ALTHOUGH ( frendlye Reader) man by his disobedience, weare deprived of those good Gifts wher with he was indued in his creation, yet he was not berefte of wit to provyde for hym selfe, nor discretion to devise things necessarie for his use, except suche as appartayne to his soules healthe, as may be gathered by his savage nations, of whome this present worke intreateth. For although they have noe true knoledge of God nor of his holye worde and are destituted of all lerninge, Yet they passe us in many thinges, as in Sober feedinge and Dexteritye of witte, in makinge without any instrument of mettall thinges so neate and so fine, as a man would scarselye beleve the same.
The account I have chosen is from an English settler in the mid 1500’s. He was one of the earliest Englishmen to make a permanent settlement in America. He was one of 13 who attempted to make settlements in North Carolina. John White notes that the Native Americans that he came into contact with have had no form of education and experiences that he has yet they still manage to do the things and even do better in things like making things out of metal. Yet he still calls them a savage nation. It seems he would like to believe that these people are no more than animals yet he is willing to notice their actions as better than what he can do which is a contradiction, because no dog or cat can do the things that the native Americans are doing like making things out of metal.
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