ebooks Making the Town: Ga State and Society in Early Colonial Accra (Social History of Africa) by John Parker in History

Description

A tale of tragedy; catastrophe; and the triumph of the human spirit.In 1830 a Yamana Indian boy; Orundellico; was bought from his uncle in Tierra del Fuego for the price of a mother-of-pearl button. Renamed Jemmy Button; he was removed from his primitive nomadic existence; where life revolved around the hunt for food and the need for shelter; and taken halfway round the world to England; then at the height of the Industrial Revolution. He learned English and Christianity; met King William IV and Queen Adelaide; and made a strong impression on many of the major figures in Britain; eventually becoming a celebrity. Charles Darwin himself befriended the Fuegian and later wrote about their time together on The Beagle; voyaging back to the southern tip of South America. Their friendship influenced one of the most important and controversial works of the century; On the Origin of the Species.Upon his return to Tierra del Fuego; Jemmy found that life could never be the same for him there. The Beagle's captain deposited the young man on a lonely; windswept shore and charged him with the tasks of "civilizing" his people and bringing God to his homeland. At first ostracized and attacked by other Fuegians; Jemmy later became the target of zealous and ambitious missionaries. Thirty years after his return; a missionary schooner in Tierra del Fuego was attacked; with nearly everyone on board killed; and Button himself was accused of leading the massacre.Button's life story illustrates how the lofty ideals of imperialism often resulted in appalling consequences. Thoroughly researched and remarkably well written; this fascinating and poignant story is ultimately about survival; revenge; murder; and the destruction of a whole race of people; blurring the boundaries of civilization and savagery.