NATIVE AMERICAN GENOCIDE
1492-1900
European Colonization of the Americas
Death Toll Estimates: between 15-60 million
There is a lack of records that determine the total deaths and the differentiation between death by disease and by massacre.
European Colonization of the Americas
Death Toll Estimates: between 15-60 million
There is a lack of records that determine the total deaths and the differentiation between death by disease and by massacre.
Pre-War/ Conflict
Indians were the indigenous settlement in North America. In 1492, Christopher Columbus made a voyage across the Atlantic and established European settlements in what became known as the "New World". Upon their arrival, Europeans thought themselves to be the superior culture and brought civilization to this new world.
What Led to the Conflict
Their different views on land and spirituality brought conflict as the European settlers wanted to expand an empire and the Native Americans wanted to preserve their sacred land. European settlers wanted the Native Americans to assimilate into their culture. The battles and massacres were their ways of suppressing the distinctive culture of the Natives.
Life During Conflict
The Europeans didn’t want the American Indians to continue being the majority in the United States. The median death toll is considered around 40 million Native Americans. Many died due to disease, displacement, and battles over land. War waged on for years and killed a small percentage of Indians. Although the Europeans were considered enemies, Native Americans allied with the British and French on multiple occasions during warfare. Peace treaties were signed but rarely made a difference. Foreign diseases destroyed populations. Captured Native American women were sterilized to prevent births and children were forced to assimilate into the European culture brought to the "New World".
Many Indians suffered from exposure, disease and starvation. “Indian Removal Act of 1830” policy was implemented to clear the land for white settlers. In 1831, the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw Native Americans were forced to embark on a 2,200 mile journey towards their new land in Oklahoma known as the Trail of Tears. Many Natives died on the Trail of Tears, including 4,000 of 15,000 Cherokees. By 1837, 46,000 Native Americans from these southeastern states had been removed from their homelands thereby opening 25 million acres for predominantly white settlement.
Europeans had developed immunity to diseases that were widespread in Europe and brought over to the "New World". The Americas were considered "virgin soil" and the exposure depleted approximately 95% of Native American populations. Diseases, like small pox, were deadly to the Native Americans due to lack of immunity. European settlers had inherited the immunities and carried the diseases over. Some estimates indicate 80-90% of Native American deaths were due to Small Pox epidemics. Other disease epidemics included typhus, influenza, diphtheria and measles.
“There were too few Spaniards to have killed the millions of Indians.”
They targeted American Indian children with violence. Forts were erected by Jesuits, in which indigenous youths were incarcerated, indoctrinated with non-indigenous Christian values, forced into manual labor and immersed in boarding schools. Children were forbidden to speak their native languages, forced to shed familiar clothing for uniforms, cut their hair, and endure harsh discipline. Children were often verbally and physically abused by their white teachers. A few American Indian children were able to run away, others died of illness and some died of homesickness.
“Kill the Indian to save the man.” – Capt. Richard Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Many Indians suffered from exposure, disease and starvation. “Indian Removal Act of 1830” policy was implemented to clear the land for white settlers. In 1831, the Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw Native Americans were forced to embark on a 2,200 mile journey towards their new land in Oklahoma known as the Trail of Tears. Many Natives died on the Trail of Tears, including 4,000 of 15,000 Cherokees. By 1837, 46,000 Native Americans from these southeastern states had been removed from their homelands thereby opening 25 million acres for predominantly white settlement.
Europeans had developed immunity to diseases that were widespread in Europe and brought over to the "New World". The Americas were considered "virgin soil" and the exposure depleted approximately 95% of Native American populations. Diseases, like small pox, were deadly to the Native Americans due to lack of immunity. European settlers had inherited the immunities and carried the diseases over. Some estimates indicate 80-90% of Native American deaths were due to Small Pox epidemics. Other disease epidemics included typhus, influenza, diphtheria and measles.
“There were too few Spaniards to have killed the millions of Indians.”
They targeted American Indian children with violence. Forts were erected by Jesuits, in which indigenous youths were incarcerated, indoctrinated with non-indigenous Christian values, forced into manual labor and immersed in boarding schools. Children were forbidden to speak their native languages, forced to shed familiar clothing for uniforms, cut their hair, and endure harsh discipline. Children were often verbally and physically abused by their white teachers. A few American Indian children were able to run away, others died of illness and some died of homesickness.
“Kill the Indian to save the man.” – Capt. Richard Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Trail of Tears
Aftermath of Conflict/ Current Affairs
Children who were separated from their families either never saw them again, or saw them later in adulthood. They had been ‘brainwashed’ with colonial thinking. They no longer knew their native language and were strangers to their own culture. There was a void of not belonging in the native world or the white man’s world. This confusion and loss of cultural identity, leads to suicide, drinking and violence among the assimilated American Indians.
Indian youth have the highest rate of suicide among all ethnic groups in the U.S. and it is the second leading cause of death for Native youth aged 15-24.
Native infants die at a rate of 8.5 per every 1,000 live births, as compared to 6.8 per 1,000 for the U.S. all races population
The poverty rate is 21.2 percent for Indian families, as compared with 10.2 percent nationally.
Indians do not get payments from the government for being Indian. However a tribe or individual may receive payment of income from their lands and resources that the federal government administers for them, such as fees collected from grazing leases.
Unemployment averages 8.6 percent for Native Americans nationally. Real per capita income of Indians living on reservations is still less than half of the national average and unemployment is still double the rest of the country.
Indian youth have the highest rate of suicide among all ethnic groups in the U.S. and it is the second leading cause of death for Native youth aged 15-24.
Native infants die at a rate of 8.5 per every 1,000 live births, as compared to 6.8 per 1,000 for the U.S. all races population
The poverty rate is 21.2 percent for Indian families, as compared with 10.2 percent nationally.
Indians do not get payments from the government for being Indian. However a tribe or individual may receive payment of income from their lands and resources that the federal government administers for them, such as fees collected from grazing leases.
Unemployment averages 8.6 percent for Native Americans nationally. Real per capita income of Indians living on reservations is still less than half of the national average and unemployment is still double the rest of the country.
Native American Timeline
The Stolen Generation/ Australian Aboriginals
About 100,000 children were stolen between 1869-1969. This number is just an estimate because few records were kept, some were deliberately destroyed, or just lost.
Pre War/ Conflict
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
There are two distinct groups of Indigenous peoples of Australia - Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal people are people who traditionally lived on mainland Australia and Torres Strait Islanders traditionally lived on a group of islands off the north east of Australia known as the Torres Strait. Together Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders are often referred to as Indigenous peoples or Indigenous Australians.
Indigenous Australians were the first people to live on the continent (and the surrounding islands) that is now known as Australia. There is evidence that Indigenous peoples have lived in Australia for over 70,000 years, or even up to 120,000 years, making them some of the oldest, if not THE oldest, surviving civilisations in the world today. Some 500 - 700 Aboriginal nations existed, each with their own systems of government, languages, cultural practices, religions and traditions.
There are two distinct groups of Indigenous peoples of Australia - Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal people are people who traditionally lived on mainland Australia and Torres Strait Islanders traditionally lived on a group of islands off the north east of Australia known as the Torres Strait. Together Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders are often referred to as Indigenous peoples or Indigenous Australians.
Indigenous Australians were the first people to live on the continent (and the surrounding islands) that is now known as Australia. There is evidence that Indigenous peoples have lived in Australia for over 70,000 years, or even up to 120,000 years, making them some of the oldest, if not THE oldest, surviving civilisations in the world today. Some 500 - 700 Aboriginal nations existed, each with their own systems of government, languages, cultural practices, religions and traditions.
What Led to the Conflict
Under the White Austraila and assimilation policies Aboriginal and Torries Strait Islander people that were not "full blooded" were encouraged to become assimilated into the broader society, eliminating all of the Indigenous people. Indiginous children were taken from their parents, leaving them known as the Stolen Generation.
Life During the Conflict
Children were taken from Aboriginal parents in hope to raise them "white" and for them to reject their Aboriginality. Some children were never told they were Aboriginal, and didn't discover this until later in life.
"There is no black or white, we are both of those. I am black and I am white. We were the product of white men raping our taditional women. We were an embarrassment. No-one wanted us. They just wanted us out of the way." - Zita Wallace (taken at age eight)
After the children were "stolen", they were then placed in church or state institutions,fostered or adopted by white parents. Children were expected to become servents or labourers, mostly in low grade domestic and farm work. Many of the stolen boy and girls were physically and sexually abused as well.
When being placed in an instituation, boy and girls were seperated. This is very similar and would later compare to the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Many children did try to run away, but were unsuccessful. At the age of eighteen, they were released into the "white" society, but still scarred from their life experiences.
"Sometimes at night we'd cry with hunger. We had to scrounge in the town dump, eating old bread, smashing tomato sauce bottles, licking them." - Bringing Them Home- Community Guide, children's experiences
"There is no black or white, we are both of those. I am black and I am white. We were the product of white men raping our taditional women. We were an embarrassment. No-one wanted us. They just wanted us out of the way." - Zita Wallace (taken at age eight)
After the children were "stolen", they were then placed in church or state institutions,fostered or adopted by white parents. Children were expected to become servents or labourers, mostly in low grade domestic and farm work. Many of the stolen boy and girls were physically and sexually abused as well.
When being placed in an instituation, boy and girls were seperated. This is very similar and would later compare to the concentration camps during the Holocaust. Many children did try to run away, but were unsuccessful. At the age of eighteen, they were released into the "white" society, but still scarred from their life experiences.
"Sometimes at night we'd cry with hunger. We had to scrounge in the town dump, eating old bread, smashing tomato sauce bottles, licking them." - Bringing Them Home- Community Guide, children's experiences
The most famous institutions are as followed:
Bomaderry Children's Home Parramatta Girl's Home
Cootamundra Aboriginal Girl's Home Kahlin Compound
Kinchela Aboriginal Boy's Home The Bungalow
Mittagong Boy's Home Box Hill Boys Home
Kempsey
Pictured to the left is the Institutions in New South Wales, where stolen Aboriginal children were brought to be trained as domestics or labourers.
Bomaderry Children's Home Parramatta Girl's Home
Cootamundra Aboriginal Girl's Home Kahlin Compound
Kinchela Aboriginal Boy's Home The Bungalow
Mittagong Boy's Home Box Hill Boys Home
Kempsey
Pictured to the left is the Institutions in New South Wales, where stolen Aboriginal children were brought to be trained as domestics or labourers.
Aftermath of Conflict
Children that were apart of the Stolen Generation are often still suffering from or showing:
Loneliness
Low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness
Loss of identity
Mistrusting everyone
Difficulties to find their religious beliefs
Internal guilt
Anguish of searching for their identity
Depression
Loss of cultural affiliation
Loss of language
A change in administration led to a national apology from the government for the Stolen Generations, and the country as a whole celebrates Sorry Day. The new administration also reversed the country’s opposition to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. But there is still along way to go. Indigenous peoples on average live 17 years less than non-Indigenous people, and every measure of social and physical welfare, from infant mortality to nutrition to health, housing, education, and employment, is significantly lower for Aboriginal Australians than for non-Indigenous Australians.
Indigenous groups in Australia are increasingly well organized and successful. They have in recent years made some impressive gains in land claims, but the process of claiming land rights and the legal framework in which it operates still strongly favors the state and creates unnecessary hurdles for Indigenous Peoples.
Loneliness
Low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness
Loss of identity
Mistrusting everyone
Difficulties to find their religious beliefs
Internal guilt
Anguish of searching for their identity
Depression
Loss of cultural affiliation
Loss of language
A change in administration led to a national apology from the government for the Stolen Generations, and the country as a whole celebrates Sorry Day. The new administration also reversed the country’s opposition to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. But there is still along way to go. Indigenous peoples on average live 17 years less than non-Indigenous people, and every measure of social and physical welfare, from infant mortality to nutrition to health, housing, education, and employment, is significantly lower for Aboriginal Australians than for non-Indigenous Australians.
Indigenous groups in Australia are increasingly well organized and successful. They have in recent years made some impressive gains in land claims, but the process of claiming land rights and the legal framework in which it operates still strongly favors the state and creates unnecessary hurdles for Indigenous Peoples.
Timeline of Events
1869- The Aborigines Protection Act establishes an Aboriginal Protection Board in Victoria, giving the Governor the power to order the removal of any child from their family to a reformatory or industrial school
1883- The New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board is established to manage the lives of 9,000 people
1897- The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of Sale of Opium Act allows the “Chief Protector” to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and hold children in dormitories.
1905- The Aborigines Act is passed. Under the act the Chief Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and “half-caste” child under the age of sixteen.
1911- The Chief Protector is replaced by the Aborigines Protection Board in 1939 and guardianship power is repealed in 1962. The Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance gives the Chief Protector power to assume custody of any Aboriginal or “half-caste” if it is necessary or desirable.
1915- The Aborigines Protection Amending Act gives power to the Aboriginal Protection Board to separate Indigenous children from their families without a court hearing.
1940- The NSW Aborigines Protection Board loses its power to remove Indigenous children.
1969- All states have repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of “protection”. In the following years, Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies are set up to contest removal applications and provide alternatives to the removal of Indigenous children from their families.
1980- The first Link- Up Aboriginal Corporation is established in NSW. It provided family tracing, reunion, and support services for forcibly removed children and their families.
1983- The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle is introduced in the Northern Territory, aiming to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary.
1997 to Present- Apology and Reconciliation Events and Awards have been taking place.
1883- The New South Wales Aborigines Protection Board is established to manage the lives of 9,000 people
1897- The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of Sale of Opium Act allows the “Chief Protector” to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and hold children in dormitories.
1905- The Aborigines Act is passed. Under the act the Chief Protector is made the legal guardian of every Aboriginal and “half-caste” child under the age of sixteen.
1911- The Chief Protector is replaced by the Aborigines Protection Board in 1939 and guardianship power is repealed in 1962. The Northern Territory Aboriginals Ordinance gives the Chief Protector power to assume custody of any Aboriginal or “half-caste” if it is necessary or desirable.
1915- The Aborigines Protection Amending Act gives power to the Aboriginal Protection Board to separate Indigenous children from their families without a court hearing.
1940- The NSW Aborigines Protection Board loses its power to remove Indigenous children.
1969- All states have repealed the legislation allowing for the removal of Aboriginal children under the policy of “protection”. In the following years, Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Agencies are set up to contest removal applications and provide alternatives to the removal of Indigenous children from their families.
1980- The first Link- Up Aboriginal Corporation is established in NSW. It provided family tracing, reunion, and support services for forcibly removed children and their families.
1983- The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle is introduced in the Northern Territory, aiming to ensure that Indigenous children are placed with Indigenous families when adoption or fostering is necessary.
1997 to Present- Apology and Reconciliation Events and Awards have been taking place.
Glossary of Terms
Aboriginal- original or earliest known; native; indigenous
Aboriginal Australians- people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continent.
Deracination- The uprooting or destruction of a race and its culture
Eurocentrism- The practice of viewing the world from a European perspective
Indigenous peoples- refer ethnic groups that have historical ties to groups that existed in a specific territory prior to the colonization or formation of a nation state.
Torres Strait Islanders- indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia.
Aboriginal Australians- people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continent.
Deracination- The uprooting or destruction of a race and its culture
Eurocentrism- The practice of viewing the world from a European perspective
Indigenous peoples- refer ethnic groups that have historical ties to groups that existed in a specific territory prior to the colonization or formation of a nation state.
Torres Strait Islanders- indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia.
Books
Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing
Written by a collaboration of Paula Gunn Allen, Simon Ortiz, Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Maurice Kenny, as well as emerging writers from different Indian nations.
After five centuries of Eurocentrism, many people have little idea that Native American tribes still exist, or which traditions belong to what tribes. However over the past decade there has been a rising movement to accurately describe Native cultures and histories. In particular, people have begun to explore the experience of urban Indians—individuals who live in two worlds struggling to preserve traditional Native values within the context of an ever-changing modern society. In Genocide of the Mind, the experience and determination of these people is recorded in a revealing and compelling collection of essays that brings the Native American experience into the twenty-first century.
After five centuries of Eurocentrism, many people have little idea that Native American tribes still exist, or which traditions belong to what tribes. However over the past decade there has been a rising movement to accurately describe Native cultures and histories. In particular, people have begun to explore the experience of urban Indians—individuals who live in two worlds struggling to preserve traditional Native values within the context of an ever-changing modern society. In Genocide of the Mind, the experience and determination of these people is recorded in a revealing and compelling collection of essays that brings the Native American experience into the twenty-first century.
A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas 1492- Present
By Ward Churchill
Ward Churchill has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues in North America. Here, he explores the history of holocaust and denial in this hemisphere, beginning with the arrival of Columbus and continuing on into the present. He frames the matter by examining both "revisionist" denial of the nazi-perpatrated Holocaust and the opposing claim of its exclusive "uniqueness," using the full scope of what happened in Europe as a backdrop against which to demonstrate that genocide is precisely what has been-and still is-carried out against the American Indians.
Ward Churchill has achieved an unparalleled reputation as a scholar-activist and analyst of indigenous issues in North America. Here, he explores the history of holocaust and denial in this hemisphere, beginning with the arrival of Columbus and continuing on into the present. He frames the matter by examining both "revisionist" denial of the nazi-perpatrated Holocaust and the opposing claim of its exclusive "uniqueness," using the full scope of what happened in Europe as a backdrop against which to demonstrate that genocide is precisely what has been-and still is-carried out against the American Indians.
American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World
By David Stannard
For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.
For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.
Night of the Full Moon
By Gloria Whelan
Historical fiction about two girls (one Potawatomi, one white) trying to escape from a forced relocation westward.
Historical fiction about two girls (one Potawatomi, one white) trying to escape from a forced relocation westward.
The Burnt Stick
By Anthony Hill
When John Jagamarra was five, he was taken away from his mother and home in an Australian aboriginal camp. John was half-white, and the law said he had to be educated in a mission school to learn the ways of white people. But John never forgot his real home - or his mother, who dared to trick the men from the welfare department by darkening him with a burnt stick to hide his light skin. A poignant tale of painful separation, abiding love, and enduring memory.
When John Jagamarra was five, he was taken away from his mother and home in an Australian aboriginal camp. John was half-white, and the law said he had to be educated in a mission school to learn the ways of white people. But John never forgot his real home - or his mother, who dared to trick the men from the welfare department by darkening him with a burnt stick to hide his light skin. A poignant tale of painful separation, abiding love, and enduring memory.
Two Hands Together
By Dianna Kidd
When the Rileys move in next door, Lily and Ella become the best of friends. But Lily can't understand why her Dad doesn't like the Rileys. Why doesn't he want them to go over there? Why is he being so horrible and mean? Does something big have to happen to change his mind?
When the Rileys move in next door, Lily and Ella become the best of friends. But Lily can't understand why her Dad doesn't like the Rileys. Why doesn't he want them to go over there? Why is he being so horrible and mean? Does something big have to happen to change his mind?
As I Grew Older
By Ian Abdulla
Through his own paintings and text, Ian Abdulla gives a vivid picture of an Aboriginal family living on the River Murray in the 1950s. Times were tough and the children got extra money by bringing home sheep’s heads from the slaughterhouse, but there was also a lot of fun shown when they went to a rodeo, caught Murray cod and other bush tucker. His naïve-style paintings capture the life of those times and also the beauty of the River Murray.
Through his own paintings and text, Ian Abdulla gives a vivid picture of an Aboriginal family living on the River Murray in the 1950s. Times were tough and the children got extra money by bringing home sheep’s heads from the slaughterhouse, but there was also a lot of fun shown when they went to a rodeo, caught Murray cod and other bush tucker. His naïve-style paintings capture the life of those times and also the beauty of the River Murray.
Tangara
By Nan Chauncy
A moving time-slip story set in Tasmania. It is regarded as a classic and is part-fantasy, part history and through the friendship of two girls reveals terrible secrets of the relations between early settlers and the Indigenous peoples.
A moving time-slip story set in Tasmania. It is regarded as a classic and is part-fantasy, part history and through the friendship of two girls reveals terrible secrets of the relations between early settlers and the Indigenous peoples.
Works Cited
http://reconciliaction.org.au/nsw/education-kit/stolen-generations/
http://www.eniar.org/stolengenerations.html
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/a-guide-to-australias-stolen-generations
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1650953/Timeline-Stolen-Generations
http://www.australed.iinet.net.au/aust_aborigines.html
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-effects-and-consequences
http://www.operationmorningstar.org/genocide_of_native_americans.htm
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-indianwartimeline.html
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/australia
http://www.stolengens.org.au/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998067,00.html
http://www.homahotaconsulting.com/faqs.html
http://www.native-languages.org/children-books.htm
http://reconciliaction.org.au/nsw/education-kit/about/
http://www.eniar.org/stolengenerations.html
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/a-guide-to-australias-stolen-generations
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1650953/Timeline-Stolen-Generations
http://www.australed.iinet.net.au/aust_aborigines.html
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-effects-and-consequences
http://www.operationmorningstar.org/genocide_of_native_americans.htm
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-indianwartimeline.html
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/australia
http://www.stolengens.org.au/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,998067,00.html
http://www.homahotaconsulting.com/faqs.html
http://www.native-languages.org/children-books.htm
http://reconciliaction.org.au/nsw/education-kit/about/
