Native Americans one perspective

Native Americans

For most Americas when they think of Native Americans they think of Thanksgiving, which has recently been shown to be a false image of what happened. Or they remember playing cowboys and Indians as children, where no one was really killed and fun was had by all. But what do we really know about the Native people of Northern America?

DEATH

Despite the fact that the settlers thought of all natives Americans as savages, there were many different tribes, with many different customs. Unfortunately, there some tribes of which we may never know the names of do to all the “taming of the savages” in which many Native Americans were killed.

The first few death were probably accidental and were most likely caused by unknown diseases that settlers brought with them. According to Kristine Patterson (2002), “With the arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere, Native American populations were exposed to new infectious diseases, diseases for which they lacked immunity. These communicable diseases, including smallpox and measles, devastated entire native populations.” These deaths following so closely to the plague that according to O'Brien (May 15, 2012), “wiped out about 96 percent of the Indians in Massachusetts” (The Indians Weren't Defeated by White Settlers) greatly reduced the number of Native Americans left. In Addition, according to "North American Indian Timeline (1492-1999)" (n.d.), "1709 A slave market was erected at the foot of Wall Street and here Negroes and Indians, men, women and children were daily declared the property of the highest cash bidder,” (para. 1709) furthering endangers the health of this once strong people. Native Americans were not keep as slaves as long as African Americans because they were capable of running off to the wildness unlike the African American slaves.

Co-habitation

Most American believe that the Native Americans started with warfare and then realizing the superiority of guns over arrows gave in. However, in reality it was just the opposite.
Reality shows that the Native Americans first tried to adopt Anglo-American practices and treaties. However, the treaties did not give the land fast enough for the settlers and therefore where a failure. In response to the demands for more land, according to "Indian Removal" (n.d.), “In 1823 the Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. This was because their "right of occupancy" was subordinate to the United States' "right of discovery." This lead to even more Native Americans being told were they could live, forcing them off their Native lands and requiring them to move to the west coast.

The Cherokee in 1827 tried to protect their lands using the ways of the whites and wrote a constitution. However, according to McBride (December 2006), “in 1828, the state of Georgia passed a series of laws stripping local Cherokee Indians of their rights.” By 1838 according to "CCD History 201 - History Of United States 1" (n.d.), “The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. Then began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which 4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger, and disease on their way to the western lands.” History shows that during this time period there were a few whites who saw the removal as an excuse to take their land, however, many people believed removing the Native Americans from the “white man’s land” was better for everyone.

Finally having been driven to violence the Native Americans began to fight back, and fought even harder when the settlers decided to try to settle the west coast. Do not all humans have a breaking point? Could you say you would not do the same when your land was taken, your family separated and abused ?

Today’s World

Modern day has seen many changes to the face of America and its people. We all know that the beginning of the settlers and Native Americans relations was a good one because we all know the thanksgiving story right? Wrong, as the internet allows for more sides to be heard we learn that Thanksgiving was nothing like the picture Americans have in the minds. Not only do we now know the name of the tribe that was there; which is the Wampanoag Nation; we also know there was no inviting was done by any pilgrims. In fact the Native Americans showed up ready for war because of the loud noise of gun fire the pilgrims were shooting off to celebrate the first harvest. So where did the happy thanksgiving story come from? It was invented to help bring a nation back together after the civil war. ("What Really Happened At The First Thanksgiving?” n.d.)

Even after all the mistreatment of the Native Americans they help America with World War II. However, they would wait years for any recognition for the huge part they played in the successful ending of the war.  ("Real Code Talker Interview", April 7, 2014).

This is not to say there have not been strives to help protect the American Indian. One such law is Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. According to "Indian Child Welfare Act Of 1978" (2014), “The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law that seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families.” There are also the Hunting and fishing rights are some of the Native Americans enjoy due to the courts. ("Native American Rights - Hunting And Fishing Rights ", 2014). According to "Congress Granted Citizenship" (n.d.), “Congress Granted Citizenship to All Native Americans Born in the U.S. June 2, 1924” giving them the same rights as any other American Citizen. However, “until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting.” The "Congress Granted Citizenship To All Native Americans Born In The U.S." (n.d.)

Conclusion

In today’s world the remaining Native Americans live on the “roughly three hundred Indian Reservations in the United States” ("Indian Reservations", n.d.) instead of throughout Northern America. Although, they are no longer treated by laws as second class citizens and are not told where they must live, they still face hatred and discrimination throughout America. Historians are still learning the real truth of what happened to the Native Americans and the facts stated here only cover a small portion of what we know. Despite laws that were enacted to protect the Native Americans the “white man” still seems to find ways around these laws.





Resources:
• Patterson, K. (2002). Smallpox and the Native American. Retrieved from      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12003378
• O'Brien, J. (May 15, 2012). 6 Ridiculous Lies You Believe About the Founding of America. Retrieved from http://www.cracked.com/article_19864_6-ridiculous-lies-you-believe-about-founding-america.html
• Indian removal. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html
• McBride, A. (December 2006). Cherokee Indian Cases (1830s). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_cherokee.html
• CCD HISTORY 201 - History of United States 1. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://roebuckclasses.com/201/conquest/removal.htm
• NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN TIMELINE (1492-1999). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/nativeamericanchron.html
• What Really Happened at the First Thanksgiving? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/11/23/what-really-happened-first-thanksgiving-wampanoag-side-tale-and-whats-done-today-145807
• Real Code Talker Interview. (April 7, 2014). Retrieved from http://navajocodetalkers.org/
• Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.nicwa.org/indian_child_welfare_act/
• Native American Rights - Hunting And Fishing Rights. (2014). Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/8750/Native-American-Rights-Hunting-Fishing-Rights.html
• Indian Reservations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.indians.org/articles/indian-reservations.html