They had deep knowledge of their land, source of water,and the seasonal cycle of plant food. However, the European settlement brought catastrophic impacts to them. Firstly, they were not able to assess the land and obtain the resources such as food, herbs, stones which were necessary to maintain their lifestyles and health status. In the tradition indigenous culture, most of the information were pass down from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, many of the elders were killed by those mortal diseases, thus a lot of valuable cultural information such as the usage of nature medicines were lost so more and more people have got sick.
Europeans Vs. Aboriginals : The contact that changes everything Throughout the 1600s to 1900s Native people’s culture has been greatly harmed due to the fact of European contact. Taking over land by killing off food supply thus forcing Aboriginals to sign treaties to destroying their culture by enforcing assimilation. Ever since the Europeans came to Canada they have been nothing good for the First Nations living on the Land. In the 19th Century, government policy changed from government-to-government relations with Aboriginal Nations to attempts to integrate and assimilate. This change was due to a number of factors: the decline of the fur trade; an end to most of the armed conflict between the various new arrivals; and, the desire for more land and resources for the settlers.
Alcohol abuse contributed to violence in Aboriginal communities, to society disharmony and to the deterioration of an originally healthy Aboriginal population. In the second place, the arrival of French Jesuit forced Aboriginals to convert their religions. The Huron people were threatened with the trade advantages with the French if they did not accept the Jesuits, so the poor Huron people put up with the Jesuits. Some Aboriginal people were
They were a more isolated human, so when the Europeans came and took over there immune systems were not at all prepared to face and fight back al;l the diseases that came there way. The European diseases were communicable and that therefore caused these illnesses to move faster and to cause death tolls to rise even faster than ever before. In some cases Indians were infected severely before even coming into direct association with the Europeans. The one disease that really got the Indians by the neck was smallpox. This disease killed tens of thousands of Indians in the New World.
The settlers quickly hunted and killed off all the large and smaller game that was to be found on the tiny peninsula. The low, marshy area was infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes and other airborne pests. The only source of water for the area was not a good source of drinking water for more reasons than one; mainly because of the high content of salt and the bugs that were infested within it. The settlers who came over on the initial three ships were not well-equipped for the life they found in Jamestown. There were a little over one hundred men to come over that helped establish Jamestown.
They would give them items such as alcohol, guns, textiles, metal tools, and pots in return for the elite furs. As the demand for furs rose, they began to corrupt the nature of animals that the Indians followed. Unknowingly the French also killed many natives through illness; the goods that the French offered to the natives carried diseases and led to the death of many Indians because of their lack of immunity. The relationship between the Spanish colonists and the Indians was a callous one and only benefited the Spanish. In the 1500s, the Spanish arrived in the New World with the intent to convert natives to Catholicism, trade, and discover riches.
For example, during the French and Indian War, British commander and chief Jeffery Amherst suggested using smallpox to wipe out the Native Americans (D'Errico, 2010). When these new disease were introduced, the shaman or medicine men were baffled and unable to heal the ailments. As a result of the natives’ shaman being unable to cure their people of these diseases, the natives began not to believe in their healing powers. However, many of the indigenous that did not fall to disease, were captured for slavery. Many people believe that slavery of the Native Americans was a result of the Europeans colonizing the New World, but it was not.
Aboriginal Peoples: Racism in Colonial Context * The agent was the sole authority in this community and they had all the power to punish or deprive, this worked to break down the traditional authority system , so it basically broke down their social structures * A second element of denationalization was attempted destruction of culture * Natives relied on government handouts because they could not sustain their own lives (they were only allowed to hunt and fish when the Indian agent said they could * The federal government still control when they natives can hunt and fish * Condition on the reserve: no employment, except for those who serve Indian agent therefore poverty and hunger arose and became a serious issue * People faced with
Many of the Native Americans suffered from disease, starvation and death because of the forced relocation to the west. A change in climate and environment did not assist with the relocation of this society that had first existed on the American soil. This tragic incident is most remembered as the “The Trail of Tears”. Furthermore, the lack of compensation, by the government, to the Native Americans destroyed, the already diminishing, numbers of their eastern tribes. Many Americans opposed the removal of the Native Americans and argued that they too had been civilized and should be allowed to remain on the homelands, specifically Davey Crocket.
Other policies attempted to ‘breed-out’ Indigenous Australians by pairing an Indiginous individual with a white partner. These ‘half-castes’ where again viewed as inferior and often removed from government reserves and discouraged from interacting with Indigenous people, including their parents, in an attempt to remove the Indigenous culture from the general populace. These policies have created an enormous effect on the Indiginous experience of health. It has led to the loss of culture and identity to an entire generation of Indigenous people and therefore a severe lack of understanding of health amongst those affected. Further, many Indiginous Australians today still have deep seeded mistrust of Western medicine because of these historical factors.