Plateau People: The Pre-Contact Way of Life, the Contact Way of Life and Colonialism - Coursework Example

Plateau People: The pre-contact way of life, the contact way of life and Colonialism and number Self reflection paperIntroduction The plateau people are the indigenous group of people that formally occupied the Plateau, a region extending from southern interior of British Columbia to Alberta. The groups majorly comprised of the Indians; hence, they have also often been referred to as the Plateau Indians. A significant population of what constituted the plateau people now occupies western Montana, Central and Southern Interior of British Columbia, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, eastern Washington and northeastern parts of the California. The plateau people would later be colonized by European Settler. The history of the plateau people is well documented, starting from the pre-contact period, the contact period, colonial and the post-colonial period. In my view, what could be largely inferred from the history is that eventual contact and colonization is what to blame for the woes of the plateau aboriginal population and that there is little to celebrate from the historical developments, as far as the aboriginal perspective is concerned. The woes can still be felt even today. Life during the Pre-contact period It is argued that as many as 24 groups of people lived in the Plateau. However, the most well documented and dominant groups included the Flathead, Klamath Nez Perce, Yakima and Modoc, yet most of these groups dominantly spoke the Salishan. Other dominant forms of communication included the Algonquian language, as well as an Athapaskan language. The groups occupying the central and the Southern parts of the plateau spoke Penutian language. Politically, before the pre-contact period, the Plateau people were organized in villages, which were considered as the political units. The principle political figures were the political chiefs, positions that were often considered to be hereditary (Pritzker 67). Some groups were led by specialized chiefs, such as the salmon chiefs and the war chiefs. Every village comprised of council. The villages were organized in units that lived in peace, implying that war was never a pursuit that was considered important. Socially, the extended family was perceived as the main social unit of the family. Divisions of labor was largely governed by sex, for instance, men did hunting and trading. Economically, the groups were mobile. The plateau societies dwelled in large permanent villages in the course of winter and would be fed with stored food. In other harsh seasons, there would be migrations. The society relied on fishing, hunting and gathering. The wild game that was considered important was rabbits, squirrels, deer, clams, salmon and elk, which were hunted or fished for meat. Fish, especially the salmon, was considered to be staple food and these would be captured using the weirs, which are the traditional traps. The plateau people enjoyed cordial, as well as trade relations with the various surrounding groups, including those that occupied in the Northwest coast. The society was religious, emphasizing the relationship between individuals and the supernatural powers. It can be inferred from the pre-contact period that the plateau people led a happy and successful life, which would later be interfered by the European Americans in the subsequent phases of history (Oswalt 56).  The Contact Period The contact period refers to the period of interaction between the plateau people and the Euro-Americans. The first contact is argued to have taken place in 1805, punctuated by a traversal of the Clark and Lewis in the region. During the time, it is cited that some plateau groups already owned horses. After the contact, it did not take long before the Americans and the British started trading posts, competing for fur trade. It was also during the contact period that the missionaries arrived in the plateau and this was in 1896. They attempted to concert the Indians to Christianity. However, it is documented that the missionaries treated the nonbelievers in the manner that was considered to be below contempt. The eventuality is that such a treatment attracted a lot of hostilities and resulted to the killing of some missionaries through revolting. Following the 1940 opening of the Oregon Trail, the region was filled with the European settlers. These started to take over the lands that had been initially occupied by the Indians. Nevertheless, the most widely documented implication of this was that the European settlers brought with them the diseases that were unknown to the plateau people. The European occupation of the Plateau people’s land was met with hostilities, punctuated with a series of revolts. In the long run, the United States government decided to intervene by promising reservation of the plateau people’s lands, as well as protection and peace. This was marked by the signing of the Walla Walla treaty and this was in 1855. However, the treaty was not upheld and soon the gold miner started to amass he reserved land, an event that culminated into the Plateau Indian War. The war lasted until 1858 (Oswalt 123). The impact of the contact period is well documented, but have mostly included introduction of diseases that were unknown to the Indians by the native traders such as small pox, whose consequences were particularly felt in 1801,1824,18531862 and 1775. Other diseases that are cited to have been brought in included Malaria and scarlet fever The effects of the rebellions and uprisings included loss of lives, but the plateau people would still eventually lose as significant as 90 percent of the lands. The impact of Colonialism Colonization processes are associated with profound consequences on the colonized societies. These have been witnessed in various societies. For instance, colonization saw Africa evolve in various ways, shunning their social, cultural and political culture to adopt new ways of living. In the same way, in Australia, colonization has seen aboriginal societies transform in various ways. Such transformation, which have been are as a result of colonialism, are what may be simply summed as legacies of colonization. The responses of the plateau people to the legacies of colonization can be best elucidated in terms of social, economic and political transformations. One way in which to ascertain social changes is by focusing on the transformations on the families, as a basic social unit. Indeed, in the industrial, as well as post-industrial society, most scientists, sociologists and anthropologists have inclined focused on family units. The legacies of colonialism have imparted various changes on the aboriginal families. The colonial legacies have not only seen aboriginal families transform in the structural sense, but also in terms of the roles that the aboriginal families have to play. Despite the fact that colonial legacies have been widely appraised for being associated with positive developments, this is nonetheless so for the case of Australian aboriginal communities. Colonization has been cited as one of the most powerful forces that destroyed the lives of the aboriginal communities in Australia. Waves of violence that broke out in the frontiers saw many plateau people dispossessed, as well as traumatized (Boyes, 89). Colonial legislations displaced plateau people from the reserves, separated husbands and wives, as well as separated children from their families. It is this form of dispossession that saw cultural relationships destroyed and land dispossessed. These developments also saw the aboriginal communities detached from the political processes and economic and religious autonomy. The colonial systems ended up forbidding rites of passage, and imposed other rules that saw the plateau people lose freedom. Men and women from the aboriginal communities have been raised ion environments filled with trauma, violence, low-self esteem, role confusion and substance and drug abuse. On the other hand, the impact of colonization on youthful generation and children to the aboriginal communities is also profound. The process of colonization saw children suffer from the cultural fragmentation and poverty. The eventuality is that the aboriginal communities were left to depend on the all that was offered by the colonial systems. These ranged from education, economic support, education, religion, legal issues, health and political systems. The consequences of such steps are what have turned out particularly profound, in the downstream. Indeed, most aboriginal communities are considered marginalized (Shaw, 234). Colonial legacies, which now come in the form of government policies, have seen individuals disperse from the tribal and clan inclinations. The eventuality of this has been the continuous fragmentation of the cultures belonging to the plateau people. There have been concerns that the fragmentation of culture and the struggle to adapt to new way of life has been accompanied by social, as well as economic instability. As such, the disintegration of values of family, as well as culture has been accompanied by the criminal and other forms of behaviors that are regarded as antisocial (Singe, 67). This is evidenced from the fact that the aboriginal communities are over-represented in Australian prisons, and this is what has been the subject of great concern as far as equality is concerned. What is particularly intriguing is that most of the individuals in the jails are male. This way, it can also be inferred that most aboriginal inmates are fathers. Putting into consideration the pivotal roles that the fathers hold, it can be argued that the incarcerations of the minority are an addition to another dimension of the aboriginal family fragmentation. Nevertheless, the incarcerations do not heighten fragmentation of the aboriginal family and community culture, but it also have an impact on the male role models that is essential for the growth of the children born to the aboriginal. Moreover, culture has been perceived as being dynamic. In this regard, there are various cultural aspects that aboriginal communities have been shedding off in adoption of new ones. These have been felt in terms of language erosion. It is arguable that there were various clan groups in the traditional aboriginal society. However, as time goes by and as the new generations come, the different clan groupings that existed before are no longer existent. In the traditional aboriginal community settings, men and women were considered independent but were connected.. The roles were subject to gender, as well as the age. Extended family bonds were relatively strong. However, colonization legacy has seen all these aspects transform dramatically (Eorge and Tinfdale 67). Conclusion In conclusion, in my view, eventual contact and colonization is what could be blamed for the woes of the plateau aboriginal population and that there is little to celebrate from the historical developments, as far as the aboriginal perspective is concerned. There are various legacies that colonization had on the Australian aboriginal people. All these can be best approached in terms of social, political and economic respect. Colonization was eroded the culture of the aboriginal people. They were introduced to formal education and new religion. Aboriginal people were also introduced to new political systems. However, none of these responses are as profound as those that left the aboriginal people marginalized. Colonial processes resulted into the disintegration of the aboriginal families and communities, dispossession of property. Thus, the legacy of colonization is the over-representation and underrepresentation of the aboriginal communities, as the minority. Work Cited Boyes, M. Patterns and Cultures of the Aboriginal People: Then and Now. Sydney: McGraw Hill. 1977. Print. Eorge, M. & Tinfdale, P. The Australian Aboriginal Communities. Sydney: Golden Press. Print. 1971. Oswalt, Wendell. The Land Was Theirs: A Study of the Native Americans. McGraw Hill, 2002. Print. Pritzker, Barry. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print. Shaw, Reith. The children of the Prisoners: What are the issues? London: Rutledge. 1990. Print Singe, Paul. The Torres: People and History. St. Lucia: University of Queensland. 1989. Print Read More