite talks about his work preserving his Lakota cultural heritage. For more information about general Native American history and justice, see Native Circle - a resource written by Native Americans for those outside their cultures.
"Half devil and half child": Rev. John Batchelor's 'The Ainu and their Folk-Lore'
These deeply-ingrained prejudices can be seen even in books that proclaim support and sympathy for the cultures they write about - like John Batchelor's 1901 book on the Ainu. Batchelor was a Christian missionary who lived in Japan for 64 years, and in that time became a vocal advocate for Ainu culture. He wrote 10 books on them, including a full dictionary of their language, and publicly criticized Japan's discriminatory laws.
Nonetheless, his book reveals the same underlying sense of white Western superiority that Hollis and Spence share. In fact, Batchelor's strong Christian faith makes clear how this delusion of superiority interacted with more 'liberal' sects of white British and American people.
Batchelor begins his book by stating his goals for it: to encourage his readers to
"appreciate the good points of this strange race; and, above all, [... renew the reader's interest in] bringing them under the civilizing influence and saving grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" - Rev. John Batchelor
His motivations are clear. Batchelor doesn't threaten the Ainu with "extinction" as Hollis does - he appreciates Ainu culture for being "interesting". Instead, he wants what he thinks is best for them: British Christianity and Western 'civilization'. Batchelor doesn't view himself as a 'colonizer' of the Ainu, but a father whose duty is to guide his "uncivilized" children to what he as an 'adult' knows is best for them. He believes that he carries what Rudyard Kipling called 'The White Man's Burden' (1897): to carry "in heavy harness" the "half devil, half child" indigenous peoples towards "civilization".
The Ainu People
According to surveys by the Hokkaido government, there are more than 24,000 Ainu living in Japan today; mostly in their ancestral lands in Hokkaido. The Japanese government's assimilation policies in the 1900s mean that most Ainu live modern Japanese lifestyles. Very few of them are able to speak the Ainu-itak language fluently - UNESCO has declared it critically endangered. They face discrimination on a systematic and interpersonal level, and are greatly restricted from practicing traditional salmon fishing by Japanese authorization laws.
Despite this adversity, however, new generations of Ainu and those with Ainu ancestors have worked hard to increase preservation and awareness of their rich and unique culture. At least 20 conservation councils have been established in Hokkaido, dedicated to preserving the traditions that ekas and fuci (elder Ainu men and women) can pass down. In fact, a refurbished National Ainu Museum was opened in Shiraoi, Hokkaido in 2020! The Museum is a part of the three main facilities in Upopy ('singing in a large group' in Ainu-itak); the others are the National Ainu Park and a memorial site high on the east side of Lake Poroto (ポロト湖) where Ainu people hold services.
Decolonizing Culture
This exhibition was able to touch on but a fraction of the impact Western imperialism had on both its own peoples and the communities it colonized. There were a vast variance of attitudes towards imperialism during the period, as there are now - and even during the years that these books were published, critics of the Empire were vocal. Nonetheless, however, it was impossible to deny the presence of racism and colonialism in the Edwardian myths and legends books we found in The Leeds Library. And, since we are highlighting myths, it made sense to explore the myth of white supremacy that they all shared.
As the Library's 250+ years of existence proves, sharing stories has always been one of humanity's most valued practices. There is nothing better then being told a story by a master of the craft; which is why hearing myths and legends told by a member of the culture they originate from is so important. Despite the best efforts of racist imperialism, those people and their stories are still here - and they aren't going anywhere.
With Thanks To:
Exhibition: Anna Goodridge, Claire O’Brien, and Niimi Day Gough
Digital: Niimi Day Gough
Bibliography:
Images:
Wellcome Library, 'Cover: Seamen's Hospital booklet' (1900s - Attribution 4.0 International; CC BY 4.0), Ferrick, Pat, 'The British Empire' (2008), Mabel, Joe, 'Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow, Daybreak Star Cultural Center, Seattle, Washington' (2008), Blue, Fibonacci, 'Protest against Washington football team name' (2014). All other images courtesy of The Leeds Library.
Information:
Colonized Mythologies - Hollis, A.C., The Masai: Their Language and Folklore, Oxford: Oxford at the Clarendon Press (1905)/ Waller, Richard, The Maasai and the British 1895-1905. the Origins of an Alliance, in The Journal of African History 17, no. 4 (1976), pp. 529–53/ Koshy, Yohann, Hey, that's our stuff: Maasai tribespeople tackle Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum, in The Guardian Online (2018)/ Spence, Lewis, The Myths of the North American Indians, London: George G. Harap (1914)/ Curtin, Jeremiah, Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington (1890)/ Batchelor, Rev. John, The Ainu and their Folk-Lore, London: The Religious Tract Society (1901)/ Kipling, Rudyard, The White Man's Burden, Online: Poetry.com (2011)/ '"The Black Man's Burden": A Response to Kipling', in History Matters, Online: American Social History Productions (2016).
Cultural Resources - ‘The Maasai’, Online: The Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (2016)/ Braun, Dr. Sebastian, ‘The Indigenous World 2022: United States of America’, Online: The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (2022)/ ‘Native American Tribes by State 2023’, Online: World Population Review (2023)/ ‘Present-Day Ainu Culture’, Online: The Foundation for Ainu Culture (Undated)/ ‘Japan: Ainu’, Online: World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples (2018).
Credits:
Created with images by lucaar - "Rift valley" • Kzenon - "Massai family celebrating and dancing" • kat334 - "伝統のアイヌ民族"