Mulu Berehe
05/15/14.
Essay # 3. “What Sacagawea means to me” There are many contradictions in life, yet none as influential in everyone’s life as the idea of colonization. In “What Sacagawea Means to Me,” Sherman Alexie illustrates how colonization is a contradiction. He states “colonization might be a natural process, tragic and violent to be sure, but predictable and ordinary as well, and possibly necessary for the advance, however constructive and destructive, of all civilizations.” I agree that colonization does have both positive and negative effects. Colonization causes many changes in the lives of the people being colonized and those changes can be both good and bad. To me the ideal form of colonization would be how the missionaries who came to Ethiopia did it.
European colonization resulted in many negative effects on the Native Americans. Colonization lead to the destruction of the Native Americans’ life as they knew it. Within a short period of time their way of life was changed forever. The changes were caused by a number of factors, including loss of land, disease, enforced laws which violated their culture and much more. When the Europeans arrived they brought with them diseases unknown to the natives. The natives had no immunity to these unknown diseases, so they were easily infected and died from these diseases. This lead to massive deaths in Native American communities as they came into contact with the settlers. The killing of natives was not just done by these unknown diseases but also by the settlers themselves. As the settlers moved farther inland they encountered more and more natives; when the Natives tried to defend their land, they were killed off by the incoming settlers and forced away from their native lands on which they had lived for hundreds of years. Due to this forced migration from their native lands, inland tribes that had little or no contact with each other now found themselves having to hunt and gather on the same lands. Once they started to move, fights over territory broke out; groups who previously had plenty of food. Now didn't have enough. But colonization wasn’t only negative Alexie states, “In the end, I wonder if colonization might somehow be magical.” I agree that colonization can have transformative, almost magical effect for the colonized people. For example, Ethiopia was invaded by Italy in the 1930’s.The invaders brought with them innovation as well as big guns and tanks. Thanks to Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, roads were built, creating an infrastructure that previously had been nonexistent. The Italians created the roads for transportation and mobilizing their troops, but by creating these roads they also increased transportation and communication for and among the Ethiopian people. This lead to better communication among the rulers of the different provinces that made up Ethiopia, leading to a better ruled country. The Native Americans also witnessed the positive effects of colonization. The colonizers brought guns which made a huge impact on the hunting lifestyle of the natives. Also the settlers introduced horses and horseback riding to the natives which also transformed the way the natives hunted but also the way and speed that the natives travelled. In addition, the settlers introduced civilized reading and writing to the natives which they had no access to before
The colonization of America by European settlers could have been good if they did it in a good way like the colonization of Ethiopia by western missionaries. It was not by force or against the peoples’ will. Instead, the change they caused in Ethiopia was a voluntary change by the people of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is known as Christian country, but the southern part of Ethiopia was mostly pagan. The missionaries brought modern civilization to the southern part of Ethiopia: education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. As a result of this, the southern part of Ethiopia became the most educated part of Ethiopia. The missionaries not only taught the people the Bible, but also educated them. The missionaries started schools’ for the society, built roads, and provided clean water. They helped provide food, clothing, and health care for the people who needed it. The missionaries gave up living in their country with their clean homes, comfy beds, balanced diets and clean water to live in substandard conditions so they could change the lives of Ethiopian people. They were humble, kind and paid a price to give others a better life. Some of them were killed by wild animals, while others suffered from tropical illness and died. It was not only the missionaries themselves that gave up all modern comforts to serve others, but also their families who accompanied them
Colonization cannot simply be defined as good or bad. It is a complicated situation, and is marked with many negative and positive side effects. Colonization is both a constructive and destructive force, it brings modern civilization to places that would otherwise not have it while destroying the lifestyle and culture of the natives. It is in understanding this that I agree with Alexie in saying that colonization is a contradiction, it brings both good and bad, destruction and construction.