Module 2 Reflection

History. According to The Oxford dictionary the definition of history is “ the study of past events, particularly in human affairs.” So rightfully when individuals go on their quest to find themselves or understand who they are, we typically want to start at the beginning. But the beginning does not stop at the birth of the person on the quest but more so their ancestry. So when you want to explore your ancestral history what better way obtain the information than to pick up a book whose entire focus is history. Upon reading these passages I began to think about the movie “Apocalypto”directed by Mel Gibson. In this movie he showed the Mayan kingdom and the amount of structure that was had within the different cultures that inhabited these vast lands. And in this movie there was not one horse in sight. But at the end of the movie he gives a glimpse of approaching ships with settlers aboard them and even some who have made contact with land and had some of the Natives in chains.
While going through the different readings a few particularly peaked my interest: “The Truth About Textbooks”, “Correcting Myths and Misconceptions” and “Native America on the Eve of Contact.” Although these passages were insightful they seemed to cause some conflict within me based off of the things I was taught in grade school and even the books I have read for history classes in college. The First Founders were always described as either Christopher Columbus or other early settlers who seemed to discover the Americas and started to establish America. The Americas were made out to be mass areas of land that were not inhabited by any other cultures and were free to establish a society that the Europeans deemed profitable and acceptable by their standards. Making it seem as though the Native Americans had no important roles in how America was established. However the passage “Correcting Myths and Misconceptions,” quickly dethroned that theory.
In the “Correcting Myths and Misconceptions” passage it is stated that Native Americans contributed to many things such as: modern medicine, art, architecture and ecology. Even when Dr. Petersen brings up the fact about the sophisticated agriculture and the interesting fact of how “Indians originated the cultivation of corn, pumpkins, beans and etc.” This seems to lay to rest that the Native Americans had very little to contribute to the the establishment and the progression of the Americas. But what these passages have shown are not only did they have much to contribute but they also contributed to the continent of Asia and many other European countries. Finding out these many facts was not so much shocking but more so appalling. It goes to show the amount of superiority that Europeans had given themselves over the Natives and even the notion of present Americans to try and diminish the accomplishments of an entire culture by taking the credit for themselves. When you think your way of thinking is better than another its common that you try and force your opinions and  ideologies on that person. But what happens when that person chooses to disagree and stick to their own beliefs? Well it seems that the Native Americans chose to stick with their own customs and were deemed savages by Europeans who did not understand their culture or how a culture of people could lay claim to a land that wasn’t their land on paper.
So what classifies a person to be labeled a savage? In many textbooks that is exactly how Indians were described. The stories of the “First Founders” are typically riddled with descriptions of just how much savagery the Natives expressed including their was of being uncooperative because they failed to come to certain agreements with the Europeans who felt as if they could claim the right to land simply because Natives did not have the “proper paperwork”. In the passage “The Truth About Textbooks”,  each story within the passage gives an account of what happened during the discovery and the hardships that the Europeans faced either on their voyage or from the Indians themselves. It cast the horrible image of Native Americans being savages who rode horseback and were uncivilized and had no structure. Not only do these stories depict nothing but opinions of European settlers but how often historians recycle work and occasionally add their own spin on history.
The way Native Americans are described and the way Europeans, settlers or “First Founders” are described are polar opposites. And the fact that these things are written in history books just goes to show how insensitive, ignorant and unwillingly to admit the facts Europeans are. As if Europeans want to seem as though they had it all figured out and their ways helped establish a great continent. Coexisting is something that we try and still do today, but the oppression of a culture is a trait that European Americans have seemed to keep going. I have never understood the need to wipe out entire histories of cultures and people, what does this accomplish? In my opinion, it only accomplishes the need to stake claim to something that was never truly theirs and give them a reason to be racist and continue to have a superiority complex. Make themselves out to be the superior race and culture, and the fact that they have been allowed to teach this fabricated history to those whose ancestors they stole from is a complete slap in the face. Maybe if people knew the truth the European American nation would not seem so great.

“The Americas”


http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/ModernWorldHistoryTextbook/Imperialism/section_3/turningpoint1.html
“Correcting Myths and Misconceptions”
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3561
“Native America on the Eve of Contact”
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3565
“The Truth About Textbooks”
https://cdn.inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net/2065ba84-4867-4020-a9a4-04424d43b4e9/The%20Truth%20About%20Textbooks-1.pdf?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCIsImtpZCI6ImNkbiJ9.eyJyZXNvdXJjZSI6Ii8yMDY1YmE4NC00ODY3LTQwMjAtYTlhNC0wNDQyNGQ0M2I0ZTkvVGhlJTIwVHJ1dGglMjBBYm91dCUyMFRleHRib29rcy0xLnBkZiIsInVzZXJfaWQiOiI1MTUyMDAwMDAwMDAxNzE5OSIsImlhdCI6MTU2Njc1MTk4OCwiZXhwIjoxNTY2ODM4Mzg4fQ.z5RD-Kohtu1lWeoQUmXJqIhGzPXChipzjrZH94549cw14dKBjpLsCD5SzrVz7KASscHgh3gJEvVg1JXkoh316Q&download=1&content_type=application%2Fpdf