Colonialism Research Paper

The continuous trauma that they endured has negatively affected the mental health and physical health of the population. Native Americans are at higher risk for depression, physical/sexual abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues (McLeigh, 2010). Native American youth are three times more likely to commit suicide than the average population. Native Americans in general are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression and five times more likely to have alcoholism. Colonization not damaged natives mentally, but also brought harm to their physical health as Europeans brought diseases (measles, chicken pox, smallpox, etc) to America (McLeigh, 2010). In order for this population to be served to treat their many medical and mental health issues brought on by years of trauma, policies must be implemented to help Native Americans specifically. However, the reality is that natives mental health needs are often ignored (Gone, 2004). There have been policies that have attempted to meet the needs, but much more is needed. In the most recent action towards improving mental health services for natives, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 permanently gave authorization to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (Ross, Garfield, Brown, & Raghavan, 2015). This policy will be discussed and analyzed to examine further needs for services in this

Initially, the concept of colonisation will be explained, including the forces that were driving the colonisation and the usual ways it was achieved. At a general level, the ideologies underpinning the colonisers’ interactions with indigenous peoples will also be described. A comparison will then be made between the experiences of colonisation for Aboriginal peoples

Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.

Throughout history, we see various forms of colonialism that have happened in the world. Multiple groups of people were affected by this act of colonizing. An example of the groups that were affected would include the Cherokees and the Mayans. Both of these groups of people experienced colonialism in similar ways, either by adaptation or resistance nevertheless they still had their differences.

While the motives of colonists in the Americas were various- to build a new society, to promote Christianity, to acquire riches, or, as early colonists in New England expressed it, to secure a ‘competencie’ ; they all faced the same challenges of establishing themselves in an alien environment that would require them readjust and respond to new circumstances. It would be justifiable to submit that the main consequences of colonialism were largely detrimental for the native population. The colonisation of the Americas throughout the early modern period resulted in the decimation of the native population as they increasingly lost their traditional lands to white settlers. This can be attributed to

Though American Indians are enjoying an independent public health system with above $3 billion funds provided by Congress annually for delivering healthcare services to them, still figure and facts on health status of American Indians reveal that they are facing many difficulties and have to suffer from diverse type of illness and disease at a misappropriate level. Since long it was identified by medical communities that there are wide spread diseases diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, unintentional injuries, and other health conditions among American Indian and they are dying of these diseases at shocking rates (American Heart Association [AHA], 2010). Through this essay I want to discuss the healthcare status of American Indians in the perspective of their culture as how it impacted and lead to develop mistrust between amongst the medical community and American Indians.

The newly acquired ideas were implemented in various Native American programs to improve the mental/physical health of all Native Americans. Most programs, however, base their ongoing work on four key concepts. . (Beal et al 2005) They are analyzing how alcohol and drugs affect the immediate family unit as well as how it affects relatives and friends physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What, if any of these affects are being carried down from one generation to another. Does alcohol set off any of the other affects such as drug abuse, mental illness et al? Finally, coming to the carefully scrutinized observation that alcoholism often co-exists in Indian communities with certain definite other problems like depression, self-hate, cultural shame, and stress-related acting out or inappropriate misconduct. (NADC 2011)These four main ideas are still used today to further identify and improve mental health conditions among the Native Americans.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the health status of the American Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN). A comparison and contrast of AI/ANs with the national average regarding the health status such as heart disease and strokes will be presented. Multifactorial barriers limiting health, and the overall factors affecting health within this population are identified. Current health status will be presented including health promotion and disparities among this US population. Primary, secondary, and tertiary health promotions will be discussed along with one approach to promoting health offered.

It is no secret that the Native American and Alaska Native (NA/AN) population is one of the most (if not, the most) overlooked and underserved communities in America. Perhaps because of their small numbers, rural habitats, or general neglect and antagonism by the part of the United States government (or a combination of all of these), extreme disparities in health exist among NA/AN communities. The detrimental effects that colonial settling and industrialization have had on the NA/AN lifestyle are obvious and well-documented. So too, are the physical health disparities that plague NA/ANs (diabetes, tuberculosis, obesity, etc). However, less data is readily available on the mental health challenges that NA/AN populations face. Furthermore, even

Adding to the conversation, academic scholar Daniel Carlock notes, “health disparities between Native Americans and the general population of the United States are a major health concern” (Carlock, Danielle). Hence, an inherent culturally based issue arises where natives are disregarding modern medicine and Western medical practices and instead turning to a traditional holistic approach. Alternative to standard science being the leading factor towards understanding illness and medicine, a cultural barrier divides indigenous peoples perception of the effectiveness of Western science in regards to traditional beliefs. This creates much difficulty for the U.S. government agency the Indian Health Service providing health care and assistance to federally recognized tribes and indigenous peoples. Commenting on Native American health discrepancies, professor James E. Cheek finds “the infectious disease rate in Native Americans populations was significantly higher than that of Whites”(Cheek, James E). This connects Native American cultural beliefs to an increase in medical disparities in relationship to following standard Western medical practices. With tradition ingrained in Native American culture, indigenous medical practices fail to focus on pathology and curing the disease, instead restoring balance between one's mind, body, and spirit is the focus of natives. Consequently, this is leading to standard Western medical practices and medicine being disregarded because Western culture in terms of medicine has been seen to impede important native spirituality beliefs. “The rates for the top ten underlying causes of death were significantly higher for Native American persons than those for whites” (Cheek, James E). This study accounts for the disparities in regards to

When looking at the issues modern day Native Americans face regarding mental health counseling it is important to look at history and how the past has shaped

Colonialism has negatively impacted African cultures by separating the continent without Africa’s permission and treating Africans like they were not people. Africans were being treated badly and also unfairly by the Belgians as if they were slaves. Belgium took the congo away from africa because they felt like Africans did not deserve the congo. They also took all of Africa’s resources because they felt like Africa did not deserve those resources. African had a lot of good resources like gold, silver, diamonds, and oil.

Over the years, the Native Americans have learned to adapt to the different climates and tried to survive in strange lands. Today, research suggests that poverty, crime, and the health care system on Indian reservations are the reasons why Native Americans are at higher risks for diseases, cancer, and even death. Poverty on the Native American reservations is constantly increasing due to unemployment. The high

Colonialism is a feature of European expansion that took control of territory and people across the world starting in the 16th century. The last wave of colonialism was in Africa during the late nineteenth century, and these African colonies did not gain independence until the end of World War II. Decolonization was followed by years of economic, political, and social instability that made living conditions worse for the individuals in society. In this era of globalization, the economic strength of Western powers has created a new type of imperialism over the developing nations. A growing inequality gap between rich and poor countries has resulted in lower living standards in areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, where a majority of the

Although colonialism had been considered relic of the past, most of the people from the independent states worldwide exist under virtual colonial rule even after decolonization. The decolonization wave during the 20th century had swept the world and deemed one of great liberating movements in history. The shape of political world today was dictated by the colonialism. For instance, colonialists drew borders without considering the local sensibilities and realities. Cultural, political and social conditions for the colonized were negated or purposefully misconceived. In the process, an inappropriate identity was imposed to the people and this crippled their esteem, self-efficiency and their long term social development.