How colonization affected Native Americans

 

Introduction

            Colonization is a process by which a central system of power dominates the surrounding land and its components. Colonization was linked to the spread of tens of millions from Western European states all over the world. Colonization raptured many ecosystems, bringing in new organisms while eliminating others. The Europeans brought many diseases with them, which decimated Native American populations. Colonists and Native Americans alike looked to new plants as possible medicinal resources. Some people think that the colonization was a great event that happened to the Americans and Europeans.

            Colonization of the North American was planned by Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), at Roanoke in 1585, the colony only lasted a few years (Jennifer, 2018) .John White settled more than one hundred men and women before returning to England for more supplies. White found all the settlers gone and the word“CROATOAN”written on a tree .That was the only clue to their fate thou it is still unclear whether this was a signal that the surviving settlers had gone to live with Native American.

            European colonization of North America had a devastating effect on the native population (Jennifer, 2018).Within a short period of time their way of life was changed forever. The changes were caused by a number of factors, including loss of land, disease, enforced laws which violated their culture and much more. They believed that the land was a gift from their ancestors and it was supposed to be shared among all living things

            When the Europeans arrived they brought with them diseases unknown to the natives. The natives, having no immunity died from diseases that the Europeans thought of as common place (Kathy, 1997). They also brought guns, alcohol and horses. The effect of these was to change the way of life for the Native Americans. Horses and guns changed their way of hunting for food. Since the cultural groups had been based on their method of subsistence, changing this changed the groupings. Some major groups moved. Once they started to move fights over territory broke out. Groups who had had plenty of food, now didn't have enough.

            Missions were introduced, and Natives were aggressively encouraged to convert to Christianity (Jennifer, 2018). Most of the groups had had some form of ancestral worship, and this enforced change in religion altered their culture identity. On top of all of these factors was the Europeans need for land and food. Native groups, because they were nomadic, didn't see land as belonging to one person. The idea that someone could come in, claim a piece of land and ban them from it caused many problems. Wars broke out over the fact that they could no longer hunt or forage for food in places they had always done so.

            Some of the effects that colonization had were unintentional. No one thought much about immunity to diseases, or that they would kill off the entire bison population (Melvin, 2003).These effects were a side effect of the Europeans greed and attitude that they could take anything they saw. Later however, things changed, and a determined effort was made to completely suppress the Native culture. This active suppression took many forms. Certain tribes were freely supplied with guns, so that they could wipe out their neighbors. Old problems between tribes were brought back into the open, causing wars. The army and many settlers treated the Natives as nothing more than pests to be got rid of. Laws were introduced that banned certain ceremonies, forced the children into the European education system, and tied whole groups to land that was useless and could not sustain them. The intention was to deny them of their cultural identity, which has the same effect as wiping them out.

            Native Americans were deeply affected by colonization. It was extremely unfair of the Europeans to destroy Native American way of life (Anonymous, 2011). If the Native Americans had the weapons, like guns and disease, that the Europeans did, then maybe they could have fought for what was theirs. Europeans came to America and changed the Native Americans lives forever. This contact between the Native Americans and Europeans was called the Columbian Exchange. While both Native Americans and Europeans received advantages and disadvantages from the Columbian Exchange, Native Americans definitely suffered more while the Europeans were benefited.

            Initially the introduction of Europeans and guns affected the eastern sub-arctic region the most (Kathy, 1997). Europeans hunted for furs, using guns, and decimated the local wildlife. Often they just skinned the animals and left the meat to rot. This caused a shortage of food and fur for the natives in the area. The introduction of guns also caused some groups to become more powerful and more aggressive. The Cree, one of the largest groups in the area, moved south into the Great Plains using guns to hunt bison. The change in their way of life caused them to lose much of their cultural heritage. Although the rest of the area was untouched in the beginning, western influence has gradually destroyed the native culture.

            In conclusion as a young and growing population the Native Americans seems to face effects such as poverty, racism and trauma (Jennifer, 2018). It is important to recognize the resilience and tenacity that have allowed Native people to survive as distinct cultural and political groups in spite of centuries of colonization .Helping professionals can play an important role in assisting Native clients to access needed services  and nature their resilience .professionals can also bring a strong grounding  in social justice to combat many of the struggles that affect indigenous people .By doing this its helps the Native Americans to improve their ways of living and improving their standards of living for them and their generations to come.

References

Jennifer, E. (2018). Gale Researcher Guide for: Native Americans and Europeans. Gale. Cengage Learning.

Sammis, K. (1997). The Era of Colonization & Settlement. Portland, ME: Walch.

Page, M. E. (2002). Colonialism: An international social, cultural, and political                                       encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.