Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

The period of formal colonization began in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries with the British setting up schools, churc hes and government
administra tions . Each British co lony was divided up arb itraril y into smaller secti ons
ruled by British district officers. Since the colonizers' aims were to "civilize" the
natives , the administrators hired local men whom they taugh t to help enforce the
British rules of conduct. These local men , called district interpreters. were placed in a
position of po wer and usedas sycopbantswhich alienated the m from theirco mmunity.
Th us, the hierarchical syste m, patterned after the great chain of being that placed non­
whites on the lower rung next to the beasts . wasestablished and maintained.
Not only were children removed phys ically from their homes and cultural
environment to attend British -run schools. but they were indoctrinated in the European
language and culture. They were taught British history . geography. and most
importantly, they were taught that the whites were superior. The children were given
English names which alienated them furthe r from their history since the naming of a
child in the African culture has great significance to ancestral connections and the
ownership of land . Iden tifyin g with the traditions of the master and speaking the
master's language were an integral part of the colonizing process. For the British
colonies. English becam e the official language for conducting business and
gove rnmen t tran sac tions. Ngu gi wa Thiong'o asse rts in Decolonising 1MMind: The
Politicsof Languagein African Luerarure:
Co lonia.l..ism ••• involved two aspects of the same process: the
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