Analysis Of Ruth Cuthand's Trading Series By Ruth Cuthand

Smallpox was the number one eradicator facing those who didn’t possess immunity to the rank disease. Over 90% of native peoples died from this illness. Spain constructed a system known as encomienda. Under this arrangement Indians could be traded to slave owners in exchange for the devotion of their Christian loyalty. The relationship between Indians and Spanish voyagers was not all horrific. They did

Laduke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Life and Land. Cambridge: South End Press, 1999. Print. 200 pages. Index.

Over time, the power that Native women held with in their tribe has unfortunately digressed. During the age of exploration Native women have played key roles in the western fur trade. Native women assisted the fur traders by being liaison between the Europeans and Natives. This role was fundamental in strengthening trade increasing the economic stability of the post. They acted as guides for the European traders who often found themselves in dangerous and unfamiliar territory. Finally, they provided an intimate relationship for the European traders, and played a pragmatic role as a domesticated wife. However in order to fully understand the magnitude of the

The Columbian Exchange had a major effect on people residing in the United States. Disease was the number one cause of death amongst the other tragedies that came with the Columbian Exchange such as violence, culture, trade, and people that had followed Columbus. Many Native Americans died from diseases that were brought from Europe. The Europeans who had brought the diseases over did not seem to have done it intentionally. The Europeans were just in search of the New World. Native Americans lived free from the terrible diseases that destroyed populations in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Therefore, when Europeans came to America no one knew how to treat the diseases or how to handle them. Native Americans lacked the ability to fight off bacteria

The discovery of the Americas was probably the most important discovery of its time, but along with it came a great catastrophe for the people of this land. Although the Europeans brought many great innovations into this newly discovered world, like new animals such as horses, they also brought great technologies and tools. Taking all this into account, they introduced great innovation for the Native Americans, but this cannot back up the detrimental damage these Europeans would cause to the Natives. Due to the discovery of Columbus, many Europeans migrated to this newly discovered land, and coming along with them they brought diseases. Diseases played such a huge negative role in the Native Americans' lives since they had a huge impact on

Basic effects that Europeans had on Native Americans is when they came to North America. The Native Americans caught new diseases which included smallpox,influenza,measles,and chickenpox. The Native Americans land was stolen from them and the slaves went back to Europe because the Europeans used superior fire power to conquer the Natives.

David S. Jones, from “Virgin Soils Revisited,” William & Mary Quarterly (October 2003), is of the opinion that although disease had its part, that poverty, malnutrition and environmental factors played a much larger role. Malnutrition was the gateway for disease to run rampant among native populations. Vitamin and nutrient deficiencies left people susceptible. Colonization brought deforestation contributing to climate changes, floods and droughts. Overgrazing by European livestock destroyed native crops, further driving a wedge between the settlers and the natives. Crop failures caused famines to many tribes that already had low subsistence levels. (Text p. 196-198) Tribes that lived in great numbers and in close quarters were also more susceptible to disease. "…, “even for contiguous Native groups,” depending on “population densities, transmission

Historically the treatment of Native Americans has been highly problematic, especially throughout the colonization of the New World. Although, when colonising some Europeans took a merciful and sympathetic approach to the Native Americans, generally the treatment towards the indigenous people was not humane. Not only did the Native Americans die at the hand of the settlers, they also died from diseases that had been brought to the new world by explorers for which they had no immunity. In some cases diseases such as smallpox wiped out entire tribes. Together, the introduction of diseases and the actions of the European settlers had devastating effects on the Native Americans.

Culture wasn’t the only thing that the Europeans brought over to the Americas. Along with their customs and rules, came the diseases that the Native American’s have never been exposed to. The Europeans brought many communicable diseases such as small pox and measles which were transmitted to the Native Americans through trade goods or someone infected with them. This quickly annihilated most of the Native American population.

The consequences of European contact with the Native Americans had grave consequences surpassing the expectations of both sides. However, while the Europeans were able to overcome most of the initial problems surrounding the contact, the Native Americans endured the effects for much longer which led to the decline of Native American power in North America. Both biological effects such as the impact of diseases, and cultural effects including the formation of new societies and the European influence, had devastating effects on the lives the Native Americans had formerly known. While some of the effects of contact could be seen as positive, overall the negative effects from Native American contact with the Europeans proved to outweigh the

The first effect of European and Native contact is the spread of diseases. Since the Native Americans had been isolated for centuries, they did not have immunity to European and eventually African diseases.

Since the entry of Europeans, Native American individuals experienced an awesome misfortune in general the presentation of illnesses that was extended from Europe. They had never been presented to measles or little pox. The effect of these infections crushed tribes, wiping some out totally. Amid the exchange procedure, Europeans acted vindictively by exchanging covers that had been contaminated with little pox to clueless Indians. Researcher, Ann Ramenofsky noticed that, illness contact in the Americas has had its social results (Ramenofsky, 242) Similarly, the Pacific Coast individuals were constrained from their hereditary grounds to a reservation by the administration, after their tribe was essentially diminished from plagues. (Ruby, 185)

The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has

From David Jones’ point of view, it is important to note that these epidemics were just some of the causes of population decline during European contact. Poverty, environmental stress, massacres, dislocation, malnutrition, and destruction of traditional subsistence patterns also changed the composition of many Native American groups. Eventually, these changes caused substantial depopulation and cultural change. Jones agrees that disease carried a decisive role; however, he argues that it is not the key factor in their depopulation. “Many factors contributed to American Indian susceptibility to Old World diseases, including lack of childhood exposure, malnutrition, and the social chaos generated by European colonization” (Jones 34).

Second Slide: The ways in which Indigenous Women tried to resist, but were ultimately victims of colonization, and how heteropatriarchy has affected them.