“Peoples who occupied North America before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th cent. They have long been known as Indians because of the belief prevalent at the time of Columbus that the Americas were the outer reaches of the Indies (i.e., the East Indies). Most scholars agree that Native Americans came into the Western Hemisphere from Asia via the Bering Strait in a series of migrations. From Alaska they spread east and south. The several waves of migration are said to account for the many native linguistic families while the common origin is used to explain the physical characteristics that Native Americans have in common (though with considerable variation)Mongoloid features, coarse, straight black hair, dark eyes, sparse body hair, and a skin color ranging from yellow-brown to reddish brown. Many scholars accept evidence of Native American existence in the Americas back more than 25,000 years. In pre-Columbian times (prior to 1492) the Native American population of the area North of Mexico is estimated to have been between one and two million. From prehistoric times until recent historic times there were roughly six major cultural areas, excluding that of the Arctic, i.e., Northwest Coast, Plains, Plateau, Eastern Woodlands, Northern, and Southwest.” (Native American Indians: The First people of America. )
Native American History.
Ref: www.nativeamericans.com
Native American History: A Nation's civilisation destroyed. (A Work In Progress)
"LONG BEFORE the white man set foot on American soil, the American Indians, or rather the Native Americans, had been living in America. When the Europeans came here, there were probably about 10 million Indians populating America north of present-day Mexico. And they had been living in America for quite some time. It is believed that the first Native Americans arrived during the last ice-age, approximately 20,000 - 30,000 years ago through a land-bridge across the Bering Sound, from northeastern Siberia into Alaska. The oldest documented Indian cultures in North America are Sandia (15000 BC), Clovis (12000 BC) and Folsom (8000 BC)" (Unknown:2007)
"Although it is believed that the Indians originated in Asia, few if any of them came from India. The name "Indian" was first applied to them by Christopher Columbus, who believed mistakenly that the mainland and islands of America were part of the Indies, in Asia." (Unknown: 2007)
We know the name given to the Native Americans as ‘Indians’ was due to Christopher Columbus’s belief that the Native Americans were on the outer reaches of the Indies in 15th Century. But where did the Native Americans really come from and what was there real heritage? The home of the Native Americans is thought to be Asia however as yet there is no direct link found to suggest this.
It is ominent that the man can now give any such name to another?
"The Europeans brought with them not only a desire and will to conquer the new continent for all its material richness, but they also brought with them diseases that hit the Indians hard. Conflicts developed between the Native Americans and the Invaders, the latter arriving in overwhelming numbers, as many "as the stars in heaven". The Europeans were accustomed to own land and laid claim to it while they considered the Indians to be nomads with no interest to claim land ownership. The conflicts led to the Indian Wars, the Indian Removal Act empowered by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 and other acts instituted by the Europeans in order to accomplish their objectives, as they viewed them at the time. In these wars the Indian tribes were at a great disadvantage because of their modest numbers, nomadic life, lack of advanced weapons, and unwillingness to cooperate, even in their own defense." (Unknown: 2007)
"The end of the wars more or less coincided with the end of the 19th century. The last major war was not really a war, it was a massacre in 1890 where Indian warriors, women, and children were slaughtered by U.S. cavalrymen at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in a final spasm of ferocity." (Unknown: 2007)
Wounded Knee, Battle of, December 29, 1890, the last important fight between American Indians and United States troops. It is often called a massacre; the band of Sioux involved in it was almost wiped out.
After being restricted to reservations in the Dakotas, the Sioux had turned to a mystic movement known as the Ghost Dance that would, they believed, cause whites to disappear from Indian lands. The federal authorities, fearing an uprising, brought in army units. On December 15, Sitting Bull, the most famous Sioux chief, was killed in a skirmish following an attempt to arrest him. Some of Sitting Bull's followers fled with Chief Big Foot and his band. The U.S. Seventh Cavalry overtook them at Wounded Knee Creek (in what is now South Dakota). As the troopers attempted to disarm the Indians, a shot was fired. (Which side fired the shot is uncertain.) The soldiers then attacked. In the fighting that followed, nearly 300 Sioux, including women and children, were killed; 29 troopers died.
"A stupefying record of greed and treachery, of heroism and pain, had come to an end, a record forever staining the immense history of the westward movement, which in its drama and tragedy is also distinctively and unforgettably American." (Unknown: 2007)
How is it a civilisation living in their own country can be imposed, threatened and eventually ruled? Has this very situation not gone on for years if not centuries?
Hitler's army shows us of the length man has gone to in order to conquer and remove those which impose their society. But one establishes through this that man can achieve this injustice without having to justify. For a nation to be wiped out, who must man answer to? Surely someone? In India we saw the British empire come and rule. A place which they have no cultural relevance to, a place in which is not their home. The greed of man. I ask you, if today we lived in a world where slavery was made the 'norm' would we not follow it too? We don't have to look as far as the past to see our own nation fighting countries and attempting at conquering. Is this not because man is aware they are more powerful and have allies, therefore given a ’right’? Surely a nation can not pick and choose which land it wishes to own? A land which has no relevance to them, but is sacred to someone else. A nations home. Today, we see nation's being destroyed, by a bigger force. If a nation is not as powerful or so injust and corrupt to put up a fight does this mean man can take what it desires?
It was the norm for British to rule India. Do you think a British citizen at that time thought anything wrong with what their government had done? In the same way did the European people see anything 'wrong' with slavery? Sadly, no. Unfortunately we celebrate this as an achievement of us being the great and powerful.
The sketches implanting in our minds of figures brutal and different to us- The native Americans-coarse, straight black hair, dark eyes, sparse body hair, and a skin colour ranging from yellow-brown to reddish brown.Terrorism today can be seen in much the same way. The ideology of bombs and headscarf’s-threatening our minds. The idea of making us believe we live in fear by those different to us. In much the same way Hitler’s Jews were different ’ugly’ and menacing to our minds. Does this not then give the powerful a path to destroy and rule, without having to justify?
Reference
"Battle of Wounded Knee." 27 February 2008. HowStuffWorks.com.
"Return of Casey's scouts from the fight at Wounded Knee, 1890--91."
Native Americans - Wounded Knee, "Big Foot, leader of the Sioux, captured at the battle of Wounded Knee, S.D." Here he lies frozen on the snow-covered battlefield where he died, 1890.
"Big Foot, leader of the Sioux, captured at the battle of Wounded Knee, S.D."
Here he lies frozen on the snow-covered battlefield where he died, 1890.
http://www.nativeamericans.com/WoundedKnee.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment