Native Americans In The World Upside Down

Throughout history, Europeans have been given credit for the discovery of the New World. The novel, The World Upside Down, describes the introduction of the Indians to the Europeans. Many years ago, thousands of Indians were settled in North America, long before the European voyages sailed across the Atlantic. When the Europeans ventured over in search of religious freedom, Indian societies and traditions were soon to be changed by the newcomers. The Europeans considered the Indians to be uneducated savages. There were different tensions between the Indians and Europeans, but the natives quickly learned that they could benefit by the interactions of each other. Many young native children were taken away to learn and practice European culture. While the Indians defended their heritage during this time, Native Americans also tried to learn to adopt and accept new western ways. Many Indians thought converting to Christianity and

acquiring an education would be the only way to stay alive and survive.
According to the Native Americans, family was and still is one of the most important things in their culture. The novel The World Turned Upside Down stated that, “importance of family ties as well as the pain of separation that was the common experiences of Indians student in white schools from the seventh to the twentieth century.” In order to teach the Indians how to read and write, natives were taken from their families and placed into an English domain. There were many Indians that never were able to return to their families.
The Indians were devastated that they were not allowed to embrace their families ever again.

In response, Native Americans used their newly learned skills to write letters and communicate to the other Indians to warn them what was occurring. The English used the Indian’s newfound skills in order to acquire funding for their schools. The most promising natives were sent to was Dartmouth College. In the World Turned Upside Down, Daniel Simon, son of Sarah Simon, writes that he does not want to keep attending this school if he does not get the full education that he was promised. Daniel and other natives were forced to write about topics that would only appeal to the general audience, which happened to be the colonists. Part of his speech reads, “ ..As I understood the doctor when I talked with him, that we must work as much as to pay our way; if we should, what good will the charity money do the Indians.” The colonists only cared about spreading the “progress” of the Indian’s education in order to receive more funding for their

schools.
History was lost because of the evidence that was left from the native’s writings. The youth acted this way towards the colonists because they wanted fair treatment and wanted to study, rather just work. Natives never got to express their ideas and beliefs which was a concerning issue.

While there were many issues within the colonial schools, several Indians took the opportunity to read and write to further their education. Samson Occom was the first Indian to graduate from Eleazar Wheelock’s Indian charity which became Dartmouth College. For example, Joseph Brant, a Mohawk Indian, learned how to read and write in several different languages, including Mohawk and English. “He later attained prominence as a war chief during the American Revolution. He employed his talent to write letters, petitions and complaints to colonial government on behalf of himself and his people.” This was exciting because Brant and other natives that were literate could write their thoughts and feelings in private for the first time. Even though many of the Indians did not accept any of the teachings, they were still able to learn how to translate text in Greek and Latin. To add to this, many Indians established missionaries and were able to keep records such as land transfers, births, and marriages.
The Native Americans that were taken away learned not only to defend their Indian heritage, but also to adopt new Western ways. Although family was one of their top priorities, learning to read and write helped produced contracts, letters and laws for the Europeans. In contrast, the Europeans taught the natives to write, but the writings would only interest the colonists. Most Indians had no freedom to express or warn other Indians what these schools were teaching. Indians were taken from loved ones and were not allowed to leave or visit family. Most of them refused to learn European heritage, but some were required for native’s families and friends. The youth acted out because they wanted the freedom to write what they wanted, along with learning more than working. To add to this, they also missed their families and their old customs in their territories. The Indians and Europeans had problems with relations between one another, but the progression towards peace took years to fix.