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Native american struggles in america
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Native American life in the late nineteenth century was a constant battle for recognition due to the myths of vanishing Indians; while also, competing with whites and immigrants for jobs to make a living. Ever since the arrival of Europeans into the New World, Native Americans have been viewed as savages compared to their Europeans counterparts. It would not be until the nineteenth century when Native Americans began to be viewed as civilized people, as more and more Native Americans began to get involved in the work force. An important aspect of Native American life was the battle for recognition as civilized people instead of being referred to as savages. Source 1 and 2 demonstrate that not only did Americans view Native Americans as savage …show more content…
The reference to the Indians weird dances and picturesque style of horsemanship was meant to persuade people …show more content…
Sources 3 and 4 prove that Native Americans were seeking jobs in an effort to civilize themselves. The Touring Indian Country of 1888 and 1894 demonstrate that Native Americans were seeking agricultural as well as industrial pursuits. It also describes one of the stereotypes that Americans believed, which proved to be wrong. Gertrude Kasebier proved that Native Americans were capable of adapting to the civilized world. As one of the first woman to become a professional photographer she helped assert the claim that Native Americans were not vanishing, but where in fact becoming civilized. Kasebier proves to be a role model for Native American women, since she was one of the first women to become a professional photographer. It would have been useful to analyze a graph of the number of Native Americans working in factories during the nineteenth century because it would have demonstrated whether there was an increase in Native American
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
In The White Man’s Indian, Robert Berkhoffer analyzes how Native Americans have maintained a negative stereotype because of Whites. As a matter of fact, this book examines the evolution of Native Americans throughout American history by explaining the origin of the Indian stereotype, the change from religious justification to scientific racism to a modern anthropological viewpoint of Native Americans, the White portrayal of Native Americans through art, and the policies enacted to keep Native Americans as Whites perceive them to be. In the hope that Native Americans will be able to overcome how Whites have portrayed them, Berkhoffer is presenting
Each of them brought their own customs, culture and values and integrated them into society. Native Americans, however, were known as savages because the government saw them as uncivilized and uncontrollable. Although the United States claims, it is a free country and states in the First Amendment that you may believe in any religion you want without persecution, but it did not give that right to the Natives. Instead, the government was trying to convert the Native Americans religion to Catholic or Christian. Many people came to America to escape religious persecution.
Prior to the fall of 1940, Native Americans had never faced any significant effects of a military draft prior or during a U.S war. This was because before 1924, not all Native Americans were citizens of the United States. During the years of the first World War, it is estimated that as much as half of the Native American population in the U.S were not citizens (Bernstein, 22). Even so, many Native Americans still saw action during this conflict which later help influence the passing of the Citizenship Act that granted “blanket” citizenship to all Indians born in the United States (Bernstein, 22). This act played a huge role at the start of the 1940’s when the United States started militarizing large amounts of their citizens. After the passing
Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.
The majority of us Americans know some basic things about how our nation came to be. We came from our mother country, Europe, and took over the native’s land. However, did the Native Americans have a fighting chance against the English?
Throughout our country’s history there have been several groups who have fared less that great. Every minority group was treated unfairly, Indians were uprooted and had no control, I can’t imagine for a second being a soldier in combat, women struggled for basic rights, and many people fell victim to the changing ways of our economy, losing their jobs and fighting to survive. It seems wrong to pick one group over another, as if to say some people who were treated horribly or who faced mounting obstacles didn’t actually have it as bad as another group. But throughout all the years we’ve studied, one group that stood out to me who were dealt a horrible fate were Native Americans living in the west during the 19th century. When Americans began to expand westward, Indians unwillingly had their lives flipped upside down and changed drastically. After years of displacement, they were being forced to live in certain areas and follow certain rules, or risk their lives.
Considering historical evidence, the notion: Native –Americans was not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid accounts of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by those records, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited America before the arrival of another human race; the Iroquois: The Iroquois of Native Americans was one of the tribes that lived in America before other people came. Based on historical evidence, it is believed that the Native Americans came from Asia way back during the Ice Age through a land bridge of the Bering Strait. When the Europeans first set foot in America, there were about 10 million Native Americans
It appears the caricature of Native Americans remains the same as first seen from the first settler’s eyes: savage-like people. Their culture and identity has become marginalized by popular culture. This is most evident in mainstream media. There exists a dearth of Native American presence in the mainstream media. There is a lack of Native American characters in different media mediums.
Over the course of history, there have been many different views of Native Americans, or Indians, as many have referred to them. Some have written about them in a positive and respectful manner while others have seen them as pure evil that waged war and killed innocent men, women, and children. No matter what point of view one takes, though, one thing is clear and that is if it were not for these people the early settlers would not have survived their first year in the new land now called the United States of America. In short, it is my belief that the various authors’ viewpoints are simply a reflection of the circumstances of their particular situation. Nevertheless, one question remains: Were the Native Americans good or evil people?
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).
American Indians once lived a prosperous and full life, relying on the bounty of land and nature. Colonization by white settlers disrupted this peaceful existence, uprooting tribes from their land and forcing them to assimilate to new cultural and religion views. Years of mistreatment and abuse led to the organization of the American Indian Movement to fight for their rights and liberty. Through the AIM, Indians attempted to gain recognition and spread knowledge of their culture and heritage to American citizens in order to attain a place in society. Leaders of the AIM created a manifesto of change in 1972 which listed goals they wanted to meet under three broad categories: economic, social and political. While the AIM was organized in response to the lack of basic rights and oppressive nature of the US government, their goals have yet to be met with any long term success.
In the excerpts from Fluffs and Feathers, Doxtator discusses the ideas of indianness and he talks about how people perceive First Nations people. The dominant fantasy of a First Nations person is someone that is spiritual, environmental, primitive, and in need of support. In the text by Doxtator it states “every culture creates images of how it sees itself and the rest of the world” (13). But how did the idea of indianness come about? The power of storytelling is a powerful tool because stories are rooted in people’s culture and it affects the way they see the mimetic world. Stories help people form dominant fantasies about things that they may not actually experience themselves. It would be impossible for all of Europe to travel to America and experience the new world. Therefore when the European travellers came to the Americas they would tell stories of their travels and their experiences so that other people could understand what they had experienced.
Many people today know the story of the Indians that were native to this land, before “white men” came to live on this continent. Few people may know that white men pushed them to the west while many immigrants took over the east and moved westward. White men made “reservations” that were basically land that Indians were promised they could live on and run. What many Americans don’t know is what the Indians struggled though and continue to struggle through on the reservations.
Native Americans tribes have been oppressed and cast down by white men. In 1800’s, their land was invaded and they were forced to do things for Columbus. Columbus was desperate to show profit on his voyages. On page 9, Howard Zinn book