For the last month in humanities, I have been working towards a Keynote presentation. It is about colonization and its consequences. As you can see, this took a lot of time to create. Luckily, I was not doing this alone. I was working on this with two of my incredible classmates: Aidan and Isaac.
Here are the links to their respective blogs:
Now, we have not just been creating this for the past month, first we had to learn about colonization and answer the driving question, which I will explain later.
The Presentation
We titled our Keynote ‘An Overview of Colonization’ because we wanted to provide a summary of the key events and impacts of colonial expansion throughout history. This presentation seeks to shed light on the complex forces that shaped our world and how the consequences of colonization continue to be felt today.
I included a definition of colonization on this slide to make sure everyone understands what it means. This helps the audience start on the same page before we dive into the details.
On this slide, we explain the motivations behind colonization. By discussing the factors that drove colonial expansion—including the pursuit of wealth, religious conversion, and resource exploitation—the audience can understand why colonization occurred and how it impacted both the colonizers and the colonized.
This slide provides a chronological overview of key events in the history of colonization. By highlighting important milestones, like Columbus’s expeditions, we can trace the progression of colonization and see how different events and individuals shaped the course of history.
This slide examines the profound and enduring impacts of colonization on the Indigenous peoples of Canada. By acknowledging and understanding the harm inflicted through displacement, loss of land, destruction of culture, and other injustices, we can work towards reconciliation and healing. Recognizing these consequences is crucial for fostering empathy and promoting a more just society.
In this slide, we go into the devastating loss of Indigenous languages, cultures, and ways of life as a direct result of colonization. By recognizing this loss as a form of cultural genocide, we acknowledge the severity of the harm inflicted on Indigenous peoples. This understanding helps us appreciate the importance of preserving Indigenous languages, cultures, and knowledge systems for future generations.
Indigenous peoples around the world are working to revive their languages, cultures, and traditions. Despite the devastating impacts of colonization, many Indigenous communities are actively reclaiming their heritage, demonstrating a powerful resistance to the forces that sought to erase them.
On this slide, I introduce the beautiful art of Indigenous weaving, which holds significant cultural and historical value. To provide a more tangible understanding of this tradition, I created my own weaving as a hands-on example. Through this demonstration, we can appreciate the skill, creativity, and cultural significance of Indigenous weaving, while also fostering a deeper connection to Indigenous artistry.
By examining the rights, responsibilities, and conflicts arising from treaties, we can better understand the ongoing struggle for Indigenous sovereignty, self-governance, and justice. This knowledge is essential for reconciliation.
Our group thought that is was very important to go into the systemic racism First Nations that people face in healthcare. This is a complicated issue, as it stems from the cultural assimilation and societal oppression that indigenous people in Canada and around the world have been facing for centuries.
This slide explores the tragic history of the Beothuk, an Indigenous community in Newfoundland, who faced increasing hostilities, European expansion, and resource loss during the historic period. These factors, coupled with exposure to European diseases and isolation, led to their eventual extinction.
This slide delves into the persistent issue of racism in healthcare, particularly as to how it affects Indigenous peoples. By discussing systemic biases, barriers to access, and disparities in health outcomes, we can work to address this tragic problem.
We had to give our presentation to a bunch of grade 11’s, which was more than a little intimidating, but I will admit it was nowhere near as daunting as what I thought it would be.
But wait!
If you thought that was it, boy were you wrong. Just a few days after I presented, I had to present again. However, I honestly kind of enjoy presenting, and so it wasn’t all too bad. I had to create a reeaaaallllyyyy short Keynote to answer the driving question. I could only use 6 words! Luckily, I could say more then 6 words, I just had to limit the keynote to 6 words. Here is what I came up with.
As you can see, very short. Here is what I said:
Colonization had many consequences that still are felt today. Systemic racism is a direct result of colonization. This has lead to many negative consequences, like poorer quality of health care. This discrimination still affects indigenous communities today, contributing to higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and infant mortality.
Colonization brought about a change of who held wealth and power. It also lead to the spread of Christianity throughout North America. From the European perspective, many Europeans gained recognition and honour through exploration and colonization. The exchange of gold and wealth occurred through the fur trade, while the conversion of people to Christianity led to the establishment of residential schools. Overall, colonization had different consequences depending on your worldview. There are so many effects of colonization that I haven’t mentioned, for instance, environmental damage, economic loss, unequal access to health care and education, and lost life ways, not to mention the residential schools that will have impacts for generations to come.
The Driving Question
The driving question to this project was: What are the Consequences of Colonization? Here is a summary of my answer:
The consequences of colonization can be complex and multifaceted, depending on whose perspective is considered. For Indigenous peoples, the consequences have been overwhelmingly negative, including loss of land, culture, language, and self-gouvernance. The enduring impacts of colonization continue to affect Indigenous communities today, manifesting in social, economic, and health disparities. Colonization lead to centuries of war, suffering, oppression, poverty, trauma, and death, in what, in my mind, is undoubtedly a cultural genocide.
Overall, our Keynote presentation aims to show the importance of understanding our history in order to move towards a more just and equitable future.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about this important topic.
Very comprehensive! Thanks for sharing.
Milaina, you’re so good at these posts! I can’t help but admire that hard work that you put into these blog posts. Amazing job!