Analysis Of Indigenous People In A Land So Strange

Although A Land So Strange focuses on 16th century America and Jacksonland focuses on 19th century America, both works feature men who were willing to sacrifice Indigenous lives for the acquisition of land and resources. However, Indigenous peoples did not simply let this occur. In A Land So Strange, multiple Indigenous groups told Narváez embellished tales about prosperous lands in order to prevent him from intruding on their settlements. In Jacksonland, the Cherokee created their own constitution to participate in American politics. These examples are from the many historical events of Indigenous resistance to colonization. This essay analyzes why some of the efforts of Indigenous resistance succeeded while others failed. By looking at

In A Land So Strange, however, these motives and objectives were frustrated by Indigenous political, economic, and military power. In Narváez’s second expedition, the explorers discover that the ‘Indians’ were “vigorously exploiting the environment”, “possessed intricate trading networks”, and “waged war on one another […] [like] their European counterparts.” Additionally, although the explorers did not see Apalachee when it was thriving, it was once the “largest and most complex chiefdom of the entire Florida peninsula.” It had an “intricate social hierarchy” and was involved in agriculture which qualified it as a “highly ranked societ[y].” While Narváez and his men desired to ‘civilize’ these ‘savages’, these ancient civilizations were already politically and economically

Narváez travelled to the New World with the expectations of easily exploiting the land and the people. However, his dream was ultimately a failure. The conquistadors were surprised that the natives had developed political and economic systems, contradicting the European belief that the ‘savages’ were “incapable of conquering nature.” Similarly, the Cherokees in Jacksonland created their own independent state in Georgia, adopting American political values. The Indigenous groups in both works mirrored European and American society yet they were subject to racism. Euro-Americans argued that the ‘Indian’s’ savagery impeded American prosperity. These arguments were merely political strategies used to disguise their xenophobic ideologies of the Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, these strategies were used to justify the acquisition of Indigenous lands they had no rights to and the inhumane treatments they subjected Indigenous people