BakerLoewen

Red Eyes, a chapter from "Lies My Teacher Told Me" was an illustrated view into the wrongful ways many textbooks handed out to America's youth use to depict Native Americans. Almost all history books stated Indians as savage, barbarick, primitive and so on. This continues well into the 90's. Until recently textbooks gave little if no reference to the Native Americans culture before verbally bashing them and making them out to be unfit to walk on the same earth as the white Europeans. Now adays atleast 10 out of 12 textbooks Loewen surveyed gave atleast 5 pages to depict the ways in which Native Americans lived. In many areas Europeans pitted tribes against one another to extend their own rule. Even though the Indians were willing and able to help the Europeans in the planting, growing and cultivation of food while possesing knowledge to also help them catch food and herbal medicine. The Europeans made Indians slaves which in turn let them trade for food instead of grow it. "Instead of weaving a basket they could trade some beaver for a kettle." The Indians were widely regarded by whites to have a natural ability in the medicinal arts and ability to help cure, they have been living off the land for who knows how long and have not had any of Europes new, industrialized remedies or docters. With this in mind the Europeans would make medicines and bottle it with pictures of Indians on the cover pursuading people to buy it. Not only would medication come with the pictures of Indians but other European products would as well.
1) Why didn't Europeans just accept that leaving the Indians alone would benefit more than enslaving them.
2) Why were whites so attached to the idea of enslavement?
I was not very suprised when I read this article. I have read about the other horrible things the Europeans have done to the Indinans and this just seems to rank right along with them.