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Bury my heart at wounded knee personal reflection
Evaluation of bury my heart at wounded knee by dee brown
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In Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, he argues that the Native American Indians were victimized and that the Americans, or pale-skins, were a greedy and dishonorable race. Brown claims that after the Civil War, the American government decided to explore their western territory that they had gained from the Mexican-American War. Even though most of the land belonged to Native American Indian tribes, the government went against their own treaties with the Indians and began to relocate them, so their settlers could take their place. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee gives several accounts of different tribes and their struggles against the United States government. Some Native Americans peacefully gave up their land and relocated, but many …show more content…
Brown states that in 1625, some settlers asked the chief of the Pemaquid tribe, Samoset, for some land. To "humor" them, Samoset performed a ritual to be able to "transfer" the land of his people over to the white man, making this the first land contract. Nevertheless, as more settlers came, they disregarded the contract made and just took the land for their own, causing the Pemaquids to be pushed back into wilderness. This also happened to other tribes, resulting in a war between several Native American tribes and the English. The English men, turned Americans in later years, continued to expand their colonies pushing the Natives westward. Brown is clearly stating that the white men are greedy and will continue to use the Indians first gift of generosity as justification to take more land without permission. Although neither side is completely innocent, it was the Americans that really caused the trouble. Sometimes even when the tribes moved peacefully the government would kill an innocent, make it nearly impossible for them to eat, leading to starvation, or try to place a blame on them for one reason or another. For example, the US
To many of the English colonists, any land that was granted to them in a charter by the English Crown was theirs’, with no consideration for the natives that had already owned the land. This belittlement of Indians caused great problems for the English later on, for the natives did not care about what the Crown granted the colonists for it was not theirs’ to grant in the first place. The theory of European superiority over the Native Americans caused for any differences in the way the cultures interacted, as well as amazing social unrest between the two cultures.
In Jamestown, the settlers had to deal with the Powhatan Indians. The relationships with them were unstable. John Smith, whom was the leader of Jamestown, was captured by these Indians while he was on a little trip with some of his men. As he left two of his men, he came back to find them dead and himself surrounded by two hundred members of the tribe, finding himself being captured. “Six or seven weeks those barbarians kept him prisoner…” 87). After this event, the relationship only grew worse and there was constant fighting between the settlers and Indians. The Indians practiced many methods in capturing settlers such as “scalping” and other dreadful techniques. The settlers did many negative practices also which is the reason they fought so many wars and battles against each other. Later on, the Indians killed the English for their weapons that were rare to them. In contrast to the Plymouth colony, these settlers dealt with the Pequot Indians and the relations were much more peaceful for a certain time frame. At one point, one Indian was brave enough to approach them and spoke to them (in broken English). He taught them the ways of the land, and developed a peace with the man. The settlers from the Plymouth colony learned many ways to grow food from these Indians. “He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities, and was also their
The United States government initially celebrated the Battle at Wounded Knee as the final conflict between Native Americans and the United States military - after which the western frontier was considered safe for the incoming settlers. Over 20 medals were awarded to the soldiers for their valor on the battlefield. However, the understanding has changed regarding what actually took place at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. The Hollywood version of the Battle of Wounded Knee accurately presents the case that the Battle at Wounded Knee was actually a massacre of the Sioux - the culminating act of betrayal and aggression carried out by the United States military,
The Indians thought of land very differently to the white man. The land was sacred, there was no ownership, and it was created by the great spirit. They could not sell their land to others, whereas the white people could fence off the land which belonged to them, and sell it freely to whoever they wanted. The Europeans didn't think that the Indians were using the land properly, so in their eyes, they were doing a good favour to the earth. To the Indians, the land was more valuable than the money that the white man had brought with him, even though it didn't belong to them.
Once the white men decided that they wanted lands belonging to the Native Americans (Indians), the United States Government did everything in its power to help the white men acquire Indian land. The US Government did everything from turning a blind eye to passing legislature requiring the Indians to give up their land (see Indian Removal Bill of 1828). Aided by his bias against the Indians, General Jackson set the Indian removal into effect in the war of 1812 when he battled the great Tecumseh and conquered him.
President Jackson declared that “our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions” (188). It has been through persuasion and force that we have moved the Native Americans until some tribes have become extinct. The governor, Lumpkin, of Georgia argued that the state cannot exercise against the constitutional rights and moral duty. The Cherokee’s claimed that the treaties and laws of the United States had guaranteed their residency, their privileges and secured them against intruders. Even though the Cherokees had successfully appealed to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial governments Georgia continues to rob them of their laws government and land rights. The Cherokee people petitioned to the government of the United States to fulfill their promises and protect them and all they were given for a response was that the United States could not interfere. Even though I believe the Cherokee Nation had to fight for their sovereignty none of the choices available to them would have provided them with a good resolution. The white people really did not want them to assimilate because they feared them and considered them uncivilized. Moving freely to unknown lands would have been very difficult. By this time the Indians had suffered many losses from disease, they were becoming dependent on
In the beginning of the film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, viewers are introduced to the young Native American boy Oyisha, later known as Charles Eastman. After his father made him leave his tribe to go to an Native American boarding school, he is quickly forced to change his cultural identity through assimilation. Assimilation caused by the Dawes Act of 1887 was widely used to erase every bit of culture that Native Americans held so they can conform to “civilized” society. The film accurately portrays assimilation as the viewers see the main character Charles Eastman change from a cultured Native American boy to a man visibly disconnected from is Native American heritage.
Along the way 4,000 Indians died because of the harsh terrane and the cruelty of the soldiers and many of them are buried in unmarked graves along the trail of tears. The trail of tears has been Know according to a white Georgian the “Cruelest work I ever knew”(Tindall pg 343).A few Cherokees Indians hide in the mountains and became knew as the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Later the Creeks and the Chickasaws went back to try to take back control of their lands. During the trail of tears nearly 100,000 Indians were forced to relocate to the west. The government during that time sold about 100 million acres of Native American lands, and most of the land was prime cotton growing
Native Americans did not engage with Americans successfully, because they viewed things from a different perspective. In “Shawnee Chief Tecumseh Recounts the Misdeeds of Whites and Calls for Indian Unity, 1810”, 1Native Americans were shown to have trusted the American people at first, but they then began to think the Americans were hypocritical. This was because they promised to be friendly and told them that if white people try to attack them, as long as Native Americans held up the flags which would be given to them by the White people, they would be safe from all danger. However, an Indian chief named Moluntha stood with the American flag in front of him, and an American officer cut off his head; this American officer was never punished. 1Tecumseh’s account shows that the Americans’ tactic in order to deal with the Americans was saying that everyone should have equal rights in the land and it could be used by anyone. For example, if Tecumseh had the chance to meet the governor, the governor would say that the land is meant for everyone. He would only say: ….“sir, you may return to your own country”1….” According to the Native Americans, no chief is allowed to sell his land, because everyone has the right to use the land. In contrast, American people never respected the Native Americans, and they wa...
The removal of Indian tribes was one of the tragic times in America’s history. Native Americans endured hard times when immigrants came to the New World. Their land was stolen, people were treated poorly, tricked, harassed, bullied, and much more. The mistreatment was caused mostly by the white settlers, who wanted the Indians land. The Indians removal was pushed to benefit the settlers, which in turn, caused the Indians to be treated as less than a person and pushed off of their lands. MOREEE
President Jackson singlehandedly led the destruction of the Native Americans with his aggressive actions and hostile decisions. President Jackson shirked his responsibility to protect the Native Americans of the United States by ignoring the Supreme Court’s decision, promoting legislation to bring about the separation of Native Americans and whites, and his decision to involve the United States Armed Forces against Indian Tribes. If it was not for President Jackson’s actions, the future of the Native Americans would have been different, or at least the American settlers wanted Indian land for many reasons. These reasons include geography and terrain, location, resources, and old grudges. First, the geography was perfect for farmers with fertile land.
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).
After watching the documentary We Shall Remain: Wounded Knee, the situation that prompted the occupation at Wounded Knee was a long awaiting protest against the United States government's mistreatment of Native Americans. For instance, mistreatment by creation of Indian schools, relocation, termination, etc. Although, the final setoff was the murder of a Native American by a white man. Basically, the white man only got a slap on the wrist and the Native Americans rioted against this. The court system did not give the murdered Native American any justice. White man who was only charged with second degree manslaughter was not given the correct charges the Native Americans saw but given a privilege because he was a white man. Ultimately, this
In the essay, “The Trail of Tears” by author Dee Brown explains that the Cherokees isn’t Native Americans that evaporate effectively from their tribal land, but the enormous measure of sympathy supported on their side that was abnormal. The Cherokees process towards culture also the treachery of both states and incorporated governments of the declaration and promises that contrived to the Cherokee nation. Dee Brown wraps up that the Cherokees had lost Kentucky and Tennessee, but a man who once consider their buddy named Andrew Jackson had begged the Cherokees to move to Mississippi but the bad part is the Indians and white settlers never get along together even if the government wanted to take care of them from harassment it shall be incapable to do that. The Cherokee families moved to the West, but the tribes were together and denied to give up more land but Jackson was running for President if the Georgians elects him as President he agreed that he should give his own support to open up the Cherokee lands for establishment.