who might have been better or worse but would still bring the colonialism, diseases not encountered by locals and the Western concepts of getting rich and acquiring territory before the other European countries did so.

And the Romans did it 2000+ years ago to other Europeans then had it done to their world by "barbarians".

The history of Western civilization which happened to and by other cultures before and after. It continues to this day.

the indigenous people had a long history of bloody combat and conquest among themselves. It does not necessarily excuse the west - to simply recognize that other cultures had a fair share of appetite for conquest and acquisition.

The larger question would be - here in the 21st century, are we yet able to throw constraints and/or boundaries on those impulses?

they used the british military to aid certain chiefs to unify the islands. its complicated

black and white gives us wonderful photographs ....