Media and education over the past half-century have portrayed Native Americans as gentle peace-loving custodians of the land, living in perfect harmony with nature before Europeans showed up and destroyed their paradise. That's what I was taught in public school.

Why did Europeans refer them "savages"? Was it because they were ignorant racists who couldn't understand the wisdom of the indigenous culture and way of life? Or was it because Native Americans engaged in levels of violence and brutality which shocked European sensibilities?

Let's look at the situation today. According to the Canadian Government (who desperately try to portray them in a positive light), indigenous people are 12 times more likely to commit homicide than non-indigenous people. This figure includes blacks, Arabs, and other non-whites. If we were to compare white Canadians alone to indigenous Canadians, the disparity would be significantly higher.

Not only does this prove that they aren't as peaceful as they are portrayed. It also suggests that Europeans' denoscriptions of Native Americans throughout history were probably a lot more accurate than the media and education system will have you believe.