In my first week of American Indian Studies 210, I have learned more about Indian Americans than I have learned for my whole life. While reading through Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, by Anton Treuer, I was able to hear an Indians side of our history. I was told before that we should not praise Christopher Columbus as much as we do, but I was never really informed of exactly why. In the reading, I was able to finally see the reason. The way the Spaniards treated the natives was horrible. The killing, the raping, and everything else they did to them was inexcusable. I know they were from a different period in time, but even for that time, nobody should have been treated like that. I don’t see how we could let our country be so blind for centuries. We can’t keep teaching our children the false history that we were taught. But, maybe we can spare some of the details until they are older.
On a lighter note, I was very pleased to hear how everyone was treated equal throughout the tribes. Men and women had different roles, yet that was not meant to demean anyone. It was simply how they thrived as a community. Men respected the women for the role they played, and the women respected the men. I personally do not understand how certain men can look down on women with such contempt as they have for some time. I’m not saying men and women have to have specific roles in the complex world that we live in now, I just think we can learn from the way they respect one another for what one can accomplish.
Jake June 16, 2018
I agree with what you said about how we shouldn’t praise Christopher Columbus. It’s so sad and unforgivable what he did. The killings and rapes committed by his men and himself is just straight up disgusting. We should definitely teach our youth about what he was really about and not make him seem like a hero. I totally agree that we should spare the gruesome details from younger students but we should acknowledge that he was wrong.
I also agree that it was awesome about how the natives had a lot more equality than their European counterparts. The world defiantly needs more respect. We need more in our own cities and neighborhoods. I think that if we can attempt to educate people on how natives lived and how their roles were formed and based on equality, our communities would be a lot more pleasurable for everyone.