"Lies My Teacher Told Me" - Ch.3 (Native Americans&settlers/pilgrims, Thanksgiving)

     I agree with Loewen at the beginning of the second page in this chapter.  The word "settlers" has an extremely powerful image of white men in colonial uniforms, venturing into the wilderness, with a brave look on their faces and deadly rifles in their hands.  I can't imagine an American Indian as a "settler"; in fact, I can't imagine any non-caucasian race "settling" any area.  The word seems to be there only to refer to Colonial white pioneers.  Caucasians just seem to be the standard for anything; I suppose this is eurocentricity?  I don't know, probably because I lived in the States for 10 years, but I really do have this image of heroes and entrepreneurs(illustration unprovided) in any situation being a white person.  I think I have been biased by this.  Many movies, animations, stories, and the like have white characters at the core of their story, and I, as someone who has seen many such medium(mediae? lol) am probably heavily influenced by such stories.

     The "plague" that devastated the Native Americans was a little bit of a wake-up call for me; I, being a fan of the Middle Ages, believed that the most terrible epidemic to ever assault Mankind was the Bubonic Plague; again, I now realize how eurocentralized(?) I am.  This disease, although it did wipe out an incredible 2/3 of the European population, was probably nothing compared to the number of dead Native Americans.  It's also very sad to read that they were intentionally infected and killed off by settlers and pilgrims as a sort of biological warfare tactic.  It's also a little irritating(albeit understandable*) when the pilgrims, who had despaired so much when the Plague struck them and their family and friends, that God was punishing them, suddenly become arrogant and full of confidence when "God" started "smiting" the Native Americans.  I know that without modern technology there could have been no other way of desribing the horrendous turn of events, but looking back on history, one can often see alot of the dumb mistakes Man has made.

     ...Which reminds me of how much I agreed with Loewen when he mentions somewhere that "colonization" would probably have been impossible if not for the mass outbreaks among the Native American population, clearing numbers and space for the new arrivals from Europe to fill.  Of course it would be easier to control the masses when they were your kind!

     Lastly, I believe that what Loewen has to say about history textbooks also applies to media coverage:  the "truth should be held sacred, at whatever cost'.  I believe that the truth should be apparent to all in any situation.