The Chilcotin War discussions gave us another interesting look into the relationship and conflict between settlers and indigenous peoples. This topic is another great example of understanding the importance or bias in your sources, and recognizing various possible perspectives on an issue. It was clear right from the beginning of examining this conflict that it would be very difficult to get a clear idea of what actually happened. By carefully examining the sources, both European written history and the oral histories of the Chilcotin people we were able to gain a decent understanding of what may have happened. It became clear that the Chilcotin people had felt a desire to defend their territory from what they saw as invasion from settlers. It was also very obvious that the European documents that we read did not tell the whole story, a good example of having to understand that simply reading one document will not tell you all you need to know on a topic. For me The Chilcotin War was a very interesting look into what I can only describe as the poor communication and understanding between indigenous peoples and settlers. Stories similar to this one are found across North and South America, and it is very important to understand the past conflicts that shaped our civilization today.
December 9, 2016
Comments by thumphreys