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A Long and Terrible Shadow: White Values, Native Rights in the Americas since 1492
When Christopher Columbus first encountered the original inhabitants of the New World, he remarked they were “So tractable, so peaceable . . . that I swear . . . there is not in the world a better nation.” Yet wave after wave of European arrivals sought to wipe those nations from the earth.
By what right did one race seize the land belonging to another and subjugate its people? Distinguished jurist and Native rights advocate Thomas Berger surveys the history of the Americas since their “discovery” by Europeans and examines how the colonizing powers wrestled with the moral issues. Accounts of the slaughter and disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples throughout North, Central, and South America reveal a searing pattern of almost unimaginable duplicity and inhumanity. Five centuries later, Native Americans still embrace ancient values and cultural ways. Berger recounts this tenacious struggle to defy the odds and re-emerge as distinct cultures.
By what right did one race seize the land belonging to another and subjugate its people? Distinguished jurist and Native rights advocate Thomas Berger surveys the history of the Americas since their “discovery” by Europeans and examines how the colonizing powers wrestled with the moral issues. Accounts of the slaughter and disenfranchisement of indigenous peoples throughout North, Central, and South America reveal a searing pattern of almost unimaginable duplicity and inhumanity. Five centuries later, Native Americans still embrace ancient values and cultural ways. Berger recounts this tenacious struggle to defy the odds and re-emerge as distinct cultures.
183 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 30, 2012
Like Unsettling the Settler Within, this book truly rocks your foundations and makes you really think about your values and beliefs as it examines 500 years of interactions between Whites and First Peoples in North and South America - 500 terrible years - Berger is relatively kind to Canada in the light of the treatment of First Peoples in South and Central America and the US but we don't get to wriggle off the hook either - we practiced genocide by government policy rather than eradication by brute force - well bully on us!
May 29, 2017
TOTAL EYE OPENER: cried thru most of it...ashamed of what our european ancestors did to the america's native peoples.
August 17, 2021
Since the appearance of the Europeans in the New World, the native people have been subjected to genocides, loss of land and loss of rights.
This small book covers some of the events that occurred over 500 years, since 1492. While most of the events are known in general, there are others that may be a surprise to the reader, such as the enslavement of the Indian population in the Atlantic lowlands of the United States, prior to the enslavement of Africans.
The mistreatment of the native people were justified in the eyes of the oppressors, as it was felt that they were an inferior race, they refused to assimilate, co-operate, or change religion. History shows that even the groups that adhered to the attributes of superiority were still eradicated. Occasionally the ruling powers would pass laws or sign treaties to provide some protection to the natives, but would not mete out any punishment to the parties that ignored the laws or terms of the treaties, because they were motivated by the possibility of finding gold, taking over fertile land or the benefits using free labour.
This book is thought provoking and should be used as a jumping board, encouraging readers to read other books and articles of the history that they may not have been familiar with.
This small book covers some of the events that occurred over 500 years, since 1492. While most of the events are known in general, there are others that may be a surprise to the reader, such as the enslavement of the Indian population in the Atlantic lowlands of the United States, prior to the enslavement of Africans.
The mistreatment of the native people were justified in the eyes of the oppressors, as it was felt that they were an inferior race, they refused to assimilate, co-operate, or change religion. History shows that even the groups that adhered to the attributes of superiority were still eradicated. Occasionally the ruling powers would pass laws or sign treaties to provide some protection to the natives, but would not mete out any punishment to the parties that ignored the laws or terms of the treaties, because they were motivated by the possibility of finding gold, taking over fertile land or the benefits using free labour.
This book is thought provoking and should be used as a jumping board, encouraging readers to read other books and articles of the history that they may not have been familiar with.
August 1, 2022
Important info we should all know... but next time I'd rather read a book by an indigenous author
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews