On June 11, , the Honourable Stephen Harper of Canada offered a public statement of apology to former students of Indian residential schools, on behalf of the Canadian Government.
That has been probably the only apology ever given to native nations. In some cases, Spain and other western nations have supported native endeavours, as they should. But other than Canada, none have even hinted at an apology. Some right-leaning people in the United States rationalise that Indians were involved in wars between each other and that Europeans were just the last on a long list of peoples who invaded and fought these lands. What these groups fail to understand is that the level of atrocities and the types of crimes committed against the American Indian people were among the darkest in recorded history.
Verifiable acts such as small pox-infected blankets given to destitute women, children and the elderly is overlooked in favor of Eurocentric glorification. The so-called Conquistadors of Spain were no more noble or honourable than the common thug is today and yet, they are treated as heroes, explorers, and great warriors. Indians, who were the victims of attempted genocide, are either canonised or demonised. Caricatures of native people are used as logos from sports teams to commercial apple boxes.
The Indian, it seems, was nothing more than a savage, unworthy of empathy, and certainly not worthy of an apology.
What should the Spanish apologise for? They should apologise for their acts of attempted genocide, of the rape of women and children, of cutting off the arms, hands, legs and feet of the Indians who could not meet their quarterly gold quotas. They should apologise for all the people they displaced, disposed and enslaved, often working them to the death.
For all the riches they stole, for the lands they ravished and for the attack on the very identities of these noble red nations. Most importantly and highest on this apology list is for trying to destroy our spirituality, which, by the grace of all our ancient ancestors, they were unable to do so.
They should apologise in the name of their own ancestors. Over time, trees and vegetation took over that previously farmed land and started absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Julia Pareci of the indigenous Pareci community stands iin front a corn field planted within an Indian reservation, near the town of Conquista do Oeste, Brazil. Carbon dioxide CO2 traps heat in the planet's atmosphere it's what human activity now emits on an unprecedented scale , but plants and trees absorb that gas as part of photosynthesis.
So when the previously farmed land in North and South America — equal to an area almost the size of France — was reforested by trees and flora, atmospheric carbon-dioxide levels dropped.
Antarctic ice cores dating back to the late s and s confirm that decrease in carbon dioxide. That CO2 drop was enough to lower global temperatures by 0. Koch said that some of the drop in carbon dioxide could have been caused by other, natural factors like volcanic eruptions or changes in solar activity.
Koch said the findings revise our understanding of how long human activity has been influencing Earth's climate. But they warned that if a similar reforestation event were to happen today, it wouldn't do much to mitigate the Earth's current rate of warming.
The drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide that happened in the s only represents about three years' worth of fossil fuel emissions today, Koch said. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts.
Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. How does the fact that de Las Casas was an eyewitness to these events lend authority to this account? What did the Spanish do to the Natives? They enslaved them and took their food. How would you characterize the Spanish treatment of the natives? It was very violent. How did the Natives come to characterize the Spanish? The Indians saw them as evil.
What does this characterization tell us about the original perception of the Natives regarding the Spanish? They originally perceived them to be from heaven and believed that they had come for positive purposes.
How did the Natives respond to the Spanish cruelty? Some of them ran away to the mountains to escape punishment by the Spanish. How did the Natives respond to the Spanish violence against them? What were the results? They had very little effect. Once the Spaniards realized that the Indians were resisting, what did they do? The Spaniards mounted their horses and attacked cities and towns, killing everyone.
What tone does de Las Casas create in this excerpt? How does he create that tone? Cite evidence from the text. De Las Casas uses diction word choice to create a tone of outrage. He is angry at the injustices being done to the Natives. How does de Las Casas portray the natives in this passage? It establishes the vulnerability of the Indians and illustrates why they need the protection of the Spanish king. Map of the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, How many kingdoms were located on the island of Hispaniola?
Six kingdoms composed the island. Describe the Kingdom of Magua. What does its name mean? How large is it in square miles? In what ways does de Las Casas compare Magua with Europe? What is the effect of the comparison? He states that the kingdom includes high mountains and a number of rivers, including some very large ones which were comparable to those in Europe. By comparing these to specific European waterways he is emphasizing their beauty and transportation value.
In this description, what would be the most important detail for the Spanish King and Queen? They would be most interested in the presence of gold, since it could strengthen their treasury if sent back to Spain. What is the effect of de Las Casas providing such a detailed geographic description of the kingdom in this excerpt? By fully describing the environment the reader understands the geography of Hispaniola. The reader can imagine the beauty of the kingdom as a paradise.
This contrasts the violence in the previous excerpt and sets up another contrast to the violence in the excerpt that follows. In excerpt 1 de Las Casas speaks of Hispaniola overall. In this excerpt he speaks of Magua, a specific kingdom on Hispaniola.
What is the effect of shifting his eye witness account from the overall island to a specific kingdom on the island? The first excerpt explains the overall violence on the island.
This excerpt describes a specific kingdom in detail. By describing in detail a kingdom where the violence was located, the violence becomes more personal and less abstract. Why would he go into such detail? How does this paradisiacal description contrast with the violence of excerpt 1?
Notes: Guadalquivir is the second longest river in Spain. Duero is the third longest river in the Iberian peninsula. Ebre is the second longest river in the Iberian peninsula. Twenty Four Caracts karat gold is pure gold, containing no other elements. Why does de Las Casas describe it as he does?
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