From the Tupinambá to the Wendat: An Indigenous Political Philosophy in Modernity

Abstract

The text argues for the relevance of Amerindian thought in shaping modern ideals of freedom and equality, highlighting the role of the Tupinambá and the Wendat chief Kondiaronk in the philosophical debates of the period. Since the time of Montaigne, the Tupinambá were already denouncing to Europeans the social inequality and political servitude experienced in the Old World. These dialogues were later taken up by Lahontan, who recorded conversations with Kondiaronk, revealing a sophisticated Indigenous critique of the European way of life. More than mere mouthpieces for European philosophers, the Amerindians are presented as political and intellectual agents, whose observations directly influenced Enlightenment thought. The text thus proposes a reversal of perspective: less a narrative of French lineage, and more a debate of Amerindian filiation, ranging from the Tupinambá of Brazil to the Wendat chief in Canada. Although one cannot speak of a homogeneous Indigenous political philosophy, there is a critical continuity between the discourses of the Tupinambá and Kondiaronk: the former exposed Europe’s social and political inequalities, while the latter – before Rousseau – showed how social inequality transformed into political inequality.