Analysis Of The Documentary: The Indigenous People Of Marshallese

The Marshall Islands has always been that of a peaceful paradise for the Marshallese; that is to say before it was irradiated by nuclear bomb testing by its very own trust partners the United States. The Marshallese thought that giving up their island would help bring peace to the world and since most of the population was converted into Christianity, they were led to believe that they were doing a favor as “Judas’s children”. What they didn’t know was that for the next 12 years, their precious islands were to become the test site of hazardous atomic bomb testing that would change their life and history forever. What was first contentment turned into concealed resentment towards their only source of support.

How has the results of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing affect the lives of the survivors?

Whilst the conditions shown that were experienced by the Australian soldiers in the film was effective and broad, the conditions faced by the Japanese soldiers in Papua New Guinea was barely covered in the movie. Thus, indicating the limited use of this film as a historical source.

An estimated 60 million people--3% of the world population in 1940--were killed or wounded in World War 2. 16 million of these people served for America, and of those 16 million, over 90,000 lived behind barbed wire during the war. One of these POWs was Louie Zamperini, who was captured and brutally tortured for half of WWII. Louie Zamperini lived in war throughout all of his life. Mentally and physically, Louie fought with humiliation, anxiety, and later in his life, starvation and even death. And no matter how much he fought and hoped and won, this took a toll on him, along with the other thousands of POWs. By illustrating Louie’s years in a POW camp in Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand proposes that war

Instead, the blame rests on the grotesque nature of war, survival of the fittest, and dehumanizing nature placed on soldiers. Looking at the graphic details, such as "His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was a star-shaped hole," (O’Brien 118), gives the reader a foundation for the argument. This graphic portrayal highlights

The Fallen Feather documentary analyses both the creation of the Canadian Residential Schools and the effects of these schools. The documentary states that these schools were created as a plan to end what was referred to as Canada’s Indian problem. The documentary used survivor accounts, primary documents, and professional accounts in determining the motivation behind the creation of these schools. These schools were full of physical and psychological abuse that still has an effect on the First Nations people today.

The United States put Japanese people in camps, stealing their rights, and placed them in inhumane facilities that no human being should be forced to withstand.

After the bomb was dropped many people had developed serious health issues, many not knowing they had any. Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German priest, had to have repeated visits to the hospital, to be treated for medical symptoms commonly found in the A-bomb survivors. “Back in the hospital in Tokyo for the second time, Father Kleinsorge was suffering from fever, diarrhea, wounds that would not heal, wildly fluctuating blood counts, and utter exhaustion. For the rest of his life, he was to be a classic case history of… borderline form of A-bomb sickness… many of which turned up in hibakusha…” (Hersey, 110). A few years after the atom bomb was dropped many survivors, commonly called hibakusha, meaning explosion-affected persons, had to make many trips to the hospital because the United States dropped the atom bomb. Dr. Fujii, a physician who has a private hospital, planned to have a gathering on New Year’s Day with his family, but never showed up. “At half past eleven, Dr. Fujii had not appeared, and

During the bombing of Hiroshima, casualty rates among medical personnel were in the range between 80 to 93 percent. Injuries resulting from the bombing often went untreated, and the survivors did not receive health care for some time. The book Hiroshima discusses this issue in great length, specifically why they were not given the necessary aid. The government of Hiroshima played a major role in this.

Several Native American tribes called North Carolina home. Many still do today and haven’t moved much from their original places. The Cherokee are still over by the Appalachian Mountains and the Meherrin continue to be located in Hertford. Some are around but aren’t in the same area we originally knew them to be or just aren’t here (or recognized I should say) anymore such as the Tuscarora tribe from the coastal area that decided to move north when things got rough. Even the Croatan tribe isn’t recognized as a present day tribe and they were said to play a huge part in history here in eastern North Carolina, with the whole “lost colony” thing.

Paul Winner recounts one islander’s memory of the hydrogen bomb explosion. The islander Tony de Brum states: “It was if a great red bowl had been placed over us…burns, vomiting and hair loss were all reported within 72 hours” (Web). As hundreds of thousands of individuals affected by the radiation of the hydrogen bomb suffered from several medical problems. Birthing defects were also an effect of mothers being exposed to the harmful radiation (Winner). People affected by the radiation continue to have a hard time dealing with what has happened to them and how the government reacted. De Brum says with a “voice weighted in sadness…what I once found amusing is now repugnant to me”

Since the beginning of time, conquering other societies has been a common occurrence. Almost every battle that has taken place has been documented. When stories of past battles are retold, only one side of the tale gets told, the victor’s side. In history, the ones who have been defeated never get to present their perspective of the tragic quarrels. Most never even lived to tell the stories, but the ones who do survive are not thought of as important accounts in history. The Native Americans suffered tyranny far a plethora of years, and still do. When learning about the indigenous people of America, it is taught through the “white man’s” prospective, never through the eyes of the sufferers. By not telling both sides of the story, the facts get skewed, skewed enough to have lies become the truth. So what is the real story behind Native American oppression?

Under the advisement of President Andrew Jackson, the United States of America was looking to stretch its borders west, past Mississippi and further to the South. Of the many events that took place to obtain this goal, the United States is claimed to have committed a great genocide of the Native American people who lived in the area they wished to own. This wrong doing to the people who were here before the colonist of the United States has continued into the current times as the country continues to invade the land the Native American people call their home and strip them of their freedoms. During the presidency of Jackson, in the early nineteenth century, white settlers ran into what they called an obstacle in their journey towards expansion. The area of which they wanted to settle in was home to the nations of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole natives, many white Americans viewed their livings were in the way of the progress of the country (PBS). This idea has continued into present day views regarding the country of the United States and its goal to continue its expansion and improvement.

In the 1950s, the United States conducted 66 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, which were then under colonial rule. The Marshall Islands are home to several indigenous tribes and nations. The nuclear tests devastated the inhabitants of the island, who experienced decades of birth defects and extremely high rates of liver, cervical, and lung cancer. “Between 1954 and 1958, one in three births in the Marshall Islands resulted in fetal death” (Smith 67). This is perhaps the most extreme instance of environmental racism in modern history, and the health of indigenous women was particularly abused.

Canadian citizens understand genocide to be a terrible thing that other countries have done, or are doing. The eradication of an entire population of civilian women, men, and children along with their culture and national sovereignty is something we condemn in our media. When we see genocide happening elsewhere, we debate when we should step in with economic sanctions or military action when it is time to put a stop to a crime against humanity. Rarely, if ever, do we examine our own history long enough to understand that Canada was created by people who committed genocide against the people who were already living here.