Upon arriving in the
region, my group was set on maintaining peaceful relations with the natives.
Early on, we were challenged by the tumultuous weather and faced a problem: we
had no resources to rely upon during this harsh weather. As a result, we had to
utilize force against the natives to get them to extract more resources for our
survival during the trip. This first conflict with the natives gave me time to
analyze what the outcome of the trip may be. Following the conflict, I began to
realize that the trip can be successful in the abundance of resources as well
as staying on good terms with the natives. About every three months, my group
used force to gain more resources from the natives, but we still were on good
terms with them. Tragedy struck when a typhoon hit the area, damaging the
stability we had in the area. Rather than merely using the resources we already
had, we pressed the natives for more. We never ended on bad terms with the
natives luckily. By the end of the trip, we had collected about three months’
worth of resources, which makes a decent profit for our homeland.
The time taken in this environment exposed me to so much. In surrounding areas, many were set upon being peaceful with the natives and ended up successful in their profits. The few colonization attempts that were based around utilizing brute force failed to produce as successful results compared to those centered on peace. The primary issue that was revealed unto me during this expedition is that force is the only way that we believe we can get resources from the natives. Rather than completing something such as an exchange or barter of some sort, we immediately rely upon merciless violence to gain a few more resources. This reliance upon brute force to reach a means shows the intimidating nature of non-natives for the purpose of accomplishing some simple goal. The natives helped us not only survive during the year, but also gathered more resources when we demanded, yet the thanks we give them is brutality. It is disturbing to think that this is the manner in which we reward those who help us. There might have been some other way to gather surplus, but we explorers refused to believe there was no other way than brutality. This examination has introduced me to the idea that we as a people have not evolved enough from our former selves to understand that there are some other ways that we could have approached these natives and still received the same amount, if not more resources as a result. We allow ourselves to strip humanity away from these natives for the sake of financial stability, which degrades the character of our people as a whole. The natives understood what they had to do, but felt no need to fight back against us when they had multiple opportunities to do so. This form of patience evident in the tribe reveals the lack thereof in our people. It makes me question who is more primitive: the natives or ourselves? We must strive to realize that although we assume tribesmen appear to be savages, they may be more advanced than what meets the eye.
