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The Canary Effect

The discovery of America is one of the stunning achievements that human beings have

ever accomplished. It is among the youngest yet most prosperous countries in the world. The

glory of this country was, however, not without a great sacrifice. “The Canary Effect” a

documentary directed in 2006 by Robin Davey and Yellow Thunder Woman reveals the brutality

that was undergone by the Native Americans during the revolution of modern America. The

scenes from this film can make a viewer neglect the worth of the state’s founding day. This essay

will thus elaborate on the discrimination that the Native Americans went through in the hands of

the European Americans.

The Europeans who settled in America as settlers demeaned the indigenous occupants of

the land. The Europeans practiced dictatorship and were very cruel to the American Natives. The

Red Indians who are the native of the land were tortured and oppressed by the new occupants.

According to “The Canary Effect” documentary, the Europeans initiated a course that aimed to

end the existence of the Red Indians. They did so by grabbing the Native American’s land,

sterilizing their women, and isolating their children from the older generation to assimilate them

into the European culture. The Europeans practiced settler colonialism all over the country. In
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the article “Settler Colonialism Primer,” Laura &Shawn state that “In settler colonialism land,

not labor, is key.” (p. n/a) The Europeans thus needed to eliminate the natives to grab their land.

The natives experienced hard times as the Europeans tried to disconnect their existence and

manipulate their true self by adopting their children into the European culture.

The European had a prejudice over the Native Americans which led to discrimination of

the latter. From the documentary, some of the pre-existing prejudices included that “all Native

Americans are lazy,” “all Native Americans are alcoholics,” and “all Native Americans are part

of gangs” among other biased prejudices. Such stereotypes made the natives to be discriminated

against by the Europeans. The same Europeans who had grabbed land would not hire the natives

making the natives lives more miserable. After the establishment of a state, the natives had to

rely heavily on the government as most of them had no land nor jobs. In the modern day, there is

a misconception that the Native Americans reap huge benefits from the government. However,

this contrasts from their way of living. Most of the Native Americans are poor which can be

traced from the influence of the Europeans during the 15th century.

According to Laura & Shawn, “different groups are racialized in different ways

according to the needs of the settler society.” (p. n/a). This statement clearly shows that the

natives were discriminated upon racial backgrounds as they were a hindrance to the needs of the

European settlers. At the time of European arrival, all the land belonged to the natives who were

a different race from them. The Europeans thus quickly found a reason to eliminate the

indigenous people using racial basis. In “The Canary Effect,” the notions such as “all Native

Americans are lazy” were mainly formed due to racial discrimination.

After watching the sad documentary, an individual can appreciate their situation. This is

after the realization of the overwhelming circumstances that the Native Americans had to persist
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in the hands of the Europeans. The documentary also raises a necessity for quick intervention in

the current situation of the Native Americans. The living conditions and the education of the

Native Americans need to be improved.

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Works Cited
https://unsettlingamerica.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/settler-colonialism-primer/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0798826/