First contact (anthropology)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see First contact (disambiguation).
The Landing of Columbus, by Dióscoro Puebla

In anthropology, first contact is the first meeting of two communities previously without contact with one another.

Arawak in 1492; and the Aboriginal Australians with Europeans in 1788 when the First Fleet arrived in Sydney.[citation needed
]

Such contact is sometimes described as a "

Discoverer of the Americas.[citation needed
]

The fascination with first contact has gone through many transformations since the Age of Discovery, one of the earliest narratives being about contacting the Ten Lost Tribes and Prester John, and continues today as a trope in science fiction about extraterrestrial first contact, as well as being manifest in contemporary space exploration (for example the Pioneer plaque).[5]

Establishing contact with

FUNAI
.

Consequences

The

population densities have generally succumbed to the illnesses brought from the comparatively higher densities of Eurasian peoples. Indigenous populations simply did not have time to develop immunity to the foreign diseases, all of which were introduced at once, to which the more urbanised European populations had had many generations to develop some partial immunity.[7]

History

Long before contemporary

the other, fetishizing and objectifying contact and its place on the frontier drawing a long history of one-sided contact, until today with indigenous peoples and specifically uncontacted peoples.[5]

Notable examples

Numerous important instances of first contact have occurred without detailed contemporary recordings across Eurasia and Africa, including the 330 BC invasions of

Romano-Chinese relations in the 2nd century AD. However, well-established trade routes from prehistoric times meant that many of the cultures would have been aware of the other before they met.

Date Indigenous Name Exploring group Location Description of first contact
~1000 Beothuk Leif Erikson Vikings
L'Anse Aux Meadows, Vinland
(present-day Canada) 		Viking settlement was established at L'Anse Aux Meadows in approximately 1000 CE. The vikings referred to the indigenous people as Skræling, who were in actuality likely the proto-Beothuk, with whom they had contact. It is debated whether this contact was peaceful or violent. Archaeological estimates for the Norse population of L'Anse Aux Meadows range from 30 to 120 people.[10][11]
12 October 1492
Galibi and Ciboney
etc. 		Christopher Columbus Spanish Empire Bahamas and Cuba Violent, led to numerous deaths and enslavement of many indigenous inhabitants of the West Indies and their subjugation to extreme violence and brutality.[12]
21 July 1595 Polynesians Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira Spanish Empire Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia Initially friendly, but turning violent in the first encounter and leading to 200 local deaths in the first two weeks.[13]
19 December 1642 Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri Abel Tasman Dutch Tasman District, New Zealand Four Dutch killed, one Māori wounded, no other communication.[14]
21 January 1788
Cadigal and Bidjigal
etc. 		First Fleet Great Britain Sydney, Australia Friendly, reserved, one aborigine likely beaten.[15]
29 November 1791 Moriori
William R. Broughton
 Great Britain Chatham Island, New Zealand Shows of aggression by Moriori followed quickly by peaceful relations. Then a fight leading to the death of one Moriori.[16]
1930
Papuan people
 Mick Leahy Australian New Guinea Highlands, Papua New Guinea Friendly, some Highland people thought they were ancestors and attempted to rub off their white skins.[17]

See also

  • Cargo cult – New religious movement
  • Contact zone
  • Culture war – Conflict between cultural values
  • Outside Context Problem
     – 1996 Book by Iain M. Banks
  • Post-detection policy – code of conduct
  • Uncontacted peoples – Peoples living without sustained contact to the world community
  • First contact (science fiction) – Science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-921536-02-1
    .
  2. ISBN 978-1-935623-24-3
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-58834-479-3
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-534-56521-3
    .
  5. ^
    doi:10.25365/thesis.31693
    . Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. ^ Nuwer, Rachel (2014-08-04). "Future – Anthropology: The sad truth about uncontacted tribes". BBC. Retrieved 2015-07-24.
  7. doi:10.1007/s10814-013-9067-z
    .
  8. ISBN 9788883033063
    .
  9. ^ Baum, Wilhelm (1999). Die Verwandlungen des Mythos vom Reich des Priesterkönigs Johannes. Rom, Byzanz und die Christen des Orients im Mittelalter.
  10. ISBN 978-0-8223-5286-0
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-313-02189-3
    .
  12. ^ "Christopher Columbus: How The Explorer's Legend Grew– and Then Drew Fire". Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  13. ISBN 9780062060891
    .
  14. ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "2. – European discovery of New Zealand – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  15. ^ Derrincourt, Robin. "Camp Cove". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  16. ISBN 9780143771289
    .
  17. ^ Griffin, James, "Leahy, Michael James (Mick) (1901–1979)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2019-01-15
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