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Essays on assimilation by native american students
Essays on assimilation by native american students
Essays on assimilation by native american students
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As a prominent philosopher once said, “Kill the Indian and save the man”(Pratt). This quotation substantiates that during the mid 1850s when the US government commenced a movement to repose the Indians from their ancestral lands the overall objective was clearly to “humanize” them. In other words, the displacement was made in order to acculturate the Indians to an American idiosyncrasy, and for the Europeans to secure the lands they yearned for without collision. This justification that the Indians can be segregated from their homeland, and later assimilate the dominant race customs for instance, farming is exceptionally unethical. One can’t be content being constrained to transcend into another culture. The deficiencies of these reservations …show more content…
is exhibited by the fact that numerous Indians escaped from their boarding schools, the Indian Wars, the frequency of Indians still hushfully practice their cultural customs, the economic downturn in terms of agriculture, and the drugs and alcohol abuse in the reservations. It’s been document that an innumerable amount of young Indians were obligated to attend the boarding schools set up in the reservations. The boarding schools attempt was to destroy all one knew about their Indian culture, and teach them the European ways.
In other words, to civilize the Indians by teaching them English, a new religion, and new laws. These new rules will lead Indians to be determined to abscond from their boarding schools. To make matters worse several were successful in escaping, even having lines of generations that had ventured to break out of these schools. An example of the insufficiency of security in the reservations is seen in the novel Lakota Woman by Mary Crowdog which is a memoir about Crowdog’s experiences being a Lakota women in the United States during the reservations period. She is segregated from her family, and is placed in a boarding school. One day Crowdog reaches her limit of the times she has to go to pray, the harassment, and mistreatment she had to coped with in while in her school, so she plans an escape. Not only does she describe her own escape she defines her grandmother’s, her mother’s, and her sister’s getaway. Crowdog validates their departure by stating, “The mission school at St. Francis was a curse for our family for generations. My grandmother went there, then my mother, then my sisters and I. At one time or other every one of us tried to run away¨(Crowdog 31). This quotation endorses how from generation to generation these …show more content…
reservations have failed to secure the Lakota from getawaying from these reservations. Moreover, this was so habitual that its been documented in other articles about the daily life in reservations. In the article American Boarding Schools its speaks upon the life in these schools and states, “Since many of the schools were former military bases, they often had prison cells where the children would be locked for infractions such as running away. Many instances of sexual abuse of both boys and girls by school staff were reported … ¨(Ungvarsky). This quote autheicates that it wasn’t just the Lakota whom tried to escape, it was a matter of contention in innumerable reservations. Given the fact that an uncountable number of Indians undertook the challenge to withdraw from these schools because of the abuse they were faced with showcases how these reservations weren’t profitable in terms of neither educating the Indians the norms of the Europeans or supervising the Indians to ensure their savagely is out of possession. Furthermore, another aspiration in terms of these reservations was to migrate the Indians into reservations with little to no violence.
Unfortunately, this was not achievable to the extent anticipated for. A substantial amount of tribes were willing to speak against clearing out from their homeland, but the aftermath of such events were pure bloodshed. For an exemplar, a Hunkpapa Lakota leader, Sitting Bull, refuted to be inserted into reservations by opening gunfire. When conveying an image of the after-effects of Sitting Bull’s movement it states, “Sitting Bull, the Sioux resisted efforts of the U.S. government to annex their lands and force them to settle on reservations. Between June 25 and June 26, 1876, a punitive expedition commanded by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was annihilated by the Sioux, with the aid of other tribes, in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.”(Wagnalls). Moreover, this quote sanctions how these wars affected multifarious amounts of soldiers, and families on both sides just because of a disagreement in terms of these reservations. This battle even became known as Custer's Last Stand, simply because Custer, and his whole 7th cavalry were completely obliterated by the Lakota tribe illustrating the revolt of these reservations. In addition, when lecturing about this armed conflict it's been cited, “However Crazy horse and his men appear in the rear and Custer's cavalry are overcome by their charge. Custer's troops faced overwhelming numbers. Some of
his command dug in on top of a knoll but were all killed.”(Stout). As declared in this quote the battle of Greasy Grass was a horrendous military fight that could've been avoided. In continuation, not only was this a massive encounter, Greasy Grass promoted more slaughter, because governing leaders now know that they’re capable of standing up to counter these reservations. The battle of Greasy Grass testified that these goals towards a well-disposed removal wasn’t as straightforward as expected. To summarize, these reservations were an issue since the beginning by causing rivalry. Adding on, another tribal chief once said, “We are just as we were made by the Great Spirit, and you can not change us: then, why should children of one mother quarrel? Why should one try to cheat another? I do not believe that the Great Spirit Chief gave one kind of men the right to tell another kind of men what they must do.”(Joseph). Chief Joseph, after experiencing the life in reservations, has remarked that the Europeans are aggravating towards “civilizing” these Indians but he knows this is not possible. We are all given life to do what comes naturally to us. For instance, the Indians had their own God to praise, sweat baths ceremonies, and their ghost dance. To refer back to the memoir Lakota Women the author substantiates that the life in these reservations were still entangled in practicing their culture by stating, “They could not be tamed, made to wear a necktie or go to a Christian church. All during the long years when practicing Indian beliefs was forbidden and could be punished with jail, they went right along having these ceremonies, their sweat baths and sacred dances”(Crowdog 10). The citation ascertains that no matter how vigorously the officials tried to prevent these ceremonies the Indians, no matter the penalty, still celebrate their culture. Correspondly, in a dairy from Henry P. Smith, Smith writes about the lack of success to forfend the rehearsal of the Indian’s culture. In particular, the Ghost Dance movement in the 1890s by stating, “But by fall, officials became alarmed and ordered all dancing stopped. The dancers refused to obey, and it became apparent that the agents were losing control. On 15 November, newly appointed Pine Ridge agent Daniel f. Royer panicked and sent a frantic appeal for military protection”(Smith 198). This quotation showcases how in spite of their endeavor to avoid these rituals, even calling military protection, the officials couldn’t maintain these reservations. Moreover, it fabricates the truth that the Europeans intention to convert another race into their own is unimaginable meaning the reservations were ineffective. In addition to not being able to transform the Indians to Europeans, the reservations weren’t economical in terms of plantations. It was thought that drilling the Indians to farm will prosper the economy, but these reservations did the complete opposite. Referencing back to the Chief Joseph, he manifest the importance of farming by stating, “Evidently the plan of making farmers of these people is the only one to pursue as a regular road to civilization¨(Joseph). This justifies that supposedly, the Indians were being taught how to farm accurately in order for them to metamorphose into a civilized person. Ironically, these farms that were meant to be contain various and delicious crops many were a downfall. Referencing to a reliable article called Navajo Indians its describes the Navajos crops by stating, “On the reservation, the tribe suffered severe hardships from disease and crop failures … . Since this was generally poor farming land, few attempts were made by outsiders to encroach on the reservation. Greatly increased livestock holdings presented serious problems of soil erosion and overgrazing. Eventually a livestock-reduction plan was forced on the tribe by the U.S. government”(Wagnalls). The article stumbles upon an important conclusion that in these reservations its wasn’t uncommon for them to have weak crops which is contrary to benefiting the economy. The U.S. had to come in to look after the crops instead of consummating resources by having more people working in the fields. In other words, in place of the reservations bettermenting the US government it caused a down-turn in agriculture, which during this time period was a essential impact in the economy. The reality, that these Indians are hunters not farmers running crops will resulted in the U.S. having to pay the deficits to preserve the plantations, so now both sides are troubled by these reservations. Correspondly, a separate concern in the Indian reservations is the consumption of alcohol, and drugs. The depletion of drugs and alcohol are depicted everywhere, but in these reservations is was a even further worriment. Accrediting the novel Lakota Woman she also describes her issue with the utilization of alcohol. Crowdog showcases her usability of alcohol, and cigarettes at an early age by stating, “ I drank and smoked grass all the time. At age seventeen that was just about all I did. Whiskey, straight Whiskey … how I survived the wild, drunken rides which are such an integral part of the reservations, I do not know”(Crowdog 47). This quote highly grasped my attention because it verifies the troublesome that took place in these reservations of young girls smoking and drinking. This novel isn’t the only source that legalize the matter of the application of alcohol, and drugs as a botheration. The article The Impact of drug trafficking on American Indian reservations with international boundaries, states statistics about the utilization of drugs, and alcohol in the U.S.but in principally in reservations. The article states, “In spite of the implementation of more stringent laws and regulations geared toward reducing the pervasiveness of drugs ... the distribution and use of illegal narcotics continues to be widespread… This escalation is particularly evident on reservations… . According to a report released by the US Department of Justice, both Mexican and Asian drug- trafficking organizations (dtos) frequently exploit reservations ... as arrival and/or transit zones for illegal drugs destined for markets throughout the United States”(Cummings). This authorizes that there’s an escalation of drugs in these reservations although the US government speculates to avoid these illegal actions. Many officers have stated the struggle to maintain these reservations crime free by saying. “I far been powerless to arrest or punish them. Some of the more intelligent Indians deprecate such a state of affairs, but the restless, savage, and dishonest portion of them see only the present gain …”(Indian Affairs). This quotation discloses the incompetent of these Indian affairs to scrupulously do their job of avoiding illegal actions. These reservations were so ill-fated they became known to smuggle illegal merchandise.
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...
What should the Indian become?” For over a century at this point, the Americans are still trying to ponder the question and control the life of the different Native American tribe. Interestingly, the board does not call out specific tribes, rather, generalizing all the tribes at the time into one category. As mentioned in class, the United States recognized five tribes as “civilized”. The tribes that the United States specially mentioned were: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and the Seminole. Again, the United States government contradicts itself in regards to Indian policy. Since the colonial period, Americans tried to “civilize” all different types of Indian tribes. Fast forward a hundred years, after recognizing these five tribes as civilized, the American government is still trying to control the “destiny” of Indian tribes. The “destiny” that the Board of Indain Commissioners decides is that the Indians should become a citizen of the United States. It seems that the American government could never be satisfied with the policy in which was set before
In 1875, Custer had made a commitment to the Sioux (aka. Lakota) that he would no longer fight Native Americans. Custer's promise happened to take place as a U.S. Senate commission meeting was taking place with the Lakota in an effort to purchase the gold mining fields in the Black Hills (which Custer had discovered a year earlier). The Lakota rejected the senate’s offer in favor of sticking with the 1868 treaty that promised protection of their lands. In spite of this treaty, LTC Custer was used by the government to assist in the removal of the natives living in the Northern Plains (Fox, 1997).
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,
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.
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.
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.
Lakota Woman Essay In Lakota Woman, Mary Crow Dog argues that in the 1970’s, the American Indian Movement used protests and militancy to improve their visibility in mainstream Anglo American society in an effort to secure sovereignty for all "full blood" American Indians in spite of generational gender, power, and financial conflicts on the reservations. When reading this book, one can see that this is indeed the case. The struggles these people underwent in their daily lives on the reservation eventually became too much, and the American Indian Movement was born. AIM, as we will see through several examples, made their case known to the people of the United States, and militancy ultimately became necessary in order to do so.
The governmental leaders of the United States of America began implementing Indian policies from its inception. As Euro-Americans they expected all non-whites in the U.S. to assimilate into a Euro-American (Christian) lifestyle, without reciprocation or sympathy to the traditions and history of our native people. Our founding fathers and subsequent leaders of the United States at varying times have used suppression, segregation, aggression, and assimilation to manage what they perceived as an Indian problem, and civilize them. The native peoples of North America have responded to these actions by, at times, complying with the U.S. government and allowing themselves to be relocated to other areas of the country leaving behind their ancestral
In the colonization of Turtle Island (North America), the United States government policy set out to eliminate the Indigenous populations; in essence to “destroy all things Indian”.2 Indigenous Nations were to relocate to unknown lands and forced into an assimilation of the white man 's view of the world. The early American settlers were detrimental, and their process became exterminatory.3 Colonization exemplified by violent confrontations, deliberate massacres, and in some cases, total annihilations of a People.4 The culture of conquest was developed and practiced by Europeans well before they landed on Turtle Island and was perfected well before the fifteenth century.5 Taking land and imposing values and ways of life on the social landscape
together for the better of the shared children. The women had a say in how they would help
Similarly, in 1851, the Indians relinquished one more tremendous territory in exchange with an annual payment, furnished schools, and other promises, yet the government, again, did not keep its word (86). The simple lifestyle and humanitarian creed of the indigenous taught them to trust other fellow humans, regardless of color, religion and ethnicity. Therefore, when the Americans told them that they would pay ten cents per acre, or they would bring civilization to the savage Indians, the indigenous immediately agreed. However, this betrayal resulted in distrust and aversion toward the ‘white man,’ which, consequently, led to many wars, such as the “Minnesota massacre,” whose casualties were mostly Indians, and those who survived, including the author, were exiled.
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 Indian Termination Policy of 1953 was the government’s answer to fix Indian conditions on the reservations; in 1943, the government surveyed the living conditions of the Indians on reservations and found them to be living in poverty (“The American Indian Movement”). Alison Owings explains to readers that the Indians were living in poverty as a direct and indirect result of previous laws and policies, such as the 1887 Dawes Act where greater than ninety million acres of tribal land was stripped from Indians and sold to non-natives (
Native American children were physically and sexually abused at a school they were forced to attend after being stripped from their homes in America’s attempt to eliminate Native peoples culture. Many children were caught running away, and many children never understood what home really meant. Poet Louise Erdich is part Native American and wrote the poem “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” to uncover the issues of self-identity and home by letting a student who suffered in these schools speak. The poem follows Native American kids that were forced to attend Indian boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. By using imagery, allusion, and symbolism in “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”, Louise Erdrich displays how repulsive Indian