It’s interesting as much as it is infuriating to note the emerged Eurocentric view during the Age of Discovery. The book mentions how the European attitude (and perceived truth for that matter) of White superiority prevailed when European voyages encountered native peoples. The treatment, the degradation, inflicted upon these conquered groups makes my stomach just turn. I can’t imagine having my cultural identity, language, land and freedom so shamelessly stripped from me and my family. Nor can I fathom having a religion imposed upon me. I think it’s fascinating how, prior to the big explosion of New World voyages, Europeans did not seem to assume the superior self-righteous entitlement that was showcased later. The book mentions how there are a variety of reasons for this change, most notably, Christianity, technology, and a drive for increased wealth, which seemed to result in a significant shift in the European culture itself. To me it seems to be a case of the Europeans being power-hungry. And unfortunately, when they started to succeed in such things as ship-building and technology pursuits, it fed their ego and sense of entitlement. I find it equally appalling how the Europeans found their own creative and convenient ways of using Christianity to falsely justify their ill actions and ideas. The tenets of Christianity do not support entitlement, selfishness, greed, superiority, or the forcing of the religion upon subjected others. The Europeans hid their true motives partly under the guise of showing (converting, imposing) natives the “true” way of life—as if they were supporting God. Yet belief and faith cannot be forced to be truly authentic, obviously. Conversely, their behavior was actually very un-Christian in my opinion. The Europeans’ thought processes during this time are clearly ignorant in the highest degree, while their actions are downright embarrassing. They missed what could have been an opportunity to learn and appreciate the beauty and value of the conquered native groups. Shameful, indeed.

It’s also shameful how history textbooks, at least at the time when I was growing up, focused almost exclusively on the European version of the “discovery” of America. As a kid I remember when teachers asked the class what Christopher Columbus did, students would respond by saying that he discovered America. And that notion was generally accepted as truth. There was very little acknowledgement of the native groups, no real analysis of who they were and what their experience could have been like. The unspoken assumption was that the Europeans practically did the natives a favor by showing them the Christian life and exposing and morphing them to a more “advanced” society. It’s remarkable how the Eurocentric view has continued to leave its thumbprint in society today via racism and its (still) high prevalence. Additionally, I don’t believe that the experience of native peoples is discussed adequately and/or enough.