False History
Sometime last week, something interesting happened. A court handed back 1,200 acres of ranch, which the white colonialists had forcibly acquired during the colonial period, to the Esselen Tribe after a record 250 years. The Esselen is a Native American tribe that lives on the north-central coast of California. Before its purported sale, the land had a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Some of the unique wildlife that reamed the land includes the rare red-legged frog and the Californian condor. Reporting about the Esselen victory, News Time posted on YouTube that the native tribe became landless after losing the piece of land, which its ancestral land (News Time 1). After that, the Spanish colonialists stripped the tribe of their language and culture. Tellingly, the elders of the tribe say they want to use the land to build an educational center that will preserve the cultural heritage and the original history of the people.
During the colonial period, European colonizers embarked on a mission to obliterate local cultural values and practices and introduce the European civilization. The Europeanization of the native communities led to the slow death of some of the most colorful cultural practices in America. The colonialists took away the land that native tribes such as the Esselen cultivated and used for tribal rituals, and deprived them of the culture of which they had been very proud. After forcing the native tribes out of their land, the white colonialists changed the names of places from the Native American names to European names. Today, no one remembers what the original names of these places were. The deliberate destruction of cultures by the colonialists is to blame for the conflict that currently defines the relationship between the American government and the Native American communities, who still live in poor conditions in secluded countries, just like they deed during colonialism. Today, we have seen increasing agitation for more land rights by the Native American populations, who are struggling to reclaim their lost cultural glory and freedom.
Work Cited
News Time. Northern California Esselen Tribe regains ancestral land after 250 years. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DblmMx5ot8g on August 2, 2020.