Questions for “Red Eyes” Chapter Excerpt from “Lies My Teacher Told Me” by James W.

Loewen (1994)

Your name HERE: 33/44 marks

Instructions: Read the chapter carefully. Choose the best answer for each question.
Highlight your chosen answer. Once complete, submit this document in the drop box.

From Page 1

1. Which of the following is an improvement regarding the portrayal of native people

in history textbooks the author identifies in the opening paragraph?
a) no longer were Native Americans depicted as one-dimensional primitives
b) by 1987 text books were no longer using such terms as half-breed, massacre, and
war-whooping
c) textbooks no longer used terms such as frontier initiative and settlers for whites
d) textbook authors no longer write history to comfort descendants of the "settlers."

2. Each of the following is a reason the author is critical of textbooks’ taking an

“authoritative tone”, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) the fields of study that relate to the history of American Indian societies are alive
with controversy
b) the authors of history textbooks treat archaeology etc. as dead disciplines to be
mined for answers
c) most textbooks admit uncertainty regarding the accuracy of information
d) The authors of history textbooks are consumers, not practitioners, of archaeology, ethnobotany, linguistics, physical
anthropology, folklore studies, cultural anthropology, ethnohistory, and other related disciplines

3. According to the passage, which of the following is actually true of a “Beringia” crossing?
a) those who made the crossing were “wanderers" who "moved slowly southward and to the east. . . . Many thousand years passed
before they had spread over all of North and South America”
b) they did not know that they were exploring a new continent
c) the original settlers came in successive waves over thousands of years
d) the evidence of a “Beringia” crossing is slim

4. According to the passage, which of the following is true of "affluent primitive" theory?
a) it was an archetype of the primitive savage, not very bright, enmeshed in wars with nature and other humans
b) it persuaded anthropology some twenty-five years ago that gatherer-hunters lived quite comfortably
c) it explains why none of the groups made much progress in developing simple machines or substituting mechanical or even animal
power for their own muscle power
d) it explains why those who planted seeds and cultivated the land instead of merely hunting and gathering food were more secure
and comfortable

page 2

5. According to the passage, each of the following is a problematic feature of the use and definition of the term “civilised”,
EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) at least one text book equates civilization with wealth
b) most anthropologists would agree that Hitler’s Third Reich was civilised
c) “refined or enlightened" is the only definition that anthropologists defend
d) ironically, societies characterized by a complex division of labor are often marked by inequality and capable of supporting large
specialized armies
6. What is syncretism?
a) blending elements of two different cultures to create something new
b) thoughtless use of the "etherizing" terms that block any real inquiry into the world-view or social structure of the "uncivilized"
person or society
c) operating under a military and cultural threat
d) the idea that "civilized" societies are likely to resort to savage violence in their attempts to conquer "primitive" societies.'

Page 3

7. Each of the following is a change that took place in native behaviours “to deal with the new threat” and because whites
"demanded institutions reflective of their own with which to relate," EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) Chiefs acquired power they had never had before
b) The tribes also became more male-dominated
c) Suddenly some nations had a great military advantage over others
d) tribes often fought to the finish and took over the lands belonging to other nations

8. According to the passage, each of the following is true of Indian slavery, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) few Indians were enslaved
b) Some Native Americans had enslaved each other long before Europeans arrived
c) Europeans vastly expanded Indian slavery
d) the twelve textbooks are silent on the subject of the Native American slave trade

9. Which of the following best relates to the term “cultural imperialism”?

a) Europeans became less dependent upon Indians and Indian technology
b) an invading culture told the Massachuset tribe their religion was wrong and Christianity was right
c) Plains Indians combined horses and guns from the Spanish with Native religion, and hunting styles
d) the process of incorporation into the global economy

page 4

10. Each of the following accurately reflects how or why the author criticises the use of the term “frontier”, EXCEPT ONE. Which
one is it?
a) “frontier” hardly does justice to this process, for it implies a line or boundary. Contact, not separation, was the rule
b) Calling the area beyond secure European control "frontier" or "wilderness" makes it subtly alien
c) Such a viewpoint is intrinsically Eurocentric and marginalizes the actions of nonurban people, both Native and non-Native
d) Our history textbooks celebrate the interracial, multicultural nature of frontier life

11. Which of the following details helps support the claim that the Europeans were afraid of their own people choosing to live
with the natives?
a) The Pilgrims so feared Indianization that they made it a crime for men to wear long hair
b) People who did run away to the Indians might expect very extreme punishments, even up to the death penalty, if caught by
whites
c) Hernando De Soto had to post guards to keep his men and women from defecting to Native societies
d) all of the above

12. How many of the American history textbooks surveyed by the author mention the attraction of Native societies to European
Americans and African Americans, or that African Americans frequently fled to Indian societies to escape bondage?
a) 12
b) 8
c) 4
d) 0
13. Each of the following is an aspect of native culture that non-natives found very alluring, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) the rigid hierarchy in the Native societies in the eastern United States attracted the admiration of European observers
b) most Indian societies north of Mexico were much more democratic than Spain, France, or even England in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries
c) Women were also accorded more status and power in most Native societies than in white societies of the time, which white
women noted with envy in captivity narratives
d) Frontiersmen were taken with the extent to which Native Americans enjoyed freedom as individuals

page 5

14. Each of the following is a reason why “Native American ideas may be partly responsible for our democratic institutions,”
EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) Through 150 years of colonial contact, the Iroquois League stood before the colonies as an object lesson in how to govern a large
domain democratically
b) heredity played a major role in office-holding in many Indian societies
c) In the 1740s the Iroquois suggested that the colonies form a union similar to the league
d) the Albany Plan of Union was a forerunner of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution

page 6

16. Each of the following is an example of native contributions to the modern world that are left out of textbooks, EXCEPT ONE.
Which one is it?
a) Historians have known for centuries that Indians of the Americas domesticated more than half of the food crops now grown
around the world
b) regional cuisines—the dishes that make American food distinctive—often combine Indian with European and African elements
c) Franklin's Albany Plan might have been inspired by the Iroquois League
d) the natives’ skill as healers

page 7

17. Why does the author describe the beliefs of Christians this way: “These Americans believed that one great male god ruled the
world. Sometimes they divided him into three parts, which they called father, son, and holy ghost. They ate crackers and wine or
grape juice, believing that they were eating the son's body and drinking his blood. If they believed strongly enough, they would
live on forever after they died.”
a) to show Christianity as the sophisticated theology of a higher civilization
b) to demonstrate how history textbooks typically portray Christianity
c) to demonstrate how absurd and unfair text book treatment of native religion is
d) all of the above

18. Each of the following is related to the views of anthropologist Frederick Turner, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) He emphasized Native Americans such as Squanto and Pocahontas, who sided with the invaders
b) he said “ours is a shockingly dead view of creation”
c) his work implies that taking Native American religions seriously might require re-examination of the Judeo-Christian tradition
d) he said “we ourselves are the only things in the universe to which we grant an authentic vitality, and because of this we are not
fully alive”

19. On page 7, what it is exactly that is described as “ordinary” in reference to relations between the natives and whites?
a) attacks by natives upon white settlers
b) whites failing to understand the values of the natives

c) frontier-dwelling whites brutally and attacking and raping peaceful natives

d) The United States Department of Interior trying to give each tribe both land and money
20. Quote from page 7: “The American Pageant offers a table of "Total Costs and Number of Battle Deaths of Major U.S. Wars"
that completely omits Indian wars!” Each of the following is a reason the quote is ironic, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) textbooks no longer blame the Natives for all the violence, as did most textbooks written be fore the civil rights movement
b) For almost two hundred years, almost continuous warfare raged on the American continent, its conflict more threatening than
any the nation was to face again
c) Indian warfare absorbed 80 percent of the entire federal budget during George Washington's administration and dogged his
successors for a century as a major issue and expense
d) Pageant includes the Spanish-American War, according it a toll of 385 battle deaths, but leaves out the Ohio War of 1790-95,
which cost 630 dead and missing U.S. troops in a single battle, the Battle of Wabash River.

Page 8

21. According to the passage, which of the following details regarding wars between the Europeans and the natives is true?
a) the conquest of American Indians is now taken seriously in our text books.
b) marauding Indian bands regularly spread murder and mayhem among terror-stricken settlers
c) wagon trains were invariably encircled by savage Indian hordes
d) Natives considered European warfare far more savage than their own

22. According to the passage, each of the following is true of the Pequot War of 1636-37, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) the Pequot village’s inhabitants were mostly women, children, and old men,
b) the British set it on fire and shot those who tried to escape the flames
c) the British had wanted merely to subjugate the Pequots, not exterminate them
d) it was New England’s first Indian war

23. According to the passage, each of the following is true of King Philip's War, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) it cost more American lives in absolute terms than the French and Indian War, the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War,
or the Spanish-American War
b) In proportion to population, casualties were greater than in any other American war
c) five of the twelve books surveyed leave out King Philip's War entirely. Most others give it half a paragraph
d) the name, King Philip's War, is a reference to the King of England at the time

24. Which of the following is true of territory maps of this time, according to the passage?
a) high school textbook maps often make no mention of Indians at all
b) high school textbooks maps sometimes refer to Indian lands as “disputed territories”
c) the map from the university text book reveals the function of Indians as buffers between the colonial powers
d) all of the above

page 9

25. According to the passage, each of the following is true of the French and Indian War, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) it was part of a world war known as the War of the Austrian Succession (1744-48)
b) in describing the French and Indian War, textbooks leave out the Indians
c) it was fought in North America mostly by Native Americans on both sides
d) it involved one of the worst defeats Indians ever inflicted on white forces

26. According to the passage, each of the following is true of the American Revolution, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) Native Americans were the first cause of the American Revolution
b) After hostilities with Britain broke out, the United Colonies in 1775 sent Benjamin Franklin first to the Iroquois, then to France
c) the colonists saw themselves as paying to support a British army that only obstructed them from seizing Indian lands on the
western frontier
d) the Proclamation of 1763 enraged Native American nations by forbidding the colonies from making land grants beyond the
Appalachian continental divide
27. Why did larger groups of natives tend to align against the colonies (which later became the United States)?
a) they correctly perceived that, for geopolitical reasons, opponents of the United States offered them better chances of being
accorded human rights and retaining their land
b) because of the massacre at Wounded Knee
c) because the red-coated British soldiers were unaccustomed to fighting in the wilderness
d) because the fledgling United Colonies in 1775 sent Benjamin Franklin first to the Iroquois, then to France

page 10

28. Which of the following is true of the Dutch purchase of Manhattan for $24 worth of trade goods?
a) Native Americans held some premodern understanding of land ownership
b) the Dutch paid the wrong tribe for Manhattan
c) the Indians did not to recognize the potential of the island
d) all of the above

29. Which of the following is true of the United States’ purchase of Louisiana from France?
a) it was not France's land to sell, it was Indian land
b) most Native Americans never even knew of the sale
c) France merely sold its claim to the territory
d) all of the above

30. According to the passage, what land was the most important cause of the War of 1812?
a) Spanish land (Florida)
b) British land (Canada)
c) Indian land
d) all of the above

31. According to the passage, what was “the key outcome” of the War of 1812?
a) it helped Americans to win European respect-
b) the composing of the "Star Spangled Banner"-
c) in return for our leaving Canada alone, Great Britain gave up its alliances with Indian nations in what would become the United
States
d) the American people began the exciting task of occupying the western lands

page 11

32. According to the passage, why did the image of the natives deteriorate in the minds of many whites?
a) because the Americans no longer needed them as conflict partners
b) because the Natives were "slothful and idle, viscous, melancholy, [and] slovenly”
c) because Indian dispossession has molded the American character
d) all of the above

33. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

a) until 1815 the word natives had generally been used to refer to Native Americans; after 1815 it meant European Americans
b) until 1815 the word Americans had generally been used to refer to European Americans, after 1815 it meant Native Americans
c) until 1815 the word Americans had generally been used to refer to Native Americans; after 1815 it meant European Americans
d) none of the above

34. Which of the following quotes from the passage best illustrates what “cognitive dissonance” is?
a) Gradually we sought American hegemony over Mexico, the Philippines, much of the Caribbean basin, and, indirectly, over other
nations.
b) Our blinding prejudices . . . have been fostered as necessary to justify the reckless and unsparing hand with which we have
smitten [the Indians] in their habitations and expelled them from their country
c) Britain exterminated the Tasmanian aborigines
d) Germany pursued total war against the Herrero of Namibia

35. Who “admired our concentration camps for Indians in the west, and often praised to his inner circle the efficiency of
America's extermination—by starvation and uneven combat"?
a) Adolf Hitler
b) Edward Carr
c) Gordon Craig
d) none of the above

36. Which of the following factors made peaceful coexistence between the Natives and whites less possible?
a) that Indians were not citizens of the Europeans' state and lacked legal rights
b) Even in Indian Territory, supposedly under Native control, whether Indians were charged with offenses on white land or whites on
Indian land, trial had to be held in a white court in Missouri, miles away
c) A thousand little encroachments eventually made it impossible for Indians to farm near whiles
d) all of the above

37. According to the passage, each of the following is an example of “triracial isolates”, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) the Seminoles in Florida
b) the Lumbee Indians in North Carolina
c) The first British settlement in North America, Roanoke Island
d) the Wampanoags in Massachusetts

page 12

38. According to the passage, each of the following is true of intermarriage policies, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) Indians in the United States repeatedly suggested an intermarriage policy
b) French fur traders married Native women in Canada and Illinois and converted to Native ways
c) Spanish men married Native women in California and New Mexico and converted them to Spanish ways
d) most interracial couples found greater acceptance in British society

39. According to the passage, each of the following is a “possibility” that “our textbooks pay no attention to”, EXCEPT ONE.
Which one is it?
a) In the 1840s Indian Territory sought the right enjoyed by other territories to send representatives to Congress, but white
Southerners stopped them
b) The Confederacy won the backing of most Native Americans in Indian Territory by promising to admit the territory as a state if the
South won the Civil War
c) total one-way acculturation of natives to white society
d) In 1778, when the Delaware Indians proposed that Native Americans be admitted to the union as a separate state, Congress
refused even to consider the idea

40. According to the passage, what is “the overall story line in contemporary American history textbooks about Indians”?
a) They denounce Native cultures as primitive, savage, and nomadic
b) We tried to Europeanize them; they wouldn't or couldn't do it; so we dispossessed them
c) they invoke the hand or blessings of God, said to favor those who "did more" with the land.
d) Native Americans stood in the way of progress
41. According to the passage, each of the following is evidence that whites would not let the Native acculturate, EXCEPT ONE.
Which one is it?
a) Native Americans who amassed property, owned European style homes, perhaps operated sawmills, merely became the first
targets of white thugs who coveted their land and improvements
b) a visitor catching sight of a Mississippi farm in 1820 would have had no way of knowing whether it was European or Choctaw until
the farmers themselves came into view
c) During the French and Indian War the Susquehannas, living peaceably in white towns; were hatcheted by their neighbors, who
then collected bounties from authorities who weren't careful whose scalp they were paying for, so long as it was Indian
d) the Massachusetts legislature in 1789 passed a law prohibiting teaching Native Americans how to read and write "under penalty
of death."-

Page 13

42. Which of the following is an example of irony from page 13 of the passage?
a) American History admits that the Ohio Indians were farmers, but forty pages later, when trying to rationalize the Indians' removal,
it states: "They tried to get Indians to settle down on farms and become 'good Americans.'"
b) Most of the textbooks acknowledge the acculturation achieved by the Indians of the Southeast, the "Five Civilized Tribes," and
point out that the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole nations were exiled to Oklahoma anyway
c) to Native eyes, Europeans were nomads
d) all of the above

43. According to the passage, what is it that “imposes a burden that history cannot bear without becoming simple-minded”?
a) writing history in such a way that students can feel good about themselves
b) casting Indian history as a tragedy because Native Americans could not or would not acculturate
c) telling Indian history as a parade of white villains
d) minimizing the Indian wars, not maximizing them

44. According to the passage, each of the following is an example of a white person whose opposition to government policies
towards Indians is covered in some textbooks, EXCEPT ONE. Which one is it?
a) Roger Williams of Salem
b) Helen Hunt Jackson
c) Chief Justice Marshall
d) President Jackson

page 14

45. According to the passage, how might the United States recognize Native American societies as cultural assets from which we
could continue to learn?
a) by helping them to get good jobs, buy new vehicles and satellite televisions, and commute to the city for part of their life
b) by encouraging Native American medical practitioners to abandon their traditional ways to embrace pasteurization from France
and antibiotics from England
c) by knowing the extent to which Indian ideas have shaped American culture
d) by embracing the pious ethnocentrism of American exceptionalism