Part 5 Intro and Sections 1 & 2

There seems to be a movement in amongst the people of Oceania or more commonly known and Polynesians.  Currently, at the College of San Mateo and Community College of San Mateo, there are academic Certificates, and soon an Associates Degree path, in Oceania Studies.  I mention this because I took one of these classes and that's where I first heard the term Eurocentrism.  In this class, I first learned about decentalization especially in the form of mapping.  See, Polynesians are well known for using their oacean as their road ways so once Europeans mapped out the oceans and put up
these invisible borders, the people of Oceania lost their trading ability, their natural orienterring skills, and much of their history.

When I read this section of the book, I immediately thought about the people of Oceania.  When I
read:

"Other peoples and civilizations, by contrast were long believed to be static or stangant, thus largely laching any real history.  Most Europeans assumed that these "backwards" peoples and regions must either imitate the Western model or face further decline and possible extinction." (Nelson, p.690)

I realized what I learned in the other class was true.  The western purpose was to decentralize people who they thought "needed" them.  This was prevalent in the mapping system created.  The map is flat and NSEW coordinates are based on Europe.  This split Asia in half and put India in the South.  This decentralized these people.  Most importantly, these people did not see the world as flat.  The people of Oceania saw the Ocean as roadway through mountainous land.  One of the major problems with the European mapping system is that is from the birds eye view, when most Asian, and Oceania maps are from the sea looking up.  As upsetting as this is, I am glad that these conversatons are happening and the ideas are being challenged.