Men of Life in a California Mission by Jean-Francois De La Perouse

Jean Francoise De La Perouse

'Life in a California Mission" by Francois de Laperouse

In the document "Life in a California Mission," navigator and explorer Jean Francois de Laperouse provided a European's insight into the lives of Native Americans during the 18th century. This period marked the influx of explorations in various regions and continents of the world by European explorers/colonizers. Known as the "Age of Discovery," 18th century was a period of discovering the unknown cultures, societies, and peoples that dominate the unexplored territories of the world. In "Life," Laperouse provided an account of his observations and judgment about the Native Americans, as his party set out to create a new colony in the northern territory which would be known as the "New World."

Laperouse's narrative offered an interesting viewpoint about the lives of the Natives of the Americas. Far from depicting the Natives as savages and devoid of any civilized lifestyle and industries, the French explorer reveled at the skill and culture of the Natives. In the following passage from his documents, Laperouse was quoted as saying the following about Americas' Natives:

Philosophers must lament to see that men, for no better reason than because they are in possession of firearms and bayonets, should have no regard for the rights of sixty thousand of their fellow creatures, and should consider as an object of conquest a land fertilised by the painful exertions of its inhabitants, and for many ages the tomb of their ancestors. These islands have fortunately been discovered at a period when religion no longer serves as a pretext for violence and rapine. Modern navigators have no other object in describing the manners of remote nations than that of completing the history of man; and the knowledge they endeavour to diffuse has for its sole aim to render the people they visit more happy, and to augment their means of subsistence

In this passage, Laperouse criticized his fellowmen on their wrong judgment about and their perceived superiority against the Natives. This insight from the explorer reflected the fact that he believed that exploration must be conducted solely for naval scholarship and science only. Implied in the passage was his disagreement on the practice of colonization and inevitably, forced conversion of the Natives to Christianity. Laperouse portrayed the missionaries as harmoniously living with the Natives and provided them with an alternative life in which they can still have the lifestyle and activities they used to do. However, as was earlier stated, missions were known ways that serve as 'pretexts to violence and rapine,' a front in which Europeans can exercise their perceived feeling of superiority to the Natives.