Virgin Soil Revisited Summary

As we have observed throughout the centuries, colonialism has immensely shaped the majority of countries of modern society. In the essay “The Impact of Colonization and Western Assimilation on Health and Wellbeing of Canadian Aboriginal People”, Cathy MacDonald & Audrey Steenbeek developed significant points that reflect as connections to the essay “Virgin Soils Revisited” emphasizing the devastating impact colonialism has had on the wellbeing and health initiatives imposed on the Native Americans and the Aboriginal people of Canada to this day. Both indigenous populations have endured the hardships of poor health, racial issues such as oppression, and cultural assimilations due to the long-lasting effects of colonialism.
The traumatic influence of colonialism caused a negative outcome for the health of both indigenous

groups. Native Americans and the Aboriginal people of Canada have suffered a massive decline of their populations by nearly 95 percent. David S. Jones explained that the Native Americans were very vulnerable to Old World diseases, since they encountered a “Virgin soil epidemic”, which was essentially a population that never before had contact with diseases (704). The Aboriginal people are also susceptible to infections to this day. For instance, they suffer today from chronic diseases such as alcoholism, obesity, mental health issues, physical and sexual violence, and sexually transmitted infections (MacDonald and Steenbeck 36). Colonialism impacted the populations too immensely that these health conditions remain and have gotten worse in the present day.
Both articles argued how the immense social and physical intervention of the European colonialism played a major influence on the populations’ health.

For instance, settlers transformed the native land into a diverse range of wild temperatures, droughts, deforestation, and severe flooding caused by their ways of living. The change in environment made the land more disposed to diseases. Overcrowding of fields also led to conflict between the settlers and the Native Americans. This deeply impacted a negative effect on the mental wellbeing of the indigenous populations due to the oppression received. Jones stated how social chaos was a harmful factor to their health. Additionally, MacDonald and Steenbeck stated that “Many of the traditional ways of knowing, such as Aboriginal knowledge and traditional healing practices, have been socially and culturally disrupted by colonization, residential schools, government policies of assimilation, and Western medicine.” This is significant because assimilation caused the Aboriginal people to feel more depressed due to the feeling that their culture was fading. This also took a major toll on their mental

health.
The detrimental outcomes of colonialism heavily influenced the health of the indigenous people from the era of the New World and today. All factors from encountering new diseases and the social and physical interventions led to the poor health acquired by both populations. Their mortality rates increased drastically because of the diseases transmitted by the European settlers. Therefore, colonialism in other terms can be considered as an endemic for wiping out the vast majority of a certain area.