The Tale of Jemmy Button

This article is a bit of a milestone for me. This is my 150th LinkedIn post since I started writing articles in 2013. Some of these articles have taken a lot of research and thought and some were just rants and raves from a tired and discouraged author. For those of you who like stats (I do, probably too much if you believe my daughters) I have had 25,833 views (average 173 views per article), 4,120 likes, only 808 comments (why do so few people bother to offer a comment?), 7,462 views from folks from Houston where I used to work and 1,643 views from Rocky Mountain folks (where I actually live now, I guess I haven’t made too many new friends). So, I thought I need a novel topic for this milestone article.

My inspiration came on a recent vacation to London. Sally and I spent a few nights at a hotel near Biggin Hill airfield, south of London and close to several historic country homes. One was Down House in Kent. ?Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. Darwin and his family lived in the house from 1842 to 1906. This country estate gave him the privacy and inspiration to complete his writings of evolution by natural selection. A small exhibition in the home gave me this story.

Four of Darwin’s fellow passengers on the HMS Beagle were from Tierra del Fuego, a group of islands at the southernmost tip of South America. Several years earlier they had been taken hostage by the captain of the Beagle, Robert Fitzroy (Darwin not involved). Can you imagine being kidnapped from your home, given a new suit of clothes, and bundled off to a foreign country (England) for the purpose of getting an education and getting civilized? A human experiment to say the least.

One of these four, Jemmy Button was paid for with a mother of pearl button, hence his name. It is not clear whether his family willingly accepted the sale or he was simply abducted. ?Captain Fitzroy brought them to England, where they were taught English, instructed in Christianity, and dressed in western clothes.

On his return to Tierra del Fuego, Captain Fitzroy took them back to their homeland together with a young English missionary with the aim of converting the indigenous communities to Christianity. The plan proved disastrous and was eventually abandoned. After initial difficulty recalling his language and customs, Orundellico / Jemmy soon shed his European clothes and habits. A few months after his arrival, he was seen emaciated, naked save for a loincloth, and long-haired. So much for his English education. Nevertheless, he declined the offer to return to England, which Darwin conjectured was due to the presence of his "young and nice looking wife". It appears that he and the others had taught their families some English.

Darwin’s encounters with the people of Tierra del Fuego affected him deeply. In contrast with the prevailing view of the time, he disagreed with the idea that there was a superior “civilized” white race. He maintained that all people shared a common ancestry. Nevertheless, his encounters with the people of Tierra del Fuego were not without bias. He reported that Fuegians traveling on the Beagle with him were “civilized” but he described the native islanders as “savage.’

Captain Fitzroy renamed the four Fuegians, giving them derogatory names in English that evoked objects or areas of land relating to their capture. One he called Boat Memory, died of smallpox on arrival in England in 1830. The surviving three were sent to Walthamstow Infants School for a year, despite being of adult age. The rest were:

?????????????? Elleparu, renamed York Minister, was one of the Alakaluf people.

?????????????? Orundelllico, renamed Jemmy Button, was one of the Yahgan people

?????????????? Yokcushlu, renamed Fuegia Basket, was one of the Alakaluf people

In 1855, a group of Christian missionaries from the Patagonian Missionary Society visited Wulaia Bay on Navarino Island in Tierra del Fuego to find that Jemmy still had a remarkable grasp of English. Sometime later in 1859, another group of missionaries was killed at Wulaia Bay by the Yaghan, supposedly led by Jemmy and his family. So much for the education. In early 1860, Jemmy visited Keppel Island and gave evidence at the enquiry held in Stanley into the massacre. He denied responsibility. In 1863, the missionary Waite Stirling visited Tierra del Fuego and re-established contact with Jemmy; from then relations with the Yaghan improved. In 1866, after Jemmy's death, Stirling took one of Jemmy's sons, known as Threeboy, to England. Here we go again.

So, what is the point of this rather strange story. I still see people thinking that they are superior (and civilized) to others and treat them no better than property. You still see some of the most savage things done to people in the name of civilization, wealth and religion. You still see those same people wondering why their “charity” is not returned with a greater thanks after the civilized solution given to them doesn’t really fit. But it really takes me aback (I can use that word as an author of 150 articles) that in the 21st century we often repeat the attitudes of the 19th century (and even further back in history) of lack of respect and dialogue between cultures.

The concept of Just Transition is a key one in the energy transition themes. Developed world leaders think we have the solutions for a green energy transition and out of the goodness of our heart want to “give” them to developing world economies. You read some about the state of sub-Saharan Africa, rural India and a few other places and the “energy poverty” they experience. The per capita energy use of several of these countries is less than the use of our fridge. But I read a recent article about the people (yes they are people not property) on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico and Arizona where one in ten families don’t have running water or electricity to their rural homes.

Just Transition how about Justice? You wouldn’t allow that to happen to a family member so why is it so easy to turn the other way and allow this to happen in our backyard. Actually it is not our backyard, it is their land. After more than ten years of writing these articles there is still a lot to think about. Are we moving forward or just marching in place. If we say a homeless person on the street corner, would we see a Jemmy or see a neighbor in distress?

Wow, I hope I find something more cheerful to write about in the next 150 articles. Thanks for listening and putting up with my dark (and sometimes lighter) moods.