Indigenous People and Their Contact With Imperialists or Explorers

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The Tutsi

The Tutsi people of East Africa had cultural contact with their sister tribe, the Hutu, this occurred during the 14th century when the Tutsi migrated to Rwanda. During about the 1880 (19th Century) Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in the region, wanting to convert the Tutsi to Catholic, however this desire was not intensified until World War 1. The Tutsi people were rich in traditions and customs before the imperialism and colonialism of East Africa, they had ceremonies regarding the naming of children and what to do after the death of a family member. The Tutsi lived in Rwanda and Burundi, and later became refugees in Uganda. This occurred because when the Belgians took over the colony the originally favored the Tutsi however they reversed their favor and gave the Hutus government power. Resulting from this, the Tutsi people were oppressed and treated so violently that many fled to Uganda. Due to the Tutsi’s disinterest in wanting to convert to Christianity, their land was given to the Hutus, which affected the Tutsi tribe. The affect that the Belgians had on the Tutsi expanded and led many of them to speak French instead of their native language. Today, Tutsi people wear western style clothing and are influenced by Christian beliefs.

The Mayans

The Mayans are a group of people who had affects in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and central Mexico, they first had cultural contact with the ancient civilization of the Olmec after their rise in 2000 BC, and many of Mayan cultural aspects are derived from them. After this, the Mayans met the European voyager Christopher Columbus during his 4th voyage in 1502. Before imperialism and colonialism, the Mayans had a number of eccentric traditions and cu...

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...peans occurred when Christopher Columbus sailed onto the shores in October of 1492 and due to this, the Arawak culture was changed tremendously. Before the imperialism and colonialism of the Caribbean, the Arawak were people of craft, they made clothing, pottery and sculpted stone. The Arawak people also developed the hammock. When the Europeans first began to explore, the Arawak were welcoming of them until the European explorers took them as laborers on their ships. This occurred more than once in the Arawak peoples history and during their time of the ships many Arawak died due to disease. Due to the imperialism and colonialism of the Caribbean, the only group of people of the ancient people is the Caribs. There are people, however, who have Arawak ancestry. The Spanish brought diseases and harsh enslavement policies, which separated families.

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