However, these acts are only from the 20th century covered Only a couple of pages of this book were enough to bring me to the reality of the holocaust, the author's own word, that these "Indian" Americans have been going through since.
However, these acts are only from the 20th century covered near the end of the book. I think this is what distinguishes this work from other historical books, in that it delivers the whole image of struggle that these indigenous nations have gone through since to modern day resistance in Five different empires are the subject of this examination: Aztecs, Mayas, Incas, Cherokees, and Iroquois.
This is by no means an exclusive list, far from that, many more nations and tribes have had the Americas as their home. Estimates of the populations of these continents range from 70 million to over million, a third of the world's populations then. Reduced to roughly 20 million after only 60 years. Overall the book was clearly a result of some extensive and extra ordinary research, for example going into the Vatican Secret Archives for sources, and at times portraying contradicting narratives of the same encounter: see the bottom of page 22 for a really funny comparison between the Spanish and Aztec narrative.
Although I am tempted to give it a five out five star ranking, I think some of chapters could have used better transitions and where hence hard and slow to digest. I really recommend this book for anyone interested in linking colonization to today's surviving generations and to anyone who is travelling to the region. But one thing for sure is that you can kiss good bye the idea of Christopher Columbus's voyage as being the "discovery" of the "new world" and the "Indians" of America.
Reflecting on Pocahontas after reading this, you begin to see how the conqueror not only eradicates the colonized, but also dictates the narrative. Dec 23, Brian Griffith rated it it was amazing Shelves: history-general , north-america , latin-america.
The writing is so powerful, clear, and riveting. Wright exposes the prejudices involved in a way that just can't be forgotten. Jul 21, Rommel rated it really liked it Shelves: favorites.
I am a descendant of the people whose struggles Ronald chronicles in this book. Reading this was for me an evisceration of my ignorance, an agony-inducing procedure in which a layer of the cancerous tumor of colonization has been removed from my soul.
This book educated me, caused anger, resentment, but more importantly, it nourished my will to become more involved in, not only my own decolonization, but in that of others as well. I won't repeat the book's summary here; I will s Heart-wrenching.
I won't repeat the book's summary here; I will say only two things. It will likely open a door of awareness that will hopefully never close again. My hope is that it will inspire you to uncover more about your roots. Chances are that you will not like it. But, if you are one of those well-intentioned people who want to better understand the underbelly of how racism works in order to help dismantle it, you should read this book.
Also, if you are one of those American assholes against "illegal aliens", read this book. Find out who the real illegal alien is. Probably a little one sided as it says little about the atrocities committed by native Americans before, during, or after invasion - although they are touched on briefly.
It contains Probably a little one sided as it says little about the atrocities committed by native Americans before, during, or after invasion - although they are touched on briefly. It contains all the information American history books are still too afraid to mention. If a child ever complains that north America has no ancient history hand them this book. Beautifully written and a real shame that it had to finish.
One of those long pause and reflect moments. Jul 28, Kalkino rated it really liked it Shelves: history. It also provided some insights, which directly challenged the received wisdom that I had accumulated from other sources.
Turns out I can't trust JT Edson. The story Wright looks at the effects of the conquest upon what he deems to be the five major societies or sta note - this review was written several years ago for a private site I have to admit that this has been one of the more depressing things I have ever read, provoking a reaction similar to what I experienced while watching Hotel Rwanda.
The story Wright looks at the effects of the conquest upon what he deems to be the five major societies or states that existed at the time of contact. The five groups were the Incans, Maya, Aztecs, Cherokee, and Iroquois, each representing a different type of state, ranging from loose tribal federation to centralised Imperial power. Each of the five groups is examined at three different periods in their history of contact, and their progress or decline noted.
The key observation being that whenever this decline has been stabilised or slowed the indigenous group again suffers European initially external or settler attack or oppression.
It just never seems to stop. Cultural genocide was practiced by the occupying Europeans, often till quite recently. Offenders include the occupying power, the local state and the various Christian religious groups, specifically the Catholic Church, and more recently evangelical Christian movements.
The inability of indigenous American populations to throw off the occupying powers in the way that African or Asian colonised peoples did is largely due the massive population loss. In many American countries the occupying European settlers created a regime of racial preference similar to the racist regimes of apartheid South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Such systems exist to this day, but gather little international attention.
There were three things that surprised me, the scale of the deaths due to imported illnesses, the deliberate cultural genocide, and how long this state of affairs has lasted. The last two of which were especially surprising. I find it incredibly hard to believe that people could systematically destroy other cultures in the way that Wright states, but it apparently did happen.
After all, long term occupation and exploitation is hard if the indigenous people are still rebelling. The most shocking part for me was the stories of the Inca and Aztec, how complete their destruction was, how long they have been brutally oppressed by their occupier. The fact that any part of their culture or history still exists is a surprise, and is probably due to the sheer scale of their populations pre contact.
These societies, populations and quality of life have only really recovered to close to pre contact levels since the mid 20th century, and even then not really. To be constantly confronted by the raw facts and figures of the conquest of the Americas, to put a number on the dead, to see listed the crimes, that is a shocking thing.
As a resident of a settler nation that has recently examined its relationship and history with its indigenous population I should not be really surprised by this book, but I am, probably due to the scale of the events. They totally dwarf anything that I have read about in New Zealand or Australia this is not meant to insult indigenous readers.
You want to hope that the litany of tragedy lies in the past, because the modern world would not allow such events to still occur, but it is not to be. The Canadian Mohawk rebellion of , then the Zapatista revolt in Mexico are but two examples of the dissatisfaction that still exists. We may live in the 21st century, but the crimes of the early Modern era still haunt us. Conclusion Wright delivers this information extremely well, using a combination of emotive language and cold, hard facts.
Lest the reader dare think that the terrible events were isolated, that others had it better. The reader is never given the opportunity to think that. To call it compelling reading is an understatement, it is impossible to put down. Read this book if you want to know the sordid truth about the colonisation of the Americas. Jun 18, Hugo Leal rated it it was amazing.
Truly remarkarble book that tells the story of the 'discovery' of the Americas through Indian eyes. As history is always told by the victors, is seen as the beggining of the 'modern world' with all positive connotations associated with it.
But, for the First Americans it was the beggining of an invasion, repression and genocide that continues to this day. Ronald Wright tells us the story of the conquest as it w Truly remarkarble book that tells the story of the 'discovery' of the Americas through Indian eyes.
Ronald Wright tells us the story of the conquest as it was seen by five native peoples the Aztec, the Maya, the Incas, the Cherokee and the Iroquois using the records that survived the invasion. For the Indians, the arrival of the Europeans brought disease, killing, subjugation and treachery. Treachery was commonly used especially with the Cherokee and the Iroquois.
Time and time again these nations were forced to sell their territories being promised that they would never be bothered again. Their territories were gradually reduced until they were incorporated in the alien country. It's remarkable the hypocrisy of these governments when they use treaties in trial signed by the Indians because they had no choice and discover that they constantly broke them.
During the 19th century, governments in Mexico, the US, Peru, Canada introduced the notion of private property and abolished all communal lands in the name of 'progress' and 'civilisation' which seriously damaged indigenous systems. This opened more land for the purchase of white settlers. Farming became more 'efficient' but the soil was seriously depleted within a century and farming is not an option in the areas affected. This is still happening but, now, on a global scale as peasants are driven out of their lands or forced to plant cash crops in order to make farming more 'efficient' and to deplete the soil much more rapidly.
One of the most interesting parts of the book is when the author describes the food distribution system of the Incas and how effective it was. Also, at least with the cases studied, native american beliefs didn't proclaim they had the sole truth unlike Christianity. What missionaries did was, indeed, to try to destroy a culture. However, the most curious part of the book is about how the Cherokee 'civilised' themselves installing a parliament, schools, hospitals and adapted their language to writing.
They hoped this would save their culture from being incorporated in the US expanding imperial force. Nevertheless, the US government still considered that the Cherokee were under their jurisdiction as they now feared that these 'civilised' Indians could become a threat. It didn't matter what they did, they were doomed all along. The White man wanted more land. As Wright says, if the US was twice its size, all the land would still have been seized. There were various instances of intended cultural genocide among all the peoples portrayed which the author describes very well.
The amazing thing is that they managed to survive some better than others although the majority was assimilated into the mainstream culture. Neither the conquest nor the resistance is over. Indigenous peoples in the Amazon are being threatened by logging. But, finally, Indians are taking over some of their countries such as Peru and Bolivia.
Is that a hopeful sign? Only the future will tell. If it's not too strange a statement with which to open a book review, this is more the kind of read that I was hoping for from the much more well known Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Where 'Bury This If it's not too strange a statement with which to open a book review, this is more the kind of read that I was hoping for from the much more well known Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West.
This book also scores points over Bury My Heart by including the stories of the Inca, Aztec and Maya too which filled in a lot of grey spaces in my knowledge. The only discernible disappointing thing about this book is that it is now around twenty three years old so it would be nice if it were reissued with an added section updating the reader on what has happened in the time since the book's release.
Nov 30, Marshall rated it it was ok Shelves: non-fiction , history , culture. This history of the conquest and resistance of Native Americans alternates between horrifying and boring. I knew some of the harrowing tales of mistreatment of Native Americans by the Europeans, but some of the tales in this book still shocked me. It makes me feel cynical about human nature. However, most of this book was fairly drab.
The author was clearly very fired up about it, but he failed to infect me with the same passion for the subject. One of his goals, and I suppose it was partially ac This history of the conquest and resistance of Native Americans alternates between horrifying and boring.
One of his goals, and I suppose it was partially achieved, is to raise awareness of Native American rights. Both morally and officially, this is not "our" land. It's theirs. It's always been theirs. Much of it was never officially ceded, so in that sense, the conquest continues to this day. Some Native American groups continue to resist this invasion, which to them seems very much like it would for any sovereign nation defending their territory.
Even some of the horrible treatment by the U. Aug 26, Mary-Jane rated it it was amazing Shelves: nonfiction. A great overview of the history and what happened to 5 different people groups native to North America when the Europeans arrived. I gained knowledge and respect for the various people groups and their uniqueness. For example, the first zoo was discovered in Mexico by the Europeans.
Also, the Mayans had a complex way of measuring time, involving three different calendars. A caution to the book is that the author is obviously hostile towards Christianity bringing its message to the "New World". Aug 05, Lian rated it it was amazing.
It is a must read. You will see the Americas as well as European "conquerors" from an entirely new perspective. Dec 26, Ushan rated it really liked it. There are fifteen chapters in all, with a chapter on the European conquest of each nation, their fates under the conquest, and the current situation.
Wright stresses several times that Tzvetan Todorov's book on the conquest of the Americas is very ignorant; well, what can you expect from a postmodernist philosopher? What I found missing is the discussion of the irony that permeates much of the modern white-indigenous relations. Yet in February this year she wrote I just checked; I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her , "Ward Churchill literally disguised himself as an American Indian to shield himself from criticism of his extreme anti-Americanism for decades.
He is an obvious crackpot, but no one would call him on it for fear of appearing racist. No, Rigoberta's critics claimed that it was not correct; otherwise, there would have been no reason for her to lie.
In the 16th century the Spanish used Indians to provide slave labor in silver mines; are the Americans now using Indians to "provide rebels in far-off places, into whom careerists can project their fantasies of rebellion"?
Wright quotes Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, who claims that "From capitalism's point of view, communal cultures Wright also quotes Galeano's dictum, "Some countries are poor because other countries are rich.
I am all for letting the Indians tell their history; I am all against letting the tiersmondiste demagogues tell it. Ronald Wright is an excellent writer and this is an absorbing book. Wright tells the story of colonisation in America by focusing on the histories of five Indian civilisations - Inca, Maya, Aztec, Cherokee and Iroquois. These civilisations were chosen because they were the most complex societies at the time of first European contact and thus have left the best records.
The book is structured into both chronological and geographical divisions. Wright describes the three chronological divisions as Ronald Wright is an excellent writer and this is an absorbing book. Wright describes the three chronological divisions as corresponding roughly to the initial assault, the colonial period, and the period since the founding of settler republics. This book shows us in chilling detail how each of these societies was brought to the brink of destruction by their European colonists, and how they have been kept in a state of disenfranchisement and subjugation ever since.
Prior to European contact each of these five societies were high functioning and successful. With the exception of the Aztecs their way of life was based on social values very different from those of their invaders - communal land ownership, redistribution of wealth from the more able to the less able, advancement through merit, social equality, and living in harmony with the environment.
The European invaders were lured to this land by greed for gold and land, an arrogant disregard for the rights of the existing inhabitants and a self-righteous belief in their religious and cultural superiority. They also brought deadly gifts from across the ocean - smallpox, measles, influenza, bubonic plague, yellow fever, cholera and malaria. The Indian people had virtually no resistance to these diseases and the effect on their populations was devastating - by less than a tenth of the Indian population remained.
This was a turning point for the Indians. With their populations decimated they had no chance of defending their way of life from the colonising Europeans.
Colonisation meant what it has meant all over the world - loss of land, loss of language, loss of history, culture, knowledge. Loss of power. The consequences are also the same all over the world - poverty, persecution, suppression, discrimination, alienation. Despite all this, remnants of these civilisations remain. And also currently, we will provide you the new publication that can be reference. Why should be this publication?
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Now, your option to choose this publication to be yours is so basic. Presents native accounts--some translated for the first time from native American languages--of the plunder and persecution wrought by white settlers and explorers on the one hundred million people already living in the Americas in From Publishers Weekly Wright Time Among the Maya here presents a "New World" history, told from the perceived perspective of natives and lambasting the conquering whites, going back to Columbus: Cortes, de Soto, Pizarro, for example, are seen as crass, cruel, greedy invaders.
To illustrate what he views as an epic wrong, the author probes five tragic encounters--with Aztec, Maya, Inca, Cherokee and Iroquois cultures. Using materials recorded as contemporaneously as possible, from the Incas to Cherokee principal chief Wilma Mankiller, the book follows a trail of treachery, blood and futility. Had the white race's diseases not wreaked havoc on the natives, writes the author, the "conquest" may have ended differently.
While his scholarship proves marvelous, Wright's disjointed account is not likely to hold the reader's attention. Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.
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