Picture
this: You move into your dream house. It is in the perfect neighborhood. Your
neighbors are great, and your kids love it there. You live there for years and
then one day new people move in. These people are rude, loud, destructive, and
tear apart the neighborhood with their illegal behavior. Not only are they
horrible neighbors but they sell drugs and they do it on YOUR LAWN! They have guns, and are very scary people, so scary that you
don't say anything. When you finally do say something it is to no avail; the
neighborhood is ruined and your dream shattered. So reluctantly you leave. That
sucks!
Similarly,
the Indians or Native Americans were run off their
land losing their homes. They lost the place where they ate, slept, worked, and
carried out their spiritual practices. Their way of life was erased by the new
comers that were greedy and felt superior. They ruined hundreds of people lives,
ripping apart the natives homes, beliefs, culture, and livelihood. The
Europeans took advantage of the natives using them; sucking them and their land
dry and then forced the natives to move.
I feel really bad for the natives who seemed
to have good intent and seemed like good, loving people. They helped the
Europeans and taught them how to survive on the land. It is really disgusting
when I think about the disregard for others. The Europeans only worried about
themselves and how things benefited them. I did some research and found this: "Europeans
invaded, gave Native Americans incurable diseases, took their property and
livestock, in many cases killed their women and children, took their hunting
and fishing grounds, burned their houses and villages, forced them on Death
Marches 1000 miles long, many at gunpoint, purposely gave them blankets full of
small pox in freezing weather, starved them, humiliated them, raped, pillaged,
and plundered them, broke all of their treaties, and committed many other
countless crimes". It is really hard to believe that human beings can do
that to one another but as history shows, it happens all the time! And
so I guess it is safe to say when the Europeans arrived, there went the
neighborhood for the Native Americans.