The Indians were here before the name American even existed. In Luther Standing Bear’s essay “what the Indian means to America”, he informed us of how great the American Indian is. While many scholars would debate on the true heritage of America’s beginning, The Indian would not join this argument because they alone know the real story of this country we call home. Within this essay the Indians are a breed of people that do not lie down easily. Many would strongly agree with Luther Standing Bear’s definition that the Indian is a true American. The Indians are the roots under America soil because of their strong connection with nature, their spiritual toughness, and their musical influence.…
The natives readily became the victims of the federal government and its policies. The government “allotment system” had detrimental effects on the Native Americans, that included substandard education, decreased health, and poverty (119). Wallace finishes by saying, "Two hundred years of national indecision about how the United States should deal with it's Native Americans have not come to an end" (120). Summing up the narrative that Native Americans today are still, under the pressure of an off keel system that subjects them to racism and…
Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior’s Like A Hurricane sheds light on remarkable Indian activism that U.S. history textbooks tend to overshadow. Up to1996, they argue that this era was only illustrated through the perspectives of sympathetic non-Indians who disagreed with how Federal policy dealt with Indians. Though each author has special ties to the movement they write about – Smith, a Comanche, served on the American Indian Movement’s International Treaty Council, and Warrior, an Osage, founded the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association – the book is not written from their own perspectives. Rather, the pair effectively drew from accounts of “the eyes of urban Indian rebels, conservative tribal chairmen, Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, White House aides, and others” to portray the stories of the movement from a fairly objective point of view – and when the authors stray from objective, the subjective is presented from various vantage points to eliminate overt bias.1 The authors use the terms ‘activism’ and ‘movement’ to describe a short period of time between 1969 and 1973 when Indian people “staged a campaign resistance and introspection unmatched in this century”.2…
As Native Americans’ voices gain consideration by those of the present, their own feelings about the horrors of colonization can be heard, and a fairer, more inclusive, history can be…
“Accountability for the United States’ ongoing violations against Indigenous Peoples is an issue of concern that has plagued Indigenous Nations and communities like the Western Shoshone for many years.” – Julie Ann Fishel, United States Called to Task on Indigenous Rights: The Western Shoshone Struggle and Success at the International Level, 619…
In consequence to the Indian Removal Act of 1832, human rights of Native Americans were violated. “They were not treated as human beings and even considered ‘subordinate’ to the United States by Andrew Jackson in his defense of the Removal Policy in 1832.” It was taking away…
Dunbar-Ortiz talks about the history of the United States by challenging the myth on how America was found. She shows that policies against the native people were colonial and genocide based. The policies were intended to seize the habitats of the indigenous population by eliminating and displacing them from their native land. Haunani Kay’s article on social justice supports this claim by illustrating how the indigenous people were mistreated. He uses the phrase “the color of violence” to explain mistreatment based on racism; white over black, white over yellow, white over brown (Haunani, 2004, pg.3) and gender. He further claims that native people were enslaved and forcibly transported to other parts of the world with continued mistreatment…
Jackson also discusses how the Indian’s are entitled respect by everyone but receive none. This document shares how Indian’s are victims of crimes such as killings and robberies. If an Indian was to commit a crime against a person of European descent, it would be plastered for everyone to see while the hatred crimes toward the Indian’s remain unsolved.…
The results of my IAT test were kind of confusing, but it said that I preferred Native Americans and whites the same, so the way I took it is that I’m not prejudice against Native Americans. Yes, I do think that the results were valid; I do wish that they were easier to understand but the test was actually fun I have never taken a test of prejudice before and it was really interesting. I do not think that measuring prejudice would be that easy, because there are dishonest people in the world that may not want others to know that they are prejudice.…
Black Americans, segregation, and slavery. Most of the people who have studied American history recognize the inhumane actions towards people of color during the 1960’s and 1980’s. Yet, people often are not aware of the similar acts perpetrated on the Native Americans during the same period of time. The Native Americans had to suffer their past of external shame imposed on their culture and tradition by the White American society, followed by a coercion of White American culture due to the government proposal of the “Indian problem.” Nevertheless, the Native Americans maintained their pride in their identity and culture internally, within their tribes, and carried out such acts as Ghost Dance, valuing their own tradition. While it may seem paradoxical, both shame and pride of culture and identity simultaneously resonate in Native Americans today as a means of letting go of the unpleasant past and moving on to the future with a new hope.…
Historians who study the Native Americans describe their relationship with settlers as a cruel and, to an extent, racist because the Europeans clearly viewed the American Indians as an inferior race. Although this was a bitter conflict that ultimately led to the removal of American Indians, it is hardly fair to determine the event as a genocide. Ben Kiernan, the director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, argues that genocide is the “only appropriate way” to describe how Natives were treated, but there is no indication extermination was the principle objective of the U.S government. Thorough research proves that the American Indians were much less victims of genocide but more so victims of an unlucky yet inevitable disaster. While there is no doubt the American Indians endured a devastating tragedy, there isn’t enough evidence to prove this suffering amounted to a full-blown…
Over the years, hate crimes has been of the biggest issue in the American history. Since the time of colonization human has been victims of hate crime. In most of the cases of hate crimes, victims don’t report this crime because lack of criminalization. Minorities/powerless groups are the most common victims of hate crime and sometimes their rights are not protected as majority group.…
Native Americans have felt distress from societal and governmental interactions for hundreds of years. American Indian protests against these pressures date back to the colonial period. Broken treaties, removal policies, acculturation, and assimilation have scarred the indigenous societies of the United States. These policies and the continued oppression of the native communities produced an atmosphere of heightened tension. Governmental pressure for assimilation and their apparent aim to destroy cultures, communities, and identities through policies gave the native people a reason to fight. The unanticipated consequence was the subsequent creation of a pan-American Indian identity of the 1960s. These factors combined with poverty, racism, and prolonged discrimination fueled a resentment that had been present in Indian communities for many years. In 1968, the formation of the American Indian Movement took place to tackle the situation and position of Native Americans in society. This movement gave way to a series of radical protests, which were designed to draw awareness to the concerns of American Indians and to compel the federal government to act on their behalf. The movement's major events were the occupation of Alcatraz, Mount Rushmore, The Trail of Broken Treaties, and Wounded Knee II. These AIM efforts in the 1960s and 1970s era of protest contained many sociological theories that helped and hindered the Native Americans success. The Governments continued repression of the Native Americans assisted in the more radicalized approach of the American Indian Movement. Radical tactics combined with media attention stained the AIM and their effectiveness. Native militancy became a repertoire of action along with adopted strategies from the Civil Rights Movement. In this essay, I will explain the formation of AIM and their major events, while revealing that this identity based social movement's…
Native American Tribes have been suffering on discrimination and injustice by the government. However, the discussion of the civil right had arrived, it ignored the right of Native Americans. The rights of Native Americans are hunting and fishing, and it was critically important to them in the history. When the Native American tribes were forced to give up their land, the treaties guaranteed the Native American can continue to be hunting and fishing. However, the right of fishing and hunting did not mention in treaties, Native American tribes were excluded the right to hunt and fish. Native American were hunting and fishing for their food and trade good which is their primary resource. Therefore, Land is the most important property for Native…
It isn’t outrageous to assume that those in power will slight their influence and abilities in a manner that will best accommodate them; even at the expense of those not in power. The United States of America is no exception when one is to investigate their past actions. From its most primal beginnings, American law has been selective in who it will be applied to and who it will protect. The trend, in the cases of the native peoples of the Americas and the Pacific, has been to manipulate, oppress, or blatantly neglect their cultural and political necessities – all in the name of American dominance. Currently, the United States is known internationally as a mecca for cultural diffusion and its overreaching welcoming of those in despair globally.…