Introduction
The colonization of America was a very violent chapter in American history and had left a scar that is still felt by many Native Americans to this day. Colonization by the very nature of it being a overtaking of land of one group by another is inherently violent as the history of the world’s colonization continues to this day. Since the violence is not a scare that can be removed it is appropriate to spend time measuring the effectiveness of it.
The Effects Today
There is no denying when one looks at the severity of the colonization of America that the desired effect was to eradicate the Native Americans. The European explorer depicted the Native Americans as savages. To the Europeans the life of the Native American needed to be stamped out so as not to degrade this land that they wanted to own and develop without any compromises . The economic motive prompted and perpetuated the violence long after many of the settlers learned to live with the Native Americans.
Many Native Americans live today with the social and political effects of the colonization efforts of the Europeans. Poverty and reservation life is the result of the implication that the Native Americans carried diseases and need to be a separate group unto themselves. Since Native Americans were forced to live on reservations, employment opportunities were limited and many are forced to deal with poverty level subsistence .
The attempt by the government to help the plight of the Indians has been successful in some areas with the advent of the casino gambling on reservations and not unprotected lands. The gasoline and tobacco sales have helped to somewhat increase the economy of the Indians on reservations in the modern day. The scar of the colonization period still is felt on the reservation though. In 1988, the first Indian Gaming Regulatory Act gave the Indian tribes the right to have adequate rights as the primary beneficiary of gaming operations.
Many of the tribes today still suffer the destruction of their families by the forcible removal of their children to live in centers not on the reservation in an attempt to relocate thousands of Natives to cities. . This breaking down of the family unit is a fundamental problem for the Native Americans as much of their culture is family oriented. The worry that this is an attempt at genocide and the downfall of their race is at the heart of the move. To the Native American who is so rich in tradition, the thought of not being able to carry on their customs to the young people is a depressing and ever going atrocity to their race.
Conclusion
Many Native Americans in today’s society have left the reservation and have assimilated well into mainstream America. That is the choice that has been offered. However, the effort is within the group to retain their customs and culture free of the threat of annihilation. The extremely brutal attacks by the Europeans during the colonization period remain a part of the culture and customs of a people who are at the core of their culture a peaceful and sustainable race. Many groups carry the distrust into the lives of modern day America and remain a separate culture for the most part.
References
Burris, T. (2004). How the Gaming Loaws are Doing. Gaming Law Review, [online]http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/glr.2004.8.243. Accessed January 2016.
Genocide, U. t. (2015). Atrocities Against Native Americans. [online] http://endgenocide.org/who-we-are/contact-us/. Accessed January 2016: United to End Genocide.
Perry, B. (2008). Silent Victims. [online] Accessed January 2016.
Tayac, G. (2011). Native responses to the ongoingchallenges of colonialism. [online] http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/native-chesapeake/1806 Accessed January 2016: Learn NC.
