The Canary Effect : The Spanish Colonization Of The Native American Indian

On September 8, 2000, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) made a formal apology for the their participation in ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of the Indigenous Nations of the Western Territories of the Unites States.2 From forced relocation to obscure lands and forced assimilation into the white man’s view of the world, the BIA previously set out to ‘destroy all things Indian’.3 Through the colonization of Turtle Island (North America), the American Federal policy set out to eliminate in part or as a whole, the Indigenous populations.4 The attitudes of the colonists were intentionally detrimental and the process is naturally exterminatory.5 The process of colonization was often exemplified by violent confrontations, deliberate massacres, and in some cases, total annihilations of a people.6 The culture of conquest was developed and practiced by Europeans well before they landed on Turtle Island as the practice was developed, and perfected well before the fifteenth century.7 Taking land and imposing values and ways of life on the social landscape created a conflictual relationship with the Indigenous peoples and forced a new way of life that ultimately destroyed those that previously existed there.8 Modern Europe

Then the Europeans would raid Indian villages looking for these children some children were there so long they didn't remember anything about their past, so when the Europeans took them some would have to be dragged off because this was the only home that they knew, some of them would run away back to the Indian village they came from.Then in about 64 years later most of the native americans were put on Indian reservations.In less than 10 years Indian reserves were very common and people just put the Native Americans in these reserves without a thought on how they felt.The only other option that the Native Americans had was they had to join the society of the white people the Americans basically eradicated all of the Indians culture.When the elders would die the culture died with them because they could not pass the

Throughout the period of colonization, several aspects of genocide can be identified. From the Genocide Convention of 1948, genocide was lawfully defined as any of the following committed with the intent to destroy in whole or part a national ethnical, racial, or religious group as such: killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions to bring about its destruction, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and/or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. In what is modern day North America, European settlers began colonizing the area in hopes of achieving their goals of expanding Christianity, acquiring wealth for their countries, and/or gaining personal wealth and power. The European settlers had little care about the indigenous people of the areas they were colonizing, leading to the American Indian Wars (Lasting from 1622 - 1924) and the genocide of Native Americans. During this time period, the Native American population decreased dramatically as a result of brutal war, disease, and torture. The modern day New Mexico area in particular was home to Indian Pueblos, who showed an extreme act of resistance against their Spanish conquerors. What later became known as the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 showed how resistance to genocide can be achievable and the impacts it may have.

Early in the nineteenth-century and the Louisiana Purchase in hand,”… (Thomas) Jefferson, much as he struggled with the issue (Indian policy), could simply not envision a future for the United States that included a place for ‘Indians as Indians.’ As president, Jefferson tried to design an Indian policy that would humanely assimilate Native Americans into the new republic, but his vision of national expansion turned out not to have any room for Native Americans.”[4] Those who refused or resisted assimilation would be forcibly pushed westward to lands deemed unfit for anything by most Americans.[5] As expansion increased further West, the Native Americans faced another subtle weapon in addition to religion from the government in its attempt to subdue them – American-style education.

Historically, relationships between European colonists and Native American were extremely complex and complicated. Due to the violent European colonization of America, Native Americans became susceptible to oppressions and extinction for over five hundred years (Poupart, 2003). European colonists’ central focus were directed towards acquiring maximum profits by exploiting Native American’s vast resources and utilizing their physical performance toward enslavement. This created devastation among Native American families, movement of various fatal diseases, and destruction of the traditional lifestyle of Native Americans (Starkey, 1998). The elimination of Native American culture came with strong opposition and resistance through civil organizations, religious movements, and conflict revolutions.

Marcus Garvey once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” (Bro). Here, he proclaims the idea that in order to live a culture must be passed down from generation to generation, growing its roots. When two cultures were fighting for dominance in the U.S., the American government developed a plan to eradicate the First Nations’ roots, buying into the philosophy of Captain Richard H. Pratt when he stated that instead of killing all the Natives it would be of more use to “kill the Indian, and save the man” (“Kill”). Between the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United States government used boarding schools to try to assimilate Native Americans into modern American culture;

Native American’s have always been the aspect that shapes our culture and history today. The rise of the new world started with the discovery of the land of which the Native Americans resided. They are referred to as the indigenous people because they were the people who lived and survived off this land first. The Native Americans have a unique culture that consisted of a bond with nature. They had similar gender roles just like the white population. The men were hunters, warriors, and protectors, while the women tended to the children, their homes, and farmed. While the late 1800 's into the 1900 's and beyond began to bring the struggle to the Native American Indians, they fought a tough battle in pursuit of protecting their land. Throughout history the Native American’s have been oppressed and exploited of their identity.

Yesterday’s class was not only alarming but new information. It took me a day to process the impact of the Indian boarding school. The American felt so entitled and obligated to convert and oppression others to conform. They displaced thousand and even possibly millions of native Americans from the homes, culture, trade, etc. in order to make them the American idea of successful. The Native American’s were self sustaining and independent and successful in their own way, American ideals and trade were not needed. Only after Americans had destroyed the land and forced Native American on reserves did they begin to need American skills and even then those American skills contradicted their culture. If they really just wanted to help and make Indians

The relationship between Native Americans and the United States has always been troubled; moreover, when white settlers expanded westward, Native American’s life style was forever changed. Violence occurred when the Mormon settlers encroached onto Indian land, causing a chain of events that lead to the horrific Bear River Massacre. Along with violent interactions, the US government wanted to integrate the Indian tribes into the American way of life. One way the government tried to civilize the Indians was through boarding schools where children were forced from their homes to learn how to be a white person. Even though children were mistreated, they learned life skills in their classes and how to be independent.

In the 1500s, a clash between two worlds occurred. Although the French and the Spanish had the same religion and economic ideology, their treatment of the natives were vastly different. The Spanish used their superior military to commit atrocities against the natives, while the French allied their military with the natives. The Spanish used their religious zealotry to justify their heinous crimes, and sent missionaries to completely convert the natives, the French, meanwhile, believed the natives should have their religion if they wished, but still sent missionaries to the natives willing to convert. At first contact, the Spanish began to enslave the natives and put them to terrible labor, the French also desired materials from the natives, but they traded goods with them rather than kill and loot them.

America has come a long way since Columbus began his voyage in 1492. In “Beyond 1492: Encounter in Colonial North America,” James Axtell explains that when it comes to the Indian-European encounter, there’s more to the story than what the average person grasps. Most people know of how the Natives were mistreated and killed off by the Europeans with biological warfare and that a couple thousands of years later the Pilgrims and Natives had their first feast together known as “Thanksgiving”. However, in chapter four, Axtell’s essay describes that surprisingly, there was a “variety of ways Indians responded to the Europeans that invaded their lands in the wake of Columbus.” Axtell chronologically recapitulates the history of the Indian reactions to the European encounters up until the 1700’s and categorizes them into 5 strategies.

It evident that Columbus did not find American, but rather the Native Americans discovered Columbus lost at sea in 1492. Since 1492 the Native Americans have been killed, raped, slaughtered, and displaced, and the U.S government allowed such things to be done to the Native Americans. The U.S says they created a safe place for the Native Americans called the reservations, but the reservations did not help the Native Americans prosper. So since 1492 there are societal factors that contribute to the health outcomes of the Native Americans todays. All of those societal factors contributed to a self-destructive behavior pattern for most Native Americans.

The Black Legend and White Legend: Relationship Between the Spanish and Indians in the New World

b. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;<br>c. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;<br>d. imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;<br>e. forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.<br>(Destexhe).<br><br>In this paper, I will argue that the act of genocide as here defined, has been committed by the United States of America, upon the tribes and cultures of Native Americans, through mass indoctrination of its youths. Primary support will be drawn from Jorge Noriega's work, "American Indian Education in the United States." The paper will then culminate with my personal views on the subject,

The driving factors for the exploration were New Mexico having silver and riches as well as religious advantages. Spaniards thought that occupying New Mexico would keep their rivals away because they thought there was a water passage. The impact of Spanish exploration on Native Americans was negative. Many tribes endured violence and raids, so some more aggressive tribes would attack first. The Apache’s would go in and kill Spaniards that were trying to settle and in return, Spaniards would have slave raids.