Willaim Cronon Changes In The Land Summary

Native Americans have been overlooked when dealing with Colonial history due to a lack of evidence and bias. Early historians did not have access to evidence that came directly from Native Americans. Most of the evidence came from journals, diaries and other forms of record that belonged to the colonists, which described their encounters with Native Americans. This lack of evidence leads to pro-European bias because early historians only had the Europeans’ perspectives. The exploration of new evidence has led to a greater emphasis on Native Americans.
In the book, Changes in the Land, the author, Willaim Cronon takes a different perspective in dealing with Native American history. He takes a look at the ecological changes that have occurred since the Europeans settled in New England. Cronon …show more content…
They also viewed them as poor because the natives had few possessions, partly because of their nomadic lifestyle. The Europeans didn’t understand that the Indians lived accordingly with the seasons and the way other species lived because in actuality, the abundance of resources changed from season to season. The New England Indians searched for food wherever it was “seasonally more concentrated in the New England ecosystem,” wrote Cronon. This means that they required knowledge of the ecology and habits of other species, which is something the Europeans lacked. This evidence helps us comprehend and recognize a portion of the Indians’ way of life before the colonists settled. Land ownership is another piece of evidence Cronon gives us to better understand Indian societies. He discusses the differences in ideas of Indians and colonists pertaining to land ownership. Native Americans did not perceive ownership of the land they lived on itself, but rather the goods and resources they acquired from it. The Europeans believed Indians were not