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

plots of land for their own homesteads. Documents and photos from the nineteenth century speak mostly to the endurance of the Native Americans while few speak to their “vanishing”.
Documents that treated Native Americans as an entertainment or study factor tend to relate the sense that they were “vanishing”. An advertisement for a travelling show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West proves that whites viewed Natives as a society that was unwilling to adapt to modern life. The advertisement depicts Native Americans riding horses bareback, firing guns, and performing dances around teepees. The ad in no way shows Natives attempting to modernize, in fact they appear to be fighting against it, they seem to be driving away a group of whites travelling in wagons which likely represents the new Euro-American culture. Another instance where Natives are seen as “vanishing” is in Lewis Henry Morgan’s Ancient Society. Morgan states that the Native Americans greatly resemble our ancestors and that whites could gain valuable insight to the past by studying them. Similar to Buffalo Bill’s advertisement, the book does not say that Natives were trying to modernize and not resemble our ancestors. Although these two pieces don’t explicitly state that Native Americans were vanishing, they imply it by showing that Natives were not modernizing or trying to improve their standard of living. Although the ad and book were popular at the time; most documents proved the exact opposite: that Natives were modernizing.
Photos that showed Natives using Euro-American objects or attempting to adopt white culture prove that Natives were not “vanishing”.

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.

One example would be when Native Americans developed Cahokia, a city bigger than London located in modern day East St. Louis. Cahokia had a large urban center and thatched roof houses lining plazas and likely had an intricate economy with trade routes that extended from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Natives were very in touch with their relationship to the natural world; however, they were not the peaceful nature protectors they are made out to be. Stanford environmental scientists think that a group of Native Americans destroyed so many trees that they caused a mini ice age in Europe. Another myth that the Natives suffered from was that their population drop was caused by small battles and chicken pox when in reality their numbers dwindled because of a devastating plague that travelled up the East coast about two years before the first colonial settlers arrived.
Native Americans were a people that thrived in their time alone in America. They soon faced overwhelming odds in the form of American expansion and their superior technology. Even though many thought that Natives were “vanishing” they quickly adapted to their new situation and did well has herders and agriculturalists. The myths that surround them may not be true but they speak to mystery and complexity of these Native tribes and their histories.