Essay On Native Americans Vanishing

Although many nineteenth century commentators claimed that Native Americans were “vanishing”, which means they could not adapt to modernity and would die out, this proved to be untrue. Native population numbers did drop significantly; however, this was not caused by the inability to modernize but rather from whites moving and mistreating them. In many cases Native Americans readily adopted white clothing and other objects. There have been numerous photos taken of Natives dressed in traditional Euro-American clothing. This cultural assimilation of Native Americans can mainly be attributed to the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and the Dawes Act of 1887 which granted all Natives living on reservations American citizenship and granted families

A photo of Joe Black Fox taken by Gertrude Kasebier proves that even to a small degree Native Americans were adopting white culture. Joe Black fox can be seen relaxing with a cigarette in his hand. Even though it was just a cigarette in his hand one can come to the conclusion that Black Fox likely integrated other Euro-American objects and culture into his life. An annual journal published by the Northern Pacific Railroad also proves that Native Americans were adopting the new white culture and remaining resilient. The journal states that after the extinction of the buffalo Natives turned to agriculture and herding for food. “...60,000 bushels of wheat have been raised by the Sioux and Chippewa….The Crows’ great reservation is probably the garden spot of Montana….The Flatheads have probably 10,000 or more horses and 5,000 or 6,000 cattle.” The journal clearly proves that Natives eagerly adopted new ways of living and with much success. The fact that the Native Americans had been able to produce such vast amounts of food and resources confirms that they were not “vanishing”. Various myths about culture and their terrible eradication plague the Native Americans from the nineteenth century. One very popular myth about Natives is that their society was extremely primitive and their culture very gentle and loving of nature; in reality this is incorrect.