German Indianthusiasm and Settler Colonialism: Pernicious Continuities

The figure of the “Indian” upholds and perpetuates U.S. settler colonialism in ways not confined within U.S. borders. Instead, fascination with “Indians” has been a global phenomenon that can help us better understand the movement of settler colonial ideologies. Regarding the specific relationship between the “Indian” and Germany, scholars have argued that the fascination and love for all things “Indian”, or German Indianthusiasm, allows Germans to situate themselves alongside the victims of history rather than perpetrators specifically in regard to the Holocaust (Hartmut Lutz 2006). However, little attention has been given to how German Indianthusiasm connects with German settler colonialism in German South West Africa (DSWA). “German Indianthusiasm and Settler Colonialism: Pernicious Continuities” situates U.S. settler colonialism and German settler colonialism in DSWA as constitutive of a transnational settler colonial project, rather than distinct nationalist endeavors. Whereas representations of “Indians” in Wild West shows, Völkerschauen, and colonial exhibitions enabled Germany to position itself as a colonial power alongside other European nations during the German colonial period, contemporary iterations of Indianthusiasm allow German audiences to ignore their history of settler colonialism in DSWA and deflect responsibility for addressing this history. Exposing the simultaneity of “Indian” and “African” displays with the German colonial project in DSWA, and contemporary Wild West spaces juxtaposed by efforts to address Germany’s colonial legacy, this project tracks the pernicious continuities of colonial logics across geographic space and time. I suggest that Indianthusiasm allows a guilt-free realm to talk about decolonization, solidarity, and cross-cultural sharing with “Indians” without foundationally challenging the settler colonial ideologies inherent in the figure. For Germans to truly address their colonial heritage, and to make concerted efforts to address the representation of “Indians” in Germany, there must be an acknowledgement of how such ideologies are connected and persist over time.