Colonialism, Climate Change and the Caper of Coopted Culture

Since the arrival of Europeans in the “New World,” the indigenous inhabitants of the American continents have been severely mistreated. Their land was taken away from them, they were killed and diseases were introduced that wiped out populations en masse — all at the hands of European colonizers.

Many think that in 2020, colonization and its effects are a thing of the past—an unfortunate part of the United States’ history rather than one with ongoing and residual impacts even today. However, many scholars recognize that the structure of our society favors the colonizers (rather than the colonized) as they are the ones that put these systems in place to begin with. Dr. Elliot Ross, a journalist, says that “Colonial domination not only shapes our ideas about race, but also strongly influences how people think about class, culture, gender, and sexuality.” It’s clear that the lasting effects of colonialism form the dominant narratives around basically every aspect of one’s life. Beyond academic researchers, our nation’s remaining native residents know from experience how cruel the government can be to those who exist outside of the mainstream…