Native American Genocide

When hearing the word indigenous people, we tend to think of them as a whole and not as being a part of different individual groups. Each indigenous culture is distinct and unique. However, society still tends to connect some, if not all of the indigenous cultural stories. While many peoples may express similar worldviews and a common indigenous identity, their cultures are nonetheless based on different histories and environments. We might never be able to fully comprehend the amount of struggle that indigenous people faced, but it is important for us to learn about the unseen truth that society hides from the public.

While reading the multiple texts over the last few weeks I was able to gain a better understanding of Indigenous peoples.

However, when hearing the word genocide, the first thing I think of is the famous Holocaust. Before starting this course, I can honestly say that I didn’t know much about the genocide of Native Americans. Surprisingly, not many know about this genocide as they were taught to believe it was not considered genocide. The genocide of Native Americans is by far the most overlooked genocide in history. European colonization of the “New World” directly led to the decline of its indigenous population and resulted in Native Americans becoming second-class citizens in their ethnic homeland. “On average, for every twenty natives alive at the moment of European contact—when the lands of the Americas teemed with numerous tens of millions of people—only one stood in their place when the bloodbath was over.” (14) This quote illustrates the one-sided mass murder of the indigenous people. Another major factor that is connected with the topic of the Native American genocide is residential schools. As the primary objective of the residential school system was to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant