Even with the concessions that the government made to the Native people, the fact is that they have been put through hell and they were initially and continue to be targeted for extinction in one way or another. The intended death and destruction of a people just because they are of a certain origin or ethnic background does fall under the definition of genocide. The fact is that most of white America is in denial of this term “genocide” and the idea that this continues to haunt the Native Americans of today. Is it a question of being too proud to admit that the whites could actually be this cruel and wrong and make such a mistake? I don’t think that the white man will ever own up to this
We can see this in source 2, page 38, by the medicine man of the Blackfoot, painted by George Catlin. This has a very negative view on the Sioux Indians because it is showing that they have killed animals and that they don’t care that they wore animal skin over their clothing and do not realise that if they killed animals just for that then their food supply will run out quicker. This source is produced by George Catlin, who is a reliable white US soldier, settler. It is reliable because who it is produced by, as he saw a lot of things that the Sioux Indians did. It is also unreliable because this is a painting of what they were when they were in a ceremony not there everyday life.
Documents prove that the British intentionally killed off the buffalo in areas populated by the Native Americans. By doing this, the British took away their main source of food. Starvation occurred in many villages and the Natives population had reduced from an estimated 12 million in 1500 to barely 237,000 in 1900. Villages were pillaged, and prisoners were sent to camps or reservations. The British’s actions were rationalized through religion, Indians were seen as savages that needed to convert and those who didn’t were murdered.
Loss of culture among the Native Americans was a major impact of European settlement of the new world. Introduction of grain alcohol was one negative impact to the Native American people. The Europeans were used to taking grain alcohol as a drink for around a century of years. Liquor such as wine, whiskey and beer were consumed in many various ways and reasons. Hard liquor was used to help soldiers bear the pain of their wounds.
They testified that at first, “when the English first came the king’s father was a great man” (58), referring to Massasoit. However, he was followed by a series of cruel rulers. The English constantly ripped them off in trades and “led them into drunkenness” (58), causing some Indians to get violent and to give the English more reason to persecute them. This cycle of injustice towards the Indians led to Rhode Island’s slow demise. They chose to dominate the Indians instead of working with
The European’s actions were a reaction to the acts done by the Indians. The European settlers viewed and thought of fear as Americans do in this day and age due to the tragedies of 9/11. This day has smeared fear across this country for
And as the warfare advanced, 2,500 European settlers and police died and 20,000 Aboriginal inhabitants are believed to have been killed, while many thousands more died from disease and other unintended consequences of settlement. The deliberate ill treatment of Aboriginal people, the horrific impact of European diseases and the introduction of alcohol all contributed to a breakdown of Aboriginal society. When their tribal lifestyle was destroyed, the Aborigines came to live on the edge of European settlement, begging and taking up the worst European habits. Europeans saw this as evidence of their backwardness. On the other hand, if Aborigines took up weapons to defend their land, they were seen as evil savages who needed to be taught a lesson.
Indians throughout were forced to surrender their lands, and although they put up resistance, it was not enough to stop settlers’ expansion and the Indian’s lands were violently taken, and many were killed in the process. “Behind the English invasion and their massacre of Indians, their deception, their brutality was that special powerful drive born in civilizations based on private property. ...the need for space, for land, was a real human need. ..this human need was transformed into the murder of whole peoples.”(Zinn, pg. 16, A People’s History Of the United States) Wealth and fortune was measured by the amount of land a white man had ; therefore, acquiring land by exerting power with lies and deception was the goal of any settler who wanted to be perceived as a prosperous wealthy man.
The fur trade was one of the earliest and most important industries in North America. The fur trading industry played a major role in the development of the Canada for more than 300 years. Native tribes entered into allegiances with the European settlers from different countries and found themselves at war with their enemies for gift diplomacy. The French at the St. Lawrence River established an alliance with the Huron and the Algonquians in a pit against the 5 nations Iroquois, who had allied with the Dutch and then British. However this was to be short lived and led to the near extinction of an entire diversely widespread race.
Following this explosion of racism was scientists and philosophers wondering if a different race was the same as a different species. The French and Indian war for example, was fought on both sides with Native American allies. Despite the victories of the British, they still preceeded to label their Indian allies as “savages”. Then came what was called “Captivity Narratives”, where the British came up with tales of women being captured by the “evil” Indians where they had a choice of marriage or become an Indian sacrifice. These Captivity Narratives greatly reinforced Indian stereotypes amongst the colonists.