Don't Drink the Water: the Persecution of Native Americans

Don’t Drink the Water: The Persecution of Native Americans in the 1800s When first hearing Dave Matthews Band’s “Don’t Drink the Water,” you might believe the song is about the apartheid having knowledge of Matthews’ country of birth but when you continue to listen to the song the listener will discover a different story behind the song. Matthews moved to The United States when he was two leading him to write about different events in America’s history. Through the different stanzas Dave Matthews Band’s lyrics criticizes the story of America’s massacre and removal of the Native Americans in the 1800’s. In the first stanza Dave sings “Come out come out, no use in hiding,” then continues on a few lines later with “not room for both, just room for me, so you will lay your arms down, yes I will call this home,” signaling the first effect of the Americans on the redistributing of the Native Americans. In the early 1800’s America, many Americans wanted more land as their population increased which therefore meant moving west into territory already claimed by the Native Americans. The Native Americans, after being moved countless times before due to the arrival of the Europeans (turned Americans), did not want to give up this land. Both sides (The Natives and Americans) knew neither could coexist with one another, hence the lyrics “not room for both, just room for me.” To come up with a solution to the Native Americans living in land that the American’s wanted the Indian Removal Act and Dawes Act were created and adopted by the US Congress that ultimately took the land of the Natives and moved them west of the Mississippi and then dispersed the land taken from the Native Americans amongst the Americans. The dispersion of Native Americans led to the creation of Reservations, which were pieces of land given to the Indians that were much out of the way of the American settlers. The people of the United States and the Government together viewed the Native Americans land