Cycles of Conquest, by Edward H. Spicer, is notably a classic, “essential” book for readers learning about the history of cultural change in the southwest. Published in 1962, Spicer’s work offers a scope of the histories of southwestern Native Americans—based on available knowledge. Edward Spicer introduces the first part of his book by stating several times that the historical lens is distorted because it is the history of the Spanish and their contacts with Native Americans, rather than the history of the Natives, from the Natives. He writes, “it is in full recognition of the fact that the information about the Indians themselves is secondhand and terribly biased that the exposition of the ‘history’ of the contacts of the Indians of northwestern…
“The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado” Written by Elliott West. I chose to write about this book because of the large range of events and transitions that occurred throughout the American West that the author includes in the text. Elliot West highlights the struggles that many endured while trying to create better circumstances for not only themselves but also their families by moving to the west. He chronicles the adaptations that many white settlers arriving in the west faced in order to be able to make a living for themselves. But another reason why I found the book interesting was because of the way Elliot West provided perspective for each side of the struggle over the American West. He gives us the Native American view of what was happening at the time, which I found valuable because a lot of the time the Native American perspective is not heard.…
Bibliography: Brown, Dee Alexander., and Hampton Sides. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: an Indian History of the American West. New York: Picador, 2007.…
All through the historical backdrop of the New World, there has been strife between indigenous populaces and approaching pioneers that usurp the land and assets. The uncovered histories and ficticious belief surrounding the Trail of Tears and the victory of the Incas and other local societies reminds us as readers that genocide and ethnic purifying leaves a sign of an awesome misfortune on American…
Native Americans have long been interested in maintaining cultural traditions they inherited from their ancestors. For Native American tribes with strong oral traditions, the primary sense of history comes from the narratives, stories, and accounts told by tribal elders. Indigenous peoples' stories are as varied as the clouds in the sky and yet have many common elements, whether told by the Cherokee in North Carolina, or the Chimariko in California. In the assortment of Native stories, we find legends and history, maps and poems, the teachings of spirit mentors, instructions for ceremony and ritual, observations of worlds, and storehouses of ethno-ecological knowledge. They often have many dimensions, with meanings that reach from the everyday to the divine. The stories fill places with…
When the Euro-Americans (whites) and Native Americans came into contact, there was conflict. This conflict eventually led to The Plains wars, which the Native Americans lost. In this essay the details as to why the Native Americans lost the plains war will be explained. These details include seven main points, which are- the end of the civil war and the manifest destiny, different attitudes towards land, the whites upsetting the population balance, the effect of reservations, the start of the Californian gold rush, the weapons that both the sides used during war, and the actual wars that made up the plains war.…
- Miller, Susan. “Native Historians Write Back: The Indigenous Paradigm of American Indian History.” 2009.…
The history presented here covers the defeat of the Plains Indians by the US Army, the violent change from nomadic life to life on the reservation, and the death of a culture as we watch it go from a way of life to a Wild West show to be presented in large cities.…
This course outlines the major political, economic and cultural shifts in the history of Native Americans, and is meant to provide an overview of the major themes and trends in the history of Native American peoples from pre-Columbian times until the present. As sources for this class, we will take into account both the conclusions reached by Western historians and the oral history of different Native American peoples. This course not only introduces the significant chronological events, issues, people, and trends during this time, but also aims to develop your critical thinking and writing skills. By supplementing secondary sources with primary sources, this course demands analytical perspectives that focus on historical contextualization & contingency, comparative analysis over time and geography, and the multitude of historical perspectives.…
This paper is going to be addressing the experiences throughout history concerning political, social, cultural issues that the Native Americans endured in America. This paper will also discuss what legislation has done to constrain the Native Americans and what they did to fight back. This paper will be written as if a historian was covering this issue. The experience that the Native Americans have had since the first Europeans landed in America has been nothing but discriminating acts and violence. Our American government has stripped nearly all their ancestral roots out from beneath them in order to make them adapt to White…
Nicole Novak HIS104-030 9/12/17 “The West and Native Americans” As Eric Foner stated in Give Me Liberty! An American History, dating back to the times of colonization, “the West had been seen as a place for opportunity for those seeking to improve their condition in life.” (Foner 613) By the mid-1800’s, the U.S. Government had acquired all the land West of the Mississippi River, land previously untouched by most Americans at this time. With the expansion of rail roads, capitalism, the idea of manifest destiny, along with Americans’ hope for a fresh start in a new life with more land, western expansion had begun in America.…
When exploring both the historical oppression of Native Americans and the race’s current challenges, historians can recognize how Indians are living with the remnants of their past. The United States growth as a nation was at the expense of Native Americans, who suffered through genocide, dislocation, and violence from the white man. The historical trauma Native Americans endured has a cumulative emotional and psychological toll, which the ethnicity experiences today. For many tribes, their history is an obstacle for prospective changes and advancement. In the future, to assist Indians in surmounting the trials and tribulations they face, American citizens must spread awareness of the challenges of life on an Indian reservation and aide the group. The United States must finally disregard the stereotypical image of Indians and instead allow Native Americans to win the battle to maintain their cultural identity and traditions. With determination and resilience, in the future, Native Americans can break through the historical barriers of oppression and enjoy financial, familial, and cultural…
Two books and other resources’ illustrations on the hardships Native Americans faced, proves the unethical values whites pushed on the Natives. By forcing the Native Americans into reservation camps while stealing their land from beneath them, the Natives were expected to erase their own culture and teachings and adopt the culture of the whites.…
What I have learned about American Indian Studies is that the amount of intelligence my ancestral forefathers’ had, has gone, and still goes unnoticed by the majority of the citizens of America. That American Indian History is a hush, hush subject of education that many times in my schooling, was overlooked. I was only taught about Natives when the history teacher was speaking of the ‘spectacular’ discovery by Christopher Columbus and that was it. I never knew that Indians across the nation suffer from similar health problems, including diabetes and high blood pressure or that Native Indians dietary habits changed dramatically because of the government issued food, which would cause many of these problems. Which leads up to my first theme of this essay; Native American Indian…
Thesis: Modern Native American traditions reflect the history of struggle, strife and triumph they experienced in history.…