You may know them as Native Americans... Indians... American Indians. No matter what their name is, these specific groups of people all fall under the same definition; one of the first groups of people living on North America. So, why did whites come to the West and force them off of their land? The Native American settlements and lifestyle strongly impacted the America's Western expansion of the United States in 1840s. Throughout the American journey, the Indians faced land loss, battles, assimilation, and many other struggles. Although some of these problems were solved, not all issues came to a reasonable solution. From the Sand Creek Massacre, to Americans wiping out major resources, no peace was found between the two groups for a long …show more content…
period of time. Native American land and culture caused many dilemmas as Americans began their expedition Westward. Although they managed to control the majority of Native Americans, they still had to worry about a few, like Chief Sitting Bull and Chief Joseph, who would protect their tribes, along with the formation of revolts. All groups of people have their own unique ways of living, and without them, they wouldn’t be the same.
For a Native American, culture seems to be a very important part of their life. Whether it’s their hunting lifestyle, or the way they dress, their culture is a major component in their life, and when someone begins to control it, a situation may turn horrid. After interpreting the information stated on document five, I learned that during the America’s westward traveling, the Native Americans were just one obstacle that they could not get rid of (Doc 5). As a result, their plan was to wipe out the main resource… the buffalo. The Indians mainly relied on buffalo as their main resource for food, clothing, shelter, tools, and for many more useful purposes. Without buffaloes, the Native Americans would have no way to survive due to their generally unuseful setting; the plains. After discovering the Native American’s weak spot, the Americans seeked opportunity with this information, and realized an easy way to get rid of the Indians would be to wipe out their main source, the buffalo. The American History textbook states, “Beginning in the 1870s, hunters killed at least 1 million buffalo a year. By the 1880s, the buffalo were dying out and most plains people were being forced onto reservations” (82). As a result, by taking away a component of their culture, the Americans wanted their travels to become easier due to the lack of Native Americans who would stand in their way. Not …show more content…
only did the Americans try to take away a part of the Indian’s culture, but they also tried changing it as well. Document six said that this act is called assimilation (Doc 6). After Native Americans had been surrounded and pressured by the American’s ways for such a long period of time, certain Indians may cave in and find that the white culture is beginning to rub off on them. This is not necessarily always a negative change nor a positive one. For example, the American History textbook also reads, “The children were dressed in European-style clothes, learned English, and typically spent part of the day farming or doing other manual labor” (83). The white culture brought new farming methods, new machinery to make jobs better, and an easier community. This can help their living conditions because it will allow them to gain access to more resources and job opportunities. On the other hand, assimilation can be seen as a negative effect because Native Americans are losing some of their valuable culture. The farming and machinery could lead to a decreased use in useful skills. Generally, you will also be leaving behind something that was once considered extremely important. I feel that assimilation shows that you could be very strong to your own beliefs and cultures, but after a stronger, powerful, plentiful amount of people from another culture begin to surround you, that can easily be changed. The Native American’s culture was not the only problem that Americans ran into during their expedition. They also had difficulties controlling the land in the West. Land reservations are small plots of land set aside for Native Americans. What was the purpose of them? To keep Native Americans from interfering with the daily life and travels of the Americans while they ventured further to the West. After analyzing document one, I concluded that in 1850, Native Americans began losing land due to the arrival of the Americans in the United States (Doc 1). They were slowly pushed out of the Eastern states further to Mid America where they were out of the Americans way. By 1850, they lost land all throughout the United States. Although they still had a fair amount of land, this would still be considered small compared to all the land they had lost. Between the 1850s and the 1870s, the Native Americans lost the majority of their land. By the 1870s, practically all their land was gone, and they were placed into extremely small Native American reservations. This document also marks where significant battles had taken place. These battles took place when the Native Americans began fighting for their land rather than immediately following orders from Americans who believed they were more superior than the Indians. Not only does document one convey valuable information, but document three does as well. Through the years that Americans began to settle in the United States, the Lakota Nation has lost a great deal of land (Doc 3). On the map, they began with a large plot of land as their reservation, where Americans were not allowed. By 1876, after the Battle of Little Bighorn and the discovery of gold in the area, the Lakota reservation decreased in size due to the event when the US stole the Black Hills. After 100 years of court action, the Lakota reservations became as small as practically nothing. After 1868, the Lakota were settled in their final, puny reservations. A quote from the American History textbook, a tribe leader named Chief Sitting Bull, said, “‘We did not give our country to you; you stole it. You come here to tell lies; when you go home, take them with you’ (81)”. This shows that Sitting Bull feels the Americans do not have the right to take Indian land after they promised it to them. Going into further detail regarding some of the tribe leaders opinions, document 4 used a great quote from Chief Joseph. This quote said, “‘For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains…We had no friends who would plead our cause before the law councils…We gave up some of our country to the white men, thinking that then we could have peace. We were mistaken. The white men would not let us alone…We were like deer. They were like grizzly bears. We had a small country. Their country was large. We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not; and would change the mountains and rivers if they did not suit them (Doc 4).” From hearing Chief Joseph’s opinion, I can conclude that when white men came to take over their land for gold, the Indians did not have anyone to support their reasons to stay. As a result, they gave them some of their land, allowing it to serve as a peace offering. In document four, Chief Joseph says that the Americans took the land, but the Native Americans did not gain any respect. A line of his quote reads, “‘The white men would not let us alone… We were like deer. They were like grizzly bears.’” This shows that in the end, Americans thought (and for the most part did) have more power than the Indians, making them follow their every command. To the Americans, if the conditions were not impeccable for themselves, they would do whatever they needed to do to make it suit them without any hesitation. Land reservations were one major conflict that the Native Americans were not in favor of. When they began fighting for their rights, many wars began, putting many Native American tribes in danger. Not only were the Native Americans placed on land reservations, but conflicts between the Indians and the Americans regarding land caused many wars.
Although there were many different battles that took place during this time period like the Sioux War, the battle of Little Bighorn, and many more, one major historical event involving the Native Americans and Americans occurred. This was called the Sand Creek Massacre. According to document two, the Americans came to Colorado because of Pike’s Peak Gold Rush, which attracted many people looking to mine(Doc 2). This only resulted in the Americans open firing on an Indian tribe. 200 members, of the Cheyenne tribe were killed, even after they surrendered to the Americans. Many of these casualties were women and children. After other Indian tribes in the North and South heard about this tragic event, they decided to do something about it and resist the white’s orders of movement. I think that although the Americans wanted to mine in the Native American’s area, they did not have the right to open fire on their camp. At the time, war was a generally common event that came out of a disagreement, but it did not seem as if the Americans even made an effort to compromise with the Native Americans. Although this may have helped the Americans gain more land, it gave Native Americans a new view of them. Prior to this event, Americans were the enemy, and very controlling, but now the Indians most likely view them as a major threat. Although
the Americans think they won that battle, did it really improve the situation? The Native Americans had to fight through many difficult times in order to survive the America’s westward travels. They faced problems like land loss, battles, assimilation, and more. Some of these conflicts still remained unsolved, and others were worked out to an unfair compromise. While the Americans moved West they ran into Native American land and culture, which they tried their hardest to control. By placing Indians in land reservations, changing their culture, and starting wars when they disobeyed, Americans began strengthening their control over Native Americans. Many Native Americans were angered by this, but felt they had no other option. Overall, the Native American settlements and lifestyles strongly impacted, and interfered with, the American Westward expansion of the United States.
Conquistadors came over to get all the gold they possibly could. The Spanish were cruel and took advantage of the Native Americans who were living there. Not only did the Spanish want the gold but they also wanted the land. The Native Americans were enslaved by the Spaniards and were forced to mine for gold. The Spaniards gave the Natives extremely high gold quotas to meet. Most were unable to do so and because of that they were punished. Natives would have both of their hands cut off(Document 1). The other reason was so that the Spaniards wouldn’t have a problem with resistance from them. The Native Americans were majorly taken advantage of for gold.
The Europeans invaded America with every intention of occupying the land, the bountiful natural resources as well as the complete domination of the native people. The Europeans desire for the land created an explosive situation for the native peoples as they witnessed their land and right to freedom being stripped from them. They often found themselves having to choose sides of which to pledge their allegiance to. The Europeans depended upon Indian allies to secure the land and their dominance as well as trade relations with the Indians. The Indians were in competition with one another for European trade causing conflict among the different tribes altering the relationships where friends became enemies and vice versa (Calloway, 2012, p. 163). These relationships often became embittered and broke into bloody brawls where it involved, "Indian warriors fighting on both sides, alongside the European forces as well as against European forces invad...
People know about the conflict between the Indian's cultures and the settler's cultures during the westward expansion. Many people know the fierce battles and melees between the Indians and the settlers that were born from this cultural conflict. In spite of this, many people may not know about the systematic and deliberate means employed by the U.S. government to permanently rid their new land of the Indians who had lived their own lives peacefully for many years. There are many strong and chilling reasons and causes as to why the settlers started all of this perplexity in the first place. There was also a very strong and threatening impact on the Native Americans through the schooling that stained the past and futures of Native Americans not only with blood but also with emotion. It was all a slow and painful plan of the "white man" to hopefully get rid of the Indian culture, forever. The Native American schools were created in an attempt to destroy the Native American way of life, their culture, beliefs and tradi...
In the 1830's the Plains Indians were sent to the Great American Deserts in the west because the white men did not think they deserved the land. Afterwards, they were able to live peacefully, and to follow their traditions and customs, but when the white men found out the land they were on was still good for agricultural, or even for railroad land they took it back. Thus, the white man movement westward quickly began. This prospect to expand westward caused the government to become thoroughly involved in the lives of the Plains Indians. These intrusions by the white men had caused spoilage of the Plains Indians buffalo hunting styles, damaged their social and cultural lives, and hurt their overall lives.
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
together for the better of the shared children. The women had a say in how they would help
Native Americans lived on the land that is now called America, but when white settlers started to take over the land, many lives of Native Americans were lost. Today, many people believe that the things that have been done and are being done right now, is an honor or an insult to the Natives. The choices that were made and being made were an insult to the Native Americans that live and used to live on this land, by being insulted by land policies, boardings schools and modern issues, all in which contain mistreatment of the Natives. The power that the settlers and the people who governed them had, overcame the power of the Natives so the settlers took advantage and changed the Natives way of life to the
According to Santana, Chief of the Kiowa, “These soldiers cut down my timber; they kill my buffalo; and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting; I feel sorry” (Santana, 1867). This quote shows the Chief of the Kiowa’s perspective of the actions the American soldiers were taking. In Europe, timber was in high demand since Europe 's supply was running low. This resulted in Americans cutting down many of their trees to trade with Europe. Native Americans expressed great gratitude for their land and when it was being destroyed it affected them deeply. In “Promise of the High Plains,” a flyer created in the 1800s it states, “The finest timber West of the Great Wabash Valley” (The Railroaders) when trying to convince the people why to move west. This flyer shows that Americans were advertising the timber on the western land to convince more people to move. Buffalo was also a very important resource for the Native Americans culture and way of life. Buffalo was used as food, clothing, and housing. Not only were Buffalo used for survival, but they were also part of their religious rituals. With buffalo numbers decreasing fast, Native Americans tribes faced starvation and desperation. There were many different actions the Americans did to destroy the land of the Native Americans. The murder of Buffalo and cutting down of timber was just a few of the impacts the settlers
All over the world, people have always sought for power, they have struggled to defend their culture; they have worked beyond imaginable to obtain economic prosperity and political freedom. A matter of fact equality is something that nowadays we are still fighting to obtain. Education has always been the key to power. In the twenty-first century education means a way to obtain the American dream, in other words, to achieve success. However, schools were never intended to empower people to think for themselves or to help them succeed. At the beginning of the American school, different groups of people wanted different things to come out of schooling, one of those things was to facilitate reading the bible in the text it states that “Schooling became important as a means of sustaining a well- ordered religious commonwealth” (Spring 22).
Beginning in the 1860s and lasting until the late 1780s, government policy towards Native Americans was aggressive and expressed zero tolerance for their presence in the West. In the last 1850s, tribal leaders and Americans were briefly able to compromise on living situations and land arrangements. Noncompliance by Americans, however, resumed conflict. The beginning of what would be called the "Indian Wars" started in Minnesota in 1862. Sioux, angered by the loss of much of their land, killed 5 white Americans. What resulted was over 1,000 deaths, of white and Native Americans. From that point on, American policy was to force Indians off of their land. American troops would force Indian tribe leaders to accept treaties taking their land from them. Protests or resistance by the Indians would result in fighting. On occasion, military troops would even lash out against peaceful Indians. Their aggression became out of control.
During the West movement of 1830’s and 1840’s, there were many conflicts that American settlers faced. The first problem settlers had to solve was relations with the Native Americans. As the numbers of American settlers grew, the life of Native Americans was greatly affected. The Native Americans tried to maintain their cultural traditions and the peace with white settlers, but they were often forced to move out of their homeland. Then came the Black Hawk War, which was the Native Americans’ rebellion against the United States in Illinois and Wisconsin Territory. After failure of this rebellion, Native Americans were forced to abandon their lands and move to reservation even with the Fort Laramie Treaty, which promised the pea...
Analytical Paper #1 There has been a drastic transformation in the importance of American women and their roles in the last four centuries. The freedom and equality that women possess today was not present in the 1600s. Americans viewed women as a minority and treated them with contempt. Unlike Americans, Native Indians treated their women and the colonial women they kidnapped with more respect, granting them with more pleasant and important tasks.
The Native American Reservation system was a complete failure. This paper focuses on the topics of relocation, Native American boarding schools, current conditions on today’s reservations, and what effects these have had on the Native American way of life.
Cultural competence is a skill essential to acquire for healthcare providers, especially nurses. Cooperating effectively and understanding individuals with different backgrounds and traditions enhances the quality of health care provided by hospitals and other medical facilities. One of the many cultures that nurses and other health care providers encounter is the American Indian or Native American culture. There are hundreds of different American Indian Tribes, but their beliefs and values only differ slightly. The culture itself embodies nature. To American Indians, “The Earth is considered to be a living organism- the body of a higher individual, with a will and desire to be well. The Earth is periodically healthy and less healthy, just as human beings are” (Spector, 2009, p. 208). This is why their way of healing and symbolic items are holistic and from nature.
In the beginning the settlers created the heavens and the earth. For, America was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the continent. Why is it that we look at the early settlers with such admiration? We view them like gods, where America didn’t exist until they came along; and, once they finally made it through that first thanksgiving turkey, then only good ever came about because of them. Now, you may be saying to yourself: “Thank goodness I’m more educated than that! I know that they were mortal, and even killed Native Americans sometimes.” But do you know what really happened? Do you actually care about the Native Americans more than just being sorry they’re on reserves?