Early Aboriginal Diseases

Decent Essays
The impact of Europeans on the early aboriginal population’s health was devastating. Aboriginal peoples contact with Europeans resulted in the spread of diseases such as influenza, measles, and smallpox. The aboriginal population had no immunity to these European diseases and there were no effective medicines to fight these illnesses. These diseases were spread through the blankets and other trade items of the Europeans. The outbreaks of these diseases, such as what is thought to have been a smallpox epidemic in 1862, had contributed to the decimation of aboriginal populations greatly. Aboriginal hunters died due to these European diseases, this led to the starvation of their tribes. Also contributing to starvation was the lack of conservation

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Columbian Exchange Essay

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In 1492, Christopher Columbus set his voyage to America where he discovered new things. Christopher Columbus began the trade routes between Europe and America that has never been established before during that time. This would be known as the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian exchange was an exchange of goods and ideas between the old world (Europe, Asia, Africa) and new world (America). The exchange consisted of plants, animals, culture, diseases, and slaves.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Colonisation took place the Europeans did not only take Aboriginal people’s land, but also had a great impact on their health and housing. Harris (2003, p. 81) states that between 1788-1990 the Aboriginal population was reduced by 90 per cent. There were many factors that lead to this outstanding decline in population; some of the major ones were diseases, loss of land/identity, and the overuse of alcohol and substances. According to Oxford Second Opinion, it states “the health status of Indigenous Australians at the time of the British invasion was better than that of most people then living in the UK” (Gray, Saggers, and Stearne 2015, p.151).…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Snoqualmie Tribe Essay

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Some of the diseases they brought include smallpox, measles chicken pox and influenza. Through direct contact with the explorers, the diseases were transmitted from the Europeans to the Indians who later transmitted the diseases to one another as they traded. The impact of the contact with the Europeans was so bad that all members of a particular village died (Joe,…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American Exploration Dbq

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages

    One of the more prominent diseases were smallpox brought over from Europe. For years the Europeans had been domesticating pigs, horses, sheep and cattle, [infecting] themselves with a wide array of germs¨ (Document 6). Their immune systems were build up leaving them less susceptible to harmful diseases. The Indians had spent thousands of years in insolation, not having any contact with germs that weren't there own. With the arriving of the europeans this brought mass amount of diseases that the indian immune system could not handle, for example smallpox.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many beneficial goods were brought back and forth, but disease truly changed the future of the New World. Over the centuries, Europeans had developed immunities to a variety of sicknesses. When they arrived in the New World, Native Americans were exposed to a deadly concoction of diseases, to which they had no immunities to fight. Millions of Native Americans…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Horses brought from Europe were quickly adopted by North American tribes such as the Apache and the Sioux for transportation. The most significant and devastating effect of the Columbian Exchange was the death toll of the diseases exchanged between Old World and New World peoples. European invaders brought diseases such as smallpox, malaria, and yellow fever. Natives gave Europeans syphilis in return, but its effects did not ravage the European continent in the same way that European diseases did for the Americas. After being isolated from the Eastern Hemisphere for over a millennia, indigenous peoples were especially vulnerable…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    New World Dbq

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages

    According to Geoffrey Cowley many native people were infected by a number of diseases they had no immunity towards, some of these diseases include “mumps, measles, whooping cough, smallpox, cholera, gonorrhea and yellow fever” (Document 6). The native people infected were infected in large numbers and many of these diseases seemed to be fatal; the population of native people suffered significantly from diseases. The majority of the population was wiped out due to this spreading of…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Being that the natives were never previously encountered their bodies had no immunity against them. The most prominent disease was smallpox amongst many others. The diseases brought killed roughly 20 million Native Americans. Because the Spanish never set out to kill the Indians and they solely wanted their labor, a debate on the rights of Indians was created. A Franciscan monk, Pedro de Cante told the emperor that you have to lay off the Indians because they’re dying.…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    a.1. In native American culture, what is considered the cause of illness? How may this influence the treatment of a medical disorder such as type 2 diabetes? a. According to the book, the cause of illness in the Native American culture is the imbalance of the supernatural, spiritual, or social implications.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Europeans and natives also exchanged diseases. The Native Americans’ isolation from the other side of the Atlantic made them highly susceptible to disease from the Asian and African continents that Europeans already built up an immunity to, so when the explorers made contact with the natives, they transferred diseases like small pox, malaria, yellow fever, bubonic plague and many more, which caused epidemics amongst the native peoples. Similarly, the natives had diseases that the other side of the Atlantic had never been exposed to. The most prominent disease that the sailors took back with them was syphilis, an STD, and it’s thought that they could have even brought back…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When Europeans came to Australia, they brought with them some epidemic diseases, such as smallpox, measles, influenza, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, venereal syphilis and gonorrhea, which were common in Europe in the 18th century. With the introduction of illness to Indigenous people, the Aboriginal society became depopulated and a number of Indigenous people died, because they did not have an immune system which could cope with diseases they had never experienced. While Europeans explored across the new land, the impact of introduced diseases affected to health of Aboriginal Australians (AIH 2015). The Policy of Assimilation (1961) was applied to Aboriginals until the 1960s.…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    TImperialism during the late 1900s had a horrendous effect on the native people. They were treated as slaves and considered unequal to non native people. The issues here don't really start to make a change until the natives decide to start fighting back. During the late 1900s Americans started to invade native lands such as Guatemala, Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the phillipines and other cities, the Americans began to take over their homes and lives. While parts of the U.S began to modernize, the natives did not.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Mandan Indians

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Mandan Indians faced many challenges in their lives, from the environment and climate to pests and other human beings. Many of the introductions into their world had both positive and negative effects. How were they able to survive and what drove them on a daily basis? The Mandans were like other tribes of their time in that they searched for a place to live that provided the resources necessary to maintain their life.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout decades, healthcare in Australia have worked hard through both on individuals and populations to improved the Aboriginal health compared to non-Aboriginal. In the past, many of Aboriginals generations have neglected as a result of discrimination and deficiency of healthcare services in remote areas (National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization). Hence, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) (p.9), has announced in 2010, one of their priorities is to improve Aboriginal health by understanding their history and culture and defy racism in GPs practices. There are three main determinants associated with the poor health of Aborigines. First, mental health, which considered a fundamental component…

    • 1727 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Colonization has had a great impact on the lives of Indigenous people. Since the first European settlers came to Canada, the way of life, traditions, and culture of Indigenous people have been threatened. Additionally, their mental and physical health have been impacted by methods of assimilation and government policies . Numerous diseases were introduced to Native communities thanks to the contact with Europeans . However, the social conditions of Indigenous people also contributed to the creation of health problems .…

    • 1576 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays