Explorers in Eden: Pueblo Indians and the Promised Land

5: Papa Franz’s Family

120฀ CHAPTER FIVE Papa Franz’s Family For฀Franz฀Boas,฀cultural฀relativism฀became฀a฀scholarly฀truth฀that฀assuaged฀ his฀ discomfort฀ as฀ a฀ Jew.฀ Born฀ in฀ 1858,฀ Boas฀ was฀ the฀ child฀ of฀ lapsed฀ Orthodox฀parents฀who,฀he฀subsequently฀wrote,฀“had฀broken฀through฀the฀ shackles฀of฀dogma.”฀Although฀his฀father,฀Boas฀recalled,฀“retained฀an฀emotional ฀affection฀for฀the฀ceremonial฀of฀his฀parental฀home,”฀he฀had฀not฀permitted ฀it฀“to฀influence฀his฀intellectual฀freedom.”฀This฀proved฀to฀be฀a฀blessing฀to฀ Franz,฀who฀appreciated฀being฀“spared฀the฀struggle฀against฀religious฀dogma฀ that฀besets฀the฀lives฀of฀so฀many฀young฀people.”฀Yet฀nothing฀had฀greater฀impact฀ upon฀his฀work฀as฀an฀anthropologist฀than฀his฀struggle฀with฀the฀consequences฀ of฀his฀Jewish฀identity.฀His฀egalitarian฀commitments,฀manifested฀as฀cultural฀ relativism,฀expressed฀his฀deepest฀yearning฀as฀an฀assimilated฀German฀Jew.1 Even฀for฀enlightened฀Jews฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀opportunities ฀in฀German฀universities฀were฀tightly฀restricted.฀Academic฀life฀was฀ infested฀with฀anti-Semitism,฀and฀Boas฀felt฀its฀sting.฀Indeed,฀his฀father฀advised฀ him฀not฀even฀to฀try฀to฀“improve฀the฀position฀of฀the฀Jews฀through฀your฀personal ฀intervention.”฀As฀a฀young฀man,฀Boas฀yearned฀to฀be฀free฀from฀Jewish฀ constraints,฀ even฀ as฀ he฀ struggled฀ to฀ belong฀ somewhere.฀ Leaving฀ Europe฀ for฀the฀first฀time฀in฀1882,฀he฀participated฀in฀a฀geographical฀survey฀expedition ฀to฀Alaska.฀There฀he฀encountered฀a฀“primitive”฀people฀who฀taught฀him฀ ฀ how฀civilized฀the฀“savages”฀really฀were.฀“The฀more฀I฀see฀of฀their฀customs,”฀ ฀ he฀ concluded,฀ the฀ more฀ evident฀ it฀ was฀“that฀ we฀ have฀ no฀ right฀ to฀ look฀ down฀upon฀them.”฀Indeed,฀he฀enthusiastically฀exclaimed,฀“I฀am฀now฀a฀true฀ 121฀ PAPA FRANZ’S FAMILY Eskimo.”฀From฀his฀Alaska฀encounters,฀Boas฀emerged฀with฀abiding฀tolerance฀ for฀human฀diversity.2 Amid฀the฀national฀chauvinism฀of฀the฀Bismarck฀era,฀Germany฀seemed฀ ever฀more฀menacing฀to฀Boas.฀Discouraged฀over฀his฀academic฀prospects,฀he฀ immigrated฀to฀the฀United฀States฀just฀before฀his฀thirtieth฀birthday฀to฀accept฀ an฀editorial฀position฀with฀a฀scientific฀journal.฀He฀would,฀he฀wrote,฀“give฀up฀ traditions฀and฀follow฀the฀path฀to฀truth.”฀As฀an฀immigrant฀Jew,฀however,฀Boas฀ never฀entirely฀left฀behind฀his฀formative฀years฀in฀Germany,฀or฀the฀painful฀antiSemitism ฀that฀he฀experienced฀there.฀They฀remained฀as฀much฀a฀part฀of฀him,฀ if฀less฀vividly฀displayed,฀as฀the฀dueling฀scars฀on฀his฀face.฀His฀pursuit฀of฀truth฀ invariably฀returned฀him฀to฀the฀enlightened฀precepts฀of฀nineteenth-century฀ European฀liberalism฀that฀were฀forged฀in฀the฀revolutionary฀struggles฀of฀1848:฀ liberty,฀reason,฀and฀tolerance.฀They฀guided฀his฀passionate฀commitment฀to฀ individual฀freedom,฀multiracial฀democracy,฀and฀cultural฀relativism,฀and฀his฀ “identification฀with฀all฀humanity฀and฀devotion฀to฀its฀progress.”3 Yet฀his฀intellectual฀commitments฀may฀have฀been฀less฀the฀product฀of฀disinterested ฀scientific฀inquiry,฀as฀Boas฀preferred฀to฀claim,฀than฀a฀deeply฀personal ฀conviction฀forged฀in฀his฀encounters฀with฀anti-Semitism.฀His฀passionate฀ embrace฀of฀Enlightenment฀ideals฀was฀attributable฀to,฀and฀inseparable฀from,฀ his฀experiences฀as฀a฀German฀Jew.฀With฀rejection฀of฀Judaism฀the฀most฀conspicuous ฀component฀of฀his฀Jewish฀identity,฀cultural฀relativism—the฀rejection ฀of฀evolutionary฀determinism—became฀his฀most฀salient฀intellectual฀trait.฀ His฀critique฀of฀racism฀and฀race฀theory,฀like฀his฀unwavering฀emphasis฀on฀the฀ common฀humanity฀of฀all฀people,฀was฀an฀implicit฀rebuke฀to฀the฀torments฀of฀ anti-Semitism฀that฀he฀had฀endured฀as฀a฀young฀man. In฀his฀adopted฀country,฀Boas฀was฀alerted฀to฀the฀“vanishing”฀Indian฀tribes฀ that฀had฀been฀decimated฀by฀Westward฀expansion.฀“It฀is฀only฀a฀question฀of฀ a฀few฀years,”฀he฀wrote,฀“when฀everything฀reminding฀us฀of฀America฀as฀it฀was฀ at฀the฀time฀of฀its฀discovery฀will฀have฀perished.”฀Only฀by฀intensive฀study฀of฀ these฀tribes,฀he฀insisted,฀could฀future฀generations฀satisfy฀their฀“urgent฀desire฀ to฀know฀the฀beginnings฀of฀the฀history฀of฀our฀country.”฀It฀had฀not฀taken฀long฀ for฀the฀United฀States฀to฀become฀“our฀country,”฀nor฀for฀Boas,฀for฀whom฀tradition ฀was฀otherwise฀highly฀suspect,฀to฀revere฀American฀national฀origins฀in฀ the฀pre-history฀of฀its฀native฀peoples.4 After฀brief฀stints฀at฀Clark฀University,฀the฀Field฀Museum฀of฀Natural฀History฀ in฀Chicago,฀and฀the฀American฀Museum฀of฀Natural฀History,฀Boas฀received฀an฀ appointment฀at฀Columbia,฀where฀he฀became฀professor฀of฀anthropology฀in฀ 122฀ CHAPTER FIVE 1899.฀Throughout฀his฀long฀and฀distinguished฀career,฀he฀would฀find฀justification฀ for฀the฀academic฀discipline฀of฀anthropology฀in฀his฀own฀experience฀as฀a฀German฀ Jewish฀immigrant.฀To฀escape฀the฀ghetto฀walls฀of฀tradition,฀culture฀must฀be฀ variable฀and...