Many settlers, particularly those from European countries, were searching for wealth, particularly land, while the native people of North America relied on them for existence. After being evicted to reserves, Native Indians struggled to survive. Moreover, the Europeans assimilated the children that belonged to the Indigenous Americans through violence. The Native Americans began to enter into several agreements with the Europeans, but the treaties were in their favor and detrimental to the Natives. This essay’s goal is to examine how colonization has impacted Native Americans.
The colonization carried out by the Europeans adversely affected the Native Americans to a greater extent. The conquerors subjugated and domesticated the aboriginal people, who almost wiped out the tribal nations. Native Americans who lived under European colonizers became infected with smallpox and other terrible diseases ( Black, 2021). Slavery was twisted into a form that the Native Americans could never have envisaged. The lousy problem was that the agreements and treaties that were formed by the European Americans with the Native Americans once colonization got underway did not at all favor the natives. The Indigenous people were forced onto reservations due to the colonists’ need for expansion, thus where their struggle to sustain their lifestyle began. Additionally, the European colonization of North America affected the Native Americans in several ways, such as starvation, loss of land and culture, disease, and slavery.
The European practice of residing in apartments near animals like pigs, cows, sheep, goats, and horses caused diseases that were spread to the natives. 10 to 20 million people, or up to 90% of the native population, died from diseases including smallpox, typhus, influenza, diphtheria, and measles after the European colonizers engaged with Natives that resided in North America.
One motive for spreading these diseases to the Native Americans was to make annexing their lands and territories easier. For instance, Chief Jeffery Amherst suggested using smallpox to eradicate Native Americans while serving as the British Commander during the French and Indian War ( Way, 2020). Several indigenous received blankets as a peace treaty during the French and Indian War, but they were tainted with smallpox.
Many people believed that the Native Americans encountered the slave trade due to the Europeans’ colonization of the New World. However, this was untrue, as evidenced by many of them participating in cultures of excessive inter-tribal enslavement. They heavily exploited slavery because they engaged in it on one another. Instead, they replaced those who had perished from sickness or replenished their tribe’s lost fighters with the seized enslaved people. The parts of the slave trade that the Native Americans accepted changed significantly once the Europeans arrived in America and began to dwell there. The changes to the native slave trade as colonization progressed can be explained by the fact that Europeans and local tribes would enslave other tribes and sell them to the settlers. Some of the tasks performed by the Native enslaved Americans included gold mining and tobacco cultivation.
Once European colonization in North America began, the Native Americans lost their cultural norms and beliefs. For instance, when a group of Roman Catholics arrived, they forcibly imposed their religion on the American Indians to alter their culture (Alviar & del Prado, 2022). They also saw that the Native Americans enrolled in residential schools off the reservations. The fact that the natives were required to cut their hair, dress in regular European attire, and speak the same language as the Europeans make this school particularly noteworthy.
The process of colonization was also beneficial because it allowed for the introduction of the Native Americans to firearms, alcohol, and various tools. This is because, for example, the indigenous improved their hunting techniques and made bison hunting less hazardous using horses and rifles. Nonetheless, because they were different and more accessible, the locals benefited from the Europeans. Even though the natives greatly benefited from the Europeans, they had to deal with several issues, such as losing their farmland to colonizers.
Displacement, assimilation, broken treaties, taxes, congressional diminishment, executive decrees, forceful evictions, illegal settlement by non-natives, and fraudulent transactions were reasons the Native Americans lost their lands to the colonizers. Following their seizure of the natives’ property, the colonizers gave the natives some of what they had once possessed. However, this plan failed because the colonizers were overly preoccupied with land, so they chose to sell rather than share.
The Europeans benefited because they thought signing treaties with the indigenous people was appropriate. After all, the Natives did not view land as a privilege. Unfortunately, the colonizers eventually breached the accords. Native Americans were forced to move to other areas after the colonizers repeatedly broke treaties, which led to War between them and the colonizers. Unfortunately, the natives lost the War to the colonizers, who then evicted them from their lands.
Native Americans in North America fought the arrival of colonial powers because they desired control over their territory. The indigenous people experienced several challenges throughout colonialism, such as being forced to work as enslaved people and being exposed to numerous diseases. Due to the European invasion of North America, the indigenous people and their leaders forged coalitions to confront the foreign powers. For support, the English worked with the Iroquois Confederacy and another group made up of tribes that spoke Algonquian and who collaborated with people from the French and Spaniards. The English, who formed alliances with the Iroquois Confederacy, was one of the two factions that prevailed in the conflict with the Europeans. After winning the battle to halt the spread of Europeans in their country, they were granted a portion of the land. Unfortunately, because of their tardiness, the French and Indian War was initiated by the Europeans.
Because the Native Americans were constantly at battle with their neighbors, the conflicts prevented some Native American tribes from cooperating to thwart the European takeover. The native Americans were vulnerable to the colonial era for several reasons, including the fact that they were exposed to European diseases like smallpox, which had a detrimental effect since they could not combat them. Because Europeans spread the diseases, more Native American deaths could be documented, and this was true when more than 90% of the native population perished.
Several epidemics that occurred in North America throughout the 17th and 18th centuries caused the population of the Native Americans to decline, which is another element that facilitated Europeans’ easy access to the Native population in their surroundings. Because some of them were used as a cheap source of labor for nations like Canada, the slave trade also contributed to the native Americans’ susceptibility to European invasion (Lunsford et al.,2021). Further effects of the European invasion of North America include the fact that Europeans were known for their violent and terrible deeds, such as robbery, murder, rape, and kidnapping
Effects of Colonial Encounters To The Indigenous Peoples of North America
Native Americans experienced conflict over their legal matters due to colonial contacts, which became a problem since the Indians were given more opportunities than the Native Americans to have their voices heard. Moreover, European colonization had a detrimental effect on the native Americans, who were hit by epidemics: cultural differences and the loss of their land. Due to a lack of immunity, the diseases the Europeans carried to the North Americans caused suffering and even death. Additionally, due to the Europeans’ introduction of firearms, wine, and horses, the Native Americans’ way of life was also altered. Native Americans underwent modifications due to the introduction of guns, alcohol, and horses. For example, they began using horses and firearms to hunt for sustenance. Furthermore, because they were food insecure, the Native Americans’ cultural groupings were impacted by European colonialism to a significant degree.
Many Native Americans were compelled to convert to Christianity due to the repercussions of colonization. The majority of the communities had practiced some ancestor worship. Therefore this forced a change in religion, eventually changing how they identified as a society. Several native groups were impacted by European colonialism, for instance.
Subarctic Hunters and Fishers
Due to the Europeans’ introduction of firearms, their presence impacted subarctic hunters and fishers. The local wildlife was decimated due to the Europeans using firearms for hunting for meat and fur. Because they were only interested in the fur, the Europeans skinned the animals and left the remainder to the natives. This behavior by the Europeans affected the Native Americans because it caused a food crisis. Also, because some Native American tribes were more violent and robust than others, the introduction of guns by the Europeans caused them to lose some of their cultural heritage.
North West Coast Fishermen
The colonization of North America by Europeans had both short-term and long-term effects. The sea otter pelts on the North Coast attracted the attention of the colonizers since they sold for a high price on the Chinese market, which in turn harmed the livelihood of the Native fisherman who resided there. Also, the Europeans had an impact on native culture, particularly when they introduced to them manufactured goods that were at odds with their way of life. Even though the European colonizers harmed the fishermen along the North West Coast, they were also beneficial because they imparted manners, sobriety, and home hygiene to the locals. The colonizers were also in charge of educating local children, and they achieved this with the help of missionaries.
A depopulation process resulted from the entrance of diseases like the chicken post, which killed off most locals living on the north shore. Adoptions, granting many titles to a single person, and other concessions were regularly used in these depopulation processes to keep the social structure intact despite the north coast’s rapid population reduction due to European colonization. Their culture was significantly impacted by the deaths of the populace brought on by the diseases introduced by European colonization, which occurred when those in charge of preserving culture passed away or were ill. The European colonizers caused several issues for the coastal fisherman, such as a need for a consistent product market, the high cost of their boats and nets, accidents, and seasonal revenue fluctuations.
Native Americans living in the surrounding areas of the North Coast region of America were visited by several European ships due to the colonization process. The introduction of diseases, firearms, and alcohol to the Natives caused significant problems for the citizens of North America. The presence of guns impacted the north coast’s aboriginal population’s way of life, and they continue to struggle with this issue today.
Interior Plateau Foragers
They are a group of Native Americans who lived in North America during the colonial period. The inner plateau foragers were remembered during colonization; the Plains and Plateau peoples were impacted by epidemics of alien diseases and a gradual influx of European trade items. The European colonizers’ introduction of firearms and weaponry to the native people also affected their culture ( Nielsen, (2019). One positive effect of the colonizers on them was the introduction of horses, which helped them overcome transportation issues because they used foot and boats for long-distance travel. Also, the British colonizers gave them firearms, which the plateau foragers utilized for hunting.
Great Basin Desert Foragers
The inhabitants of the Great Basin were hunters and gatherers who grouped into roving, kin-based bands. After they had made certain agreements with the European colonizers, their lives began to change. The invasion of smallpox brought about by European colonizers significantly altered the population. Because so many European colonizers had established commercial posts in the region, more illnesses affected the inhabitants of the great basin. The locals also experienced violence due to the arrival of European colonizers in the area.
However, the colonizers brought about wars such as the Cayuse, Yakima, and Modoc Wars, which forced natives of the Great Basin to live on reservations and eroded their cultural practices and beliefs. Before colonizers took over the Great Basin, the locals lived in families, but for the sake of bargaining and land settlements, the tribes were divided into small groups led by chiefs.
California Foragers
They comprise another group of Native People who experienced colonial impacts. The colonization process caused hardships for the Californian foragers, including sickness, low birthrates, high mortality rates, famine, killings, and massacres. They were also employed as a source of forced labor, with 10,000 and 20,000 employed at any given time. The European colonizers also made care to transform the culture of the California foragers. This was possible because their kids had to attend “Indian assimilation schools.” Furthermore, throughout the 20th century, the California foragers experienced forced assimilation and were subjected to US programs, leading to cultural destruction (Hibbard, (2022). Likewise, the Californian African natives suffered from increased violence and lost their ancestral territory due to the Gold Rush.
The Gold Rush, which was a result of colonization, also had a negative impact on the environment. Rivers became polluted due to the silt buildup; the amount of afforestation to generate wood rose; the biodiversity was threatened; and the soil became polluted due to the chemicals used in the mining process. Moreover, with the Gold Rush, European colonizers established the slave trade.
The Native Americans of North America experienced numerous negative repercussions due to the presence of European colonizers. Because of the diseases that the Europeans brought over, the local populations were greatly diminished. Their cultures were badly influenced, and this was made possible by the Roman Catholics, who drove many Native Americans off their land and onto reservations, forcing them to adopt their culture. The Native Americans’ culture was greatly diminished when the Europeans gave them their tools.
The locals were also impacted. For example, the Transcontinental Railroad’s arrival badly affected the natives because it cut off their primary source of shelter, clothes, and food. The Native American tribes never returned to their former glory after European colonizers arrived in North America. The European invasion of North America significantly impacted the Native American tribes.
References
Alviar, S., & del Prado, A. (2022). “You should pray about it”: Exploring mental health and help-seeking in Filipino American Catholics. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 13(1), 97.
Black, C. A. (2021). James Fenimore Cooper’s and George Catlin’s COVID-19 Crisis: The Cultural Impact of Smallpox on Native American Communities. NATIVE PRESENCE AND SURVIVAL SHAPING NATIVE FUTURES, 6.
Hibbard, M. (2022). Indigenous Planning: From Forced Assimilation to Self-determination. Journal of Planning Literature, 37(1), 17-27.
Lunsford, L., Arthur, M. L., & Porter, C. M. (2021). African and Native American foodways and resilience: From 1619 to COVID-19. Journal of agriculture, food systems, and community development, 10(4), 241.
Nielsen, M. O. (2019). Contextualization for Native American crime and criminal justice involvement. In Native Americans, crime, and justice (pp. 10-19). Routledge.
Way, P. (2020). The cutting edge of culture: British soldiers encounter Native Americans in the French and Indian War. In Empire and others: British encounters with indigenous peoples, 1600–1850 (pp. 123-148). Routledge.
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