--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A source of continual embarrassment along…" description: "\"“A source of continual embarrassment along the American frontier—from the late 1600s until the end of the Indian Wars, in the 1890s—was a phenomenon kn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jonathan-franzen-801_war_a-source-of-continual-embarrassment-alon_1811766.jpg" --- # A source of continual embarrassment along the American… ![“A source of continual embarrassment along the American frontier—from the late 1600s until the end of the Indian Wars, in the 1890s—was a phenomenon known as “the White Indians.” The term referred to white settlers who were kidnapped by Indians—or simply ran off to them—and became so enamored of…” quote by Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jonathan-franzen-801_war_a-source-of-continual-embarrassment-alon_1811766.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jonathan-franzen-801_war_a-source-of-continual-embarrassment-alon_1811766.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/jonathan-franzen-801_war_a-source-of-continual-embarrassment-alon_1811766.jpg) > ““A source of continual embarrassment along the American frontier—from the late 1600s until the end of the Indian Wars, in the 1890s—was a phenomenon known as “the White Indians.” The term referred to white settlers who were kidnapped by Indians—or simply ran off to them—and became so enamored of that life that they refused to leave. According to many writers of the time, including Benjamin Franklin, the reverse never happened: Indians never ran off to join white society. And if a peace treaty required that a tribe give up their adopted members, these members would often have to be put under guard and returned home by force. Inevitably, many would escape to rejoin their Indian families. “Thousands of Europeans are Indians, and we have no examples of even one of those aborigines having from choice become European,” wrote a French-born writer in America named Michel-Guillaume-Saint-Jean de Crèvecoeur in an essay published in 1782.”” [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. White settlers who adopted Native life often refused to return, showing deep cultural assimilation and identity shift. **In simple terms:** Some people fully adopt a new culture and abandon their original one. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of cultural immersion. Themes identity culture assimilation Mood thoughtful historical Type anthropological reflective When to use this quote - immigration - cultural exchange - identity crises Key Concepts cultural hybridity colonial history Questions to Reflect On - What drives someone to abandon their birth culture? - How do societies handle cultural assimilation? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Europeans Indians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/europeans-indians-2121822/) [Indian Wars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indian-wars-1455249/) [Indians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indians/) [Indians Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indians-term-2121823/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [White Indians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-indians-2121821/) [White Settlers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-settlers-484316/) ## Related quotes > [“The textbooks also fail to show how the continuous Indian wars have reverberated through our culture. 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They're pure hyena.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/integrity-s-a-neutral-value-hyenas-have-integrity-too-they-re-pure/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“An odd thing about beauty, however, is that it's absence tends not to arouse our sympathy as much as other forms of privation do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/an-odd-thing-about-beauty-however-is-that-it-s-absence-tends-not-to/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [He became another data point in the American experiment of self-government, an experiment statistically skewed from the outset, because it wasn't the people with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/he-became-another-data-point-in-the-american-experiment-of-self/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“It was this motley band of modest peeps and plovers on the beach who reminded me of the human beings I loved best -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/it-was-this-motley-band-of-modest-peeps-and-plovers-on-the-beach-who/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Alfred believed that the real and the true were a minority that the world was bent on exterminating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/alfred-believed-that-the-real-and-the-true-were-a-minority-that-the/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Imagine that human existence is defined by an Ache: the Ache of our not being, each of us, the center of the universe; of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/imagine-that-human-existence-is-defined-by-an-ache-the-ache-of-our/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [The problem was money and the indignities of life without it. 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And if a peace treaty required that a tribe give up their adopted members, these members would often have to be put under guard and returned home by force. 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