Native Americans have been living on the soil we call “The United States of America, Canada, and Mexico” for at least 30,000 years. This has been proven through anthropology and archaeological discoveries. Yet, credit is given to a white European named Columbus. He is so respected and revered in this country that there is a National Day of remembrance for this individual called Columbus Day. If the masses of people knew and understood the REAL Christopher Columbus I wonder if Americans would still celebrate this man? Columbus was an explorer and looking for a new route to the East Indies. When he found America he called the people, “Los Indios” which means Indians, thinking he found the East Indies. So the name given to the Native Americans is historically inaccurate though accepted today. After coming to this “New Land” Columbus wiped out the native population of the Hispaniola. Columbus also kidnapped, enslaved, mutilated, and murdered the native people who greeted him with warmth. Despite all of these historical facts we look at Columbus as a hero.
There is a huge difference in culture between the Native Americans and emigrating White Europeans. First, Native Americans do not see the land as something that man owns. “We say, ‘Nahasdzaan Shima, Earth, My Mother. We are made from her,’ says George Blueeyes, a Navajo elder. You cannot “own” your mother; you cannot divide a member of your family.” The land is considered the Creator to Native Americans and all should be able to benefit from what the Earth has to offer. This is a complete rejection of Capitalism which is based on ownership and private property which was something that the Pilgrims did when they put up fences around “their” land. Native Americans saw this as insult to the Creator. Also, Native Americans see the land for what it is and see no need to improve on it and that this improvement will happen over time. Whites see progress as something that should happen immediately. White settlers and believers in Capitalism view progress only when something “better” comes to their lives. The second big difference was the language. Most Native Americans shared language and expressed themselves and their history through the oral tradition. Storytelling was very important to them. White Europeans used written documents to preserve history and document time. This difference directly affected the signing of treaties between whites and Native Americans. Since writing meant nothing to Native Americans many signed their rights away of land without knowing it. This made it much easier for the whites to cheat Native Americans.
Throughout modern history of the United States, Native Americans have been made to seem that they are savages and barbaric people. Pictures, Art, television, movies etc. have always made the Native Americans the enemy and a glorious John Wayne type character must save the settlers from these beasts. Again, I think if people knew the truth about the agreements and history between the Native Americans and White people (the U.S. government) they would think much different about the Native Americans.
When the first immigrants from Europe came to “The New Word” they would have died in the first winter if it wasn’t for the Native Americans who showed them how to use the land, hunt, and what plants to eat. Native Americans were even the inspiration for what we call our democracy.
The Iroquois Nation is a group of Native American tribes that lived throughout the Northeast. First which I don’t think a barbaric society would have is the power of the Iroquois came from the women. “Inheritance in Iroquois society was passed down through the women, who owned, controlled, and continued to live in the longhouse…his only possessions were his weapons and clothing…Iroquois women owned everything else.” The Iroquois was made up of the Mohawks, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, the Seneca, and the Tuscarora. They had fifty representatives called sachems from each of the nations which made up the council of the League. The League had a strong confederacy. This way of government greatly influenced the founders of the United States. Benjamin Franklin said, “It would be a strange thing if [the] Six Nations [of the Iroquois] should be capable of forming [and executing] a scheme for such a union… and yet that a union should be impractical for ten or a dozen English colonies, to whom it is more necessary…” meaning that he and other founders modeled the Iroquois League in developing our government.
Even sports were created by Iroquois Native Americans. The predominately white played sport of Lacrosse was invented by the Native Americans which were much more aggressive when played in its original form but tamed down for Europeans to play.
In the Southeastern region of the U.S. Native Americans felt the wrath of Europeans. In 1513 when Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida his men destroyed the Native villages and killed and enslaved the people. One of the most effective ways for the Europeans to rid themselves of Native Americans was through diseases such as: measles, smallpox, chicken pox, cholera, typhus, influenza, and tuberculosis. White settlers intentionally gave blankets and other materials that were exposed to these diseases to the Native people because it would kill them. Native Americans were not immune or had any idea of these illnesses. So in essence the first users of biological warfare were not Islamic terrorists but the White European settlers that are now modern day Americans. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which forced Cherokee and dozens of other tribes from this area to move to Oklahoma. Between the years of1830-1838 approximately 60,000 Native Americans traveled west walking the 1200 miles which was named “The Trail of Tears.” Many had to leave belongings behind and families were separated. About a quarter of the Cherokee died on this travel.
The Plains Native Americans are the most notable image of Native Americans which have a headdress, war paint, and on horse back. This image is also flawed. Though they did wear this ethnic clothing it was only in time of war or ceremony. Horses were not native to the United States until brought by Europeans. Native Americans were able to tame some of the horses that escaped. The introduction of the horse was a turning point in the lifestyle of the Plains Indians. They were able to use the horse to travel and hunt the sacred bison much easier. The Plains Indians were also affected by the white settler’s illnesses just as other Native American groups. For example, in 1837, the Mandan tribe, once 37,000 strong was reduced to 125 people. This area of the country was the middle passage for many white settlers to pass to get to the west cost where gold was being mined. An agreement was signed that Native Americans would allow whites to cross the Oregon Trail without being disturbed. Yet again whites broke this pact. In 1854 a cow owned by a white settler wandered onto a Sioux Camp even though the Sioux offered payment for the animal the emigrants demanded retribution. The commanding officer of the area, Lieutenant Grattan, went onto the Native village and demanded the person who had killed the cow. When the Native people resisted the American soldiers opened fired and killed a chief. This sparked three decades of bloodshed. Yet, the worst thing that could happen to the Plains Indians was the slaughter of the bison. This animal is very sacred to these groups of people. In 1800, there were about 60 million bison; by 1870 there were only 13 million; by 1900 the number had dropped to less than a thousand. Some professional hunters killed up to 1,500 bison a week. Most bison were killed and skinned and the meat was left to rot.
One of the most famous victories for Native Americans was the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1874. The U.S. soldiers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Custer, illegally went onto the Black Hills, an area very sacred to the Lakota people. Realizing the danger imposed many Native American warriors banned together under Sitting Bull, famous chief, to stop Custer and his men. Custer had split his men up and underestimated the strength of the Native people. Custer and his men were all killed by the native warriors led by Sitting Bull, Gall, and Crazy Horse (one of the most distinguished Oglala war chiefs).
As everyone living in the United Sates can tell Native Americans finally lost their battle against the U.S. government. Today most Native Americans live on reservations. There about 250 reservations in about 30 states. Native Americans did not receive citizenship until 1924. I find it ironic that the first people to live on this land were the last to receive the right to vote. Native Americans living on reservations must pay all federal and state taxes but pay no tax on reservation lands and property or income earned. Doesn’t this sound like taxation without representation considering the low representation in the government that they never accepted? As of today Native Americans are still fighting for equal opportunities and rights as many other groups of the minority are in this country.
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