The contact between the indigenous people of the Americas
The
contact between the indigenous people of the Americas started way back
in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered these new lands. Before
this period there were minimal contacts between the two groups as this
land was not known to the Europeans. This led to the wrong impression
that Christopher Columbus discovered the American land yet there were
people who were already occupying the area. This contact increased
during the colonization of the region by the Europeans. (Marder, W.
2005)The 16th century presents an important period as far as the contact
between the two groups is concerned. In this paper I will discuss the
contacts between the indigenous people of the Americans with the
Europeans highlighting the positive and negative influence this had on
the people in this region.
The
contact between the indigenous people and the Europeans in the
Americans brought two groups of people who were totally different in so
many ways. The two groups of people perceived the world in different
ways and had cultures which were worlds apart. The Europeans could not
understand how the indigenous could have so much wealth and yet remain
unexploited. They did not comprehend their perception of ownership of
land. To the Europeans land was a symbol of wealth and power but to the
indigenous it was a community property which was for the benefit of all
members. They took from the land what was important at any particular
time while leaving the rest and taking good care of it. The
misunderstandings between the two groups brought a lot of conflicts
between them .The Europeans were more industrialized than the local
people and had advanced means to coerce the locals to give away their
resources. The dominant European culture forced the indigenous people to
change in so many aspects. (Marder, W. 2005)
The contact between the Europeans and the indigenous people in the
Americans had considerable influence on the two groups. This influence
was both positively and negatively. The early sixteenth century saw the
number of Europeans rise in America. It is estimated that more than two
hundred thousands Europeans entered this region inspired by the Spanish
wealth from its colonies. When these people came to America their first
activity was to exploit the vast resources which were found in this
area. This led to displacement of the indigenous people. They Europeans
had superior weapons than the local people therefore they were able to
move them easily with minimal resistance. The locals lost their lands
and were moved to areas which were deemed to be unproductive. This
disrupted their ways of life as they could not continue with some of
activities which were part and parcel of their daily lives. These
activities included hunting and gathering in the vast lands which
covered most parts of the region. (Crystal, D 2002)
The
indigenous people were forced to adopt the Europeans ways of life
following the dominations of their areas by the foreigners. They adopted
their language and culture; this involved modifying their modes of
dressing adopting the Europeans clothes, changing their livelihood,
feeding habits among other aspects of their culture. There was an
introduction of new crops to the region making the indigenous people to
take up the new farming methods which guaranteed increased food
production. (Gray, A 1987)
The
Europeans not only introduced new crops and clothes, they also brought
with them sophisticated weapons which were very effective in hunting.
Introduction of guns into the region revolutionized the hunting industry
in the area.Indingenous people initially used the less effective tools
such as arrows and spears to hunt for meat but with coming of the guns
they were able to increase their production. Introduction of these tools
enhanced hunting as well as increasing the warfare activities in this
region. With the newly acquired tools for fighting the warfare in the
region increased and the fatalities increased too. Alcohol was not
common in the region, Europeans introduced this drink to the locals who
did not know how to use it in moderation; this caused a lot of problems
with this group of people as some of them became alcohol addicts.
(Marder, W. 2005)
The
notable effect of the contact between the two cultures was the decline
in population of the indigenous population. There are several factors
which have been attributed to this trend with scholars pointing out at
increased warfare and introduction of new diseases as the leading
causes. The indigenous people were not prone to the some of the diseases
which were considered European. (Kent, R 2006) That is these diseases
were not common in the region. The locals had not built up enough
immunity to be in a position to resist some of the attacks. The
Europeans had built good immunity for these killer diseases which have
at one time in the history of Europe wiped a huge population. These
killer diseases were introduced intentionally to these populations due
to the contact between the two groups. One of the killer diseases was
the small pox which led to so many deaths such that the entire
population of the indigenous people was threatened. The disease alone
was responsible for the reduction of the indigenous population from
twenty million at the time when the contact between the two groups
heightened to less than eight million in the mid sixteenth century.
(Jaimes, A 1992) Other diseases include measles, diphtheria and
diarrhoea.They equally posed a similar problem for the local population.
Some quarters have argued that these diseases were deliberately
introduced by the Europeans as a means through which the indigenous
population would be reduced so as to ease the process of colonization.
This theory has been refuted with the explanation that the locals could
not withstand the diseases due to lack of immunity whereas the Europeans
only carried the disease causing organism but could not be attacked as
they had developed some levels of immunity.
The
contact between the two groups changed the way of life for the
indigenous people. The changes impacted positively and negatively for
these people. This interaction further led to colonization of the region
completely changing the face of the Americans.
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