It is easy to demonise the west and idealise the east when exploring colonialism. But things are never that black and white, are they?
After my latest American-bashing article Manifest Destiny, I thought I should write this for a bit of balance.
On this site I have often constructed "western" hegemony as being the antithesis to Indigneousness. But is the eastern record any better?
The world is outraged at the annexing of Tibet by China. But is anybody aware of the Indigenous people the modern Tibetans stole the land from in the first place? Is anybody aware of the way Buddhism was used to eclipse the ancient shamanic religion of Bon in the area? It is difficult to find any information about these people. The best I can find is the occasional fond reference to the "primitive" culture that gave Tibetan Buddhism its "unique and especially colorful character". So there must have been a large degree of cultural theft going on before the pre-Tibetan aborigines were subsumed for all time. Now the circle is complete, with China annexing Tibet. I think they call that Karma.
I sincerely hope that in a thousand years my people aren't referred to as the extinct ones who bequeathed Australia its "unique character"!
But no such exchange has existed between the Ainu and invading Japanese on Nippon. That has been a history of single-minded annihilation.
If you would like to read more about the Ainu, click here.
Also read my articles on native peoples in Thailand, Phillipines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia.
