The progression that we as the privileged face has caused the regression of the unprivileged. The Age of Exploration was a time period of laying the stepping stones to progression. However, we were given the advantage to define the word progression. The ignorance that we have put forth in realizing the different definitions of progression is depicted in Ishmael, “‘... the Plain Indians had been agriculturalists for centuries. As soon as horses became readily available, they abandoned agriculture and resumed the hunting-gathering life’”(Quinn 217). The Plain Indians viewed the hunting gathering life as progression and the agricultural life as grim. The age of exploration forced these Indians to work towards a so called “progression” that was …show more content…
They have never been able to use their talents for their own advancements. This sad reality is depicted in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, “But no matter how good I am, my cartoons will never take the place of food or money”(Alexie 7) The trade of food and the boost in economy are some of the highly celebrated outcomes of the age of exploration. However, the people that used their talents to create progression are not the ones who are “progressed.” The Native Americans are dying due to starvation to this day while we the privileged are enjoying the variety in foods due to the Age of Exploration. The result of alcoholism, drug abuse, suicide etc in the indigenous people like the Native Americans are the story of the Leavers according to Ishmael. In the novel Ishmael the answer to the question: Why should people learn the story that they are enacting? Is so that they can know the story that they are destroying. In today's world, after the great time period of the Age of Exploration, we the privileged enact the story of the progressed by destroying the story of the indigenous