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The Iroquois Indians eventually got much of their land back. Throughout American history Native Americans were discriminated against by Whites. They were forced to live on reservations, basically stripped of their freedom. They were forced to send their children to residential school systems. They could not vote. They could not marry Whites (Berger). They were victims of hate crime. Their reservations were dumping grounds, the Navajo reservation was a series of 1,100 abandoned uranium mines and nuclear test sites, seemingly exempt from the environmental protection that exists off the reservation (Schaefer,170). Considering how committed to the land the Native Americans were, this injustice must have been especially bitter. Other manifestations seen among White- Black racism include segregation and slavery, neither of which is seen among the Indians. Instead, Americans tried repeated formal attempts to assimilate the Native Americans including the Allotment Act, Indian Reorganization Act, Employment Assistance Program, Termination Act, missionaries and the BIA reservation schools (Schaefer,171). Racism was evident in the policies enacted forcing Native American children to attend residential schools. American’s theorized they could separate them from their parents and “kill the Indian… to save the man” (Johansen). The schools would also play a role in the loss of the Native American language (Johansen). In contrast to the racial segregation experienced by Blacks, Native Americans were forced to integrate and assimilate while letting go of every tradition from spiritual beliefs and language to health and self-governance (Johansen). In the early 19th Century federal Indian agents were assigned to reservations to... ... middle of paper ... ... American Indian stereotypes. Web. . 8. Ripples of Renewal. (2004). National Geographic, 206(TheOneida.com), 88-89. 9. Schaefer, Richard T. Racial and Ethnic Groups. 13. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print. 10. Vargas, Theresa & Shin, Annys, The Washington Post, 11/16/2013. Oneida Indian Nation is the tiny tribe taking on the NFL and Dan Snyder over Redskins name. Web. . 11. "Wikipedia the free encyclopedia." Matrilineality. 2014. Web. 2014. . Wikipedia. Arthur Raymond Halbritter. Web. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Raymond_Halbritter>.
It had previously been the policy of the American government to remove and relocate Indians further and further west as the American population grew, but there was only so much...
In order to understand the lack of morality on the part of the United States, the actions taken by the group in favor of removing the Indians and their opponents needs examining. The seeds of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 are rooted in colonial times and continued to grow during the early years of the American republic. To comprehend this momentous tragedy we must first examine the historical background of the Indian '"'problem'"' and seek rationale for the American government"'"s actions. This includes looking at the men who politically justified the expulsion of the Cherokee nation and those who argued against it.
When the Dawes Act, a Native American Policy, was enforced in 1887, it focused on breaking up reservations by granting land allotments to individual Native Americans. At that time, people believed that if a person adopted the white man’s clothing, ways and was responsible for his own farm, he would eventually drop his, as stated by the Oxford University Press, “Indian-ness” and become assimilated in American society. The basic idea of this act was the taking away of Native American Culture because they were considered savage and primitive to the incoming settlers. Many historians now agree the Native’s treatment throughout the Dawes Act was completely unfair, unlawful, and unethical. American Society classified them as savages solely on their differences in morals, religion, appearance and overall culture.
At these boarding schools, Native American children were able to leave their Indian reservations to attend schools that were often run by wealthy white males. These individuals often did not create these schools with the purest of intentions for they often believed that land occupied by Native American Tribes should be taken from them and put to use; it is this belief that brought about the purpose of the boarding schools which was to attempt to bring the Native American community into mainstream society (Bloom, 1996). These boarding schools are described to have been similar to a military institution or a private religious school. The students were to wear uniforms and obey strict rules that included not speaking one’s native tongue but rather only speaking English. Punishments for not obeying such rules often included doing laborious chores or being physically reprimanded (Bloom, 1996). Even with hars...
American Indians shaped their critique of modern America through their exposure to and experience with “civilized,” non-Indian American people. Because these Euro-Americans considered traditional Indian lifestyle savage, they sought to assimilate the Indians into their civilized culture. With the increase in industrialization, transportation systems, and the desire for valuable resources (such as coal, gold, etc.) on Indian-occupied land, modern Americans had an excuse for “the advancement of the human race” (9). Euro-Americans moved Indians onto reservations, controlled their education and practice of religion, depleted their land, and erased many of their freedoms. The national result of this “conquest of Indian communities” was a steady decrease of Indian populations and drastic increase in non-Indian populations during the nineteenth century (9). It is natural that many American Indians felt fearful that their culture and people were slowly vanishing. Modern America to American Indians meant the destruction of their cultural pride and demise of their way of life.
The religious practices of the Native American population in the U.S. no longer was of concern to the government. Suppression, segregation and aggression was also no longer a policy which the American government wished to pursue, but assimilation still remained a concern. Unfortunately, the assimilation came in the form of once again taking away lands from Native Americans (termination) because reservations were seen as equal to the concentration camps of WWII. Rosier states in his journal article, "They Are Ancestral Homelands": Race, Place, and Politics in Cold War Native America, 1945-1961, that Zuni veterans of “We have served [overseas] in order to save our country, our people, our religion, our freedom of press and our freedom of speech from destruction…We, now in the land of freedom as Americans are faced with [termination policies] which will mean total destruction of all tribes.” The policy of termination clashed with the Native American peoples ' desires to preserve their own native identity, and with their own identity came their own religious practices. Between 1953–1964, more than 100 tribes were terminated and 13,263 Native Americans lost tribal affiliation; this was a loss that could not be regained. Scholars determined that the termination policies had calamitous effects on tribal autonomy and
The American Indians were promised change with the American Indian policy, but as time went on no change was seen. “Indian reform” was easy to promise, but it was not an easy promise to keep as many white people were threatened by Indians being given these rights. The Indian people wanted freedom and it was not being given to them. Arthur C. Parker even went as far as to indict the government for its actions. He brought the charges of: robbing a race of men of their intellectual life, of social organization, of native freedom, of economic independence, of moral standards and racial ideals, of his good name, and of definite civic status (Hoxie 97). These are essentially what the American peoples did to the natives, their whole lives and way of life was taken away,
Towards the development of the United States of America there has always been a question of the placement of the Native Americans in society. Throughout time, the Natives have been treated differently like an individual nation granted free by the U.S. as equal U.S. citizens, yet not treated as equal. In 1783 when the U.S. gained their independence from Great Britain not only did they gain land from the Appalachian Mountains but conflict over the Indian policy and what their choice was to do with them and their land was in effect. All the way from the first presidents of the U.S. to later in the late 19th century the treatment of the Natives has always been changing. The Native Americans have always been treated like different beings, or savages, and have always been tricked to signing false treaties accompanying the loss of their homes and even death happened amongst tribes. In the period of the late 19th century, The U.S. government was becoming more and more unbeatable making the Natives move by force and sign false treaties. This did not account for the seizing of land the government imposed at any given time (Boxer 2009).
In the 30 years after the Civil War, although government policy towards Native Americans intended to shift from forced separation to integration into American society, attempts to "Americanize" Indians only hastened the death of their culture and presence in the America. The intent in the policy, after the end of aggression, was to integrate Native Americans into American society. Many attempts at this were made, ranging from offering citizenship to granting lands to Indians. All of these attempts were in vain, however, because the result of this policies is much the same as would be the result of continued agression.
The new US Government was careful not to antagonize the Indians and sought to treat them with mutual respect. This is evidenced in early treaties where the term “Red Brothers” was used to convey this sentiment of equality. By 1800 interaction between the Indian and white settlers had become quite common through trade. Many Indians traded for household goods, traps and tools. The US became concerned about the cultural differences and sought to improve the Indian station in life by providi...
In 1887 the federal government launched boarding schools designed to remove young Indians from their homes and families in reservations and Richard Pratt –the leader of Carlisle Indian School –declared, “citizenize” them. Richard Pratt’s “Kill the Indian… and save the man” was a speech to a group of reformers in 1892 describing the vices of reservations and the virtues of schooling that would bring young Native Americans into the mainstream of American society.
2. “Cherokee Culture and History.” Native Americans: Cherokee History and Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. .
Sandefur, G. (n.d.). American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas? Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc121f.pdf
The Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 brought about the policy of Cultural Assimilation for the Native American peoples. Headed by Richard Henry Pratt, it founded several Residential Schools for the re-education and civilization of Native Americans. Children from various tribes and several reservations were removed from their families with the goal of being taught how to be c...
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.