Colonialism and Genocide
The history of colonialism and genocide has been going hand in hand. Genocide is the act of violence towards a group of people belonging to a certain country, nationality, race, or religious group, with the sole purpose of eradicating their entire existence. The use of this term came into existence only after World War II, when the brutality committed against the Jews by the Nazi rulers came in front of the entire world. Soon, the United Nations declared genocide as an international crime in 1948.[1] Colonialism is the act of controlling and exercising one’s power over others to suppress the people of other countries, races, and cultures. In colonialism, usually, the people of one country or region are moved to another, where they live permanently while maintaining their association and political affiliation with their home country.
Genocide is not a recent phenomenon and has its roots in ancient history. Even though the concept of "genocide" was not invented until 1944 by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, the acts of genocide have been a fairly common act in the past. [2] As witnessed in ancient times, the winners in battles used to massacre the male population of the region or country they occupied. The first genocide in modern times was the slaughter of religious believers in medieval Europe during the Albigensian Crusade. The massacring of entire groups of native people of any place is termed as the genocide of indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are referred to as those people whose ancestral and present heritage properties are being captured in colonial expansion, or through the creation of a state by a powerful group, such as a colonial authority.
The other aspects of genocide could be traced to the nineteenth century, with the colonial expansion of European empires into foreign lands, especially America, where the indigenous peoples were brutally subjected to suppression. In American history, it has been witnessed that all through the colonial period from the initial 1500s to the twentieth century, the natives of America have endured mass murder, pain, pain, violence, sexual exploitation, being removed from their historical properties, as well also forced to send their children to military boarding schools. They have also been treated discriminatorily and subjected to a policy of termination. It has been assessed that since 1775, more than 8,500 natives have been reportedly killed in individual instances. Further, in totality, around 56,750 Native Americans have been estimated to be killed as a consequence of European whites militarily pushing into the native Americans’ land[3]. However, experts claim that this number may be far too less, and it will not be surprising if the actual natives killed is double this estimation. Hence, the native population in America was largely reduced by more than 80% by 1900, and in some places was also reported to be reduced by 98%. As detailed in American Philosophy: From Wounded Knee to the Present, the steep reduction in the indigenous population through the first century was largely due to the onset of diseases such as smallpox, measles, and cholera, which the natives seem to have contracted from the virus brought in by the European invaders. In the following centuries, the reason for the high death toll was mainly due to the terror, displacement, and wars by invaders against the native Indians. [4]
The colonisation of Australia had a shattering effect on the Indigenous people living there for more than 60,000 years. Around 750,000 people from over 500 Indigenous nations first inhabited the island of Australia around 40,000 and 60,000 years ago. They survived in a harsh climate and among dangerous and weird wild animals. They developed their cultures over 60,000 years, establishing Indigenous Australians as the guardians of the planet’s greatest ancient living culture. They lived in close harmony with nature and the Earth, and looked after their land.
British voyager James Cook’s expedition came to Australia in 1788. They found more than a million people, who were literally the offspring of the first explorers of the land, living in complete isolation[5]. He captured the east coast of Australia and declared the rule of the British Crown there. He established a penal colony in the new territory, which was intended for the purpose of alleviating overpopulation in British prisons, enlarging the Empire, declaring Britain’s claim to the territory against other colonial powers, and making a British base in the Southern Hemisphere. Later, Captain Arthur Phillip reached Sydney Cove with 500 convicts, crew, marines, and civilians[6]. For the next two centuries, cautious strategies were being employed to wipe out the natives from the land, which has left a scar that is still visible today. The entire indigenous population of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand was in the middle of a disastrous population crash. The impact is catastrophic today, as the loss is yet to be recovered. However, in the case of native Tasmanians, no recovery is likely as they’re all dead.
There are various reasons for the mass extinction of the natives. The planned killing of the indigenous people by the European invaders was the major reason for the decline in their population. The other immediate impact of the colonisation of Australia was an upsurge of widespread diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, which resulted from breaking the airlock of the land and crushed numerous Indigenous communities. It was reported that smallpox killed around half of the Indigenous people in the Sydney region within fourteen months of the First Fleet's arrival. The sexual exploitation of Indigenous girls and women also brought ‘venereal disease’ to Indigenous people in large numbers [7]. Further, the onset of measles and smallpox, along with war, starvation, and deliberate strategies of kidnapping and re-education of native children, led to the decline in the Australian indigenous population from more than a million in 1788 to just a few thousand by the early 20th century, resulting in a 90% decline of 90%.
Another example of genocide that we witnessed in the past was the Russian conquest of Siberia, which started in 1580 against Kuchum. Around 540, Cossacks under Yermak Timofeyevich attacked the Voguls region, ruled by the Khan of Siberia. The Cossacks came with 300 Lithuanian and German slave labourers, bought by Stroganovs, from the Tsar. All through 1581, the Cossacks went all over the region of Yugra and succeeded in overpowering the towns of Vogul and Ostyak. The capture of Siberia by the Russian attackers was marred by the brutal genocide of the local indigenous people because of their resistance to colonization by the Russian Cossacks. Under Vasilii Poyarkov in 1645 and Yerofei Khabarov in 1650, the community of Dauri was hunted and massacred along the Amur River. In Kamchatka, the Cossack settlers exploited the natives of the region. This led to mass murder, suicides, and butchery, which resulted in the reduction of the natives to 8,000 from 20,000 within the first five decades of Russian conquest. [8]
In the 1640s, the Russians invaded the land near the Lena River and conducted genocide against the Yakut tribes. The Russians demanded yasak, a form of fur tribute obtained from the indigenous peoples of Siberia, from the natives. When they did not get it from the Yakut tribes, Piotr Golovin, who was the Governor of Yakutsk and also a Cossack, ordered the tribal men to be hanged on meat hooks. The exploitation and genocide of the Yakut tribes led to their population being reduced in the Lena basin by 70% within 40 years. Further, the women and children of the tribes were subjected to rape and enslavementoto extract yasak from them. The Kamchatka peninsula witnessed the massacre of the Koryak, Kamchadals, and Chukchi in the 1690s by the Russians[9].
As seen in other expansions, the indigenous people of Siberia were also subjected to diseases contracted by the Russian Cossacks. However, the intention of the Russian invaders was not to enslave or conduct genocide against the natives, but to levy a tribute and attach new lands to their Empire. In the present day, only 10 percent population of Siberia comprises the native peoples.
To conclude, genocide is the deliberate attempt to wipe out the entire population of a particular community or race from a region, by the overpowering forces. In the past, it has existed for a long time and can be witnessed in the colonial expansion of Europeans to America, as well as the distant land of Australia. Around 56,750 Native Americans have also been estimated to have been killed because of European invaders pushing into their land. Further, 90% percent population of the Indigenous population of Australia has been wiped out when the British explorer came to their shores. The Russian conquest of Siberia also witnessed massive genocide against the indigenous people of the region. The Cossacks attacked the Voguls region, ruled by the Khan of Siberia. They went all over the region of Yugra and succeeded in overpowering the towns of Vogul and Ostyak. Genocide was conducted against the community of Dauri and in the Kamchatka region, reducing the population of the natives from 20,000 to 8,000, within the first five decades of Russian conquest. In the 1640s, the Russians invaded the land near the Lena River and conducted genocide against the Yakut tribes, reducing their population by 70%. Brutal massacres were also conducted upon the Koryak, Kamchadals, and Chukchi in the 1690s by the Russians.
References
Barta, T., 2008. Sorry, and not sorry, in Australia: how the apology to the Stolen Generations buried a history of genocide. Journal of Genocide Research, 10(2), pp.201-214.
Bisher, J. (2005). White terror. London: Routledge.
Gellately, R. and Kiernan, B. eds., 2003. The specter of genocide: Mass murder in historical perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Jaimes, M.A. ed., 1992. The state of Native America: Genocide, colonization, and resistance. South End Press.
Levene, M. (2005). Genocide in the age of the nation state. London: I.B. Tauris.
McKenna, E. and Pratt, S.L., 2015. American Philosophy: From Wounded Knee to the Present. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Tatz, C., 1999. Genocide in Australia. Journal of genocide research, 1(3), pp.315-352.
[1] (pp. 3, Gellately & Kiernan, 2003)
[2] (pp. 3, Gellately & Kiernan, 2003)
[3] (pp. 35, Jaimes, 1992)
[4] (McKenna & Pratt, 2015)
[5] (Barta, 2008)
[6] (Barta, 2008)
[7] (Tatz, 1999)
[8] (pp. 6, Bisher, 2005)
[9] (pp. 294, Levene, 2005)
