Native American History

From as early as the time of the early European

settlers, Native Americans have suffered

tremendously. Native Americans during the time of

the early settlers where treated very badly. Europeans

did what they wanted with the Native Americans, and

when a group of Native Americans would stand up for

themselves, the European would quickly put them down.

The Native Americans bow and arrows where no match

for the Europeans guns and cannon balls. When the

Europeans guns didn't work for the Europeans, the disease

they bought killed the Native Americans even more

effectively. In a poem by Louise Enrich called Dear John

Wayne a line from a cowboy and Indian movie states the

position of many European settlers in the Americas

"Everything we see belongs to us".

Native Americans did not like the way they were being

treated. Every generation that passes, there would be fewer

and fewer Native Americans around the Americas. Native

Americans were dying like flies flying around bug spray

mist. If it were not a war (The French and Indian war) that

were killing them off it would be European disease (Cow

and Small pox). The Native Americans saw what the

Europeans were doing to their lives, they wanted their old

way of life, and they wanted the Europeans to go away. In

the movie Smoke Signals a line that was said by a

character called Arnold Joseph represents the feelings of

the Native Americans "Poof! The white people are gone".

The Europeans were relentless in their attempts to get rid of

the Native Americas "Come on boys we got them"(Dear

John Wayne), was the attitude the Europeans felt about the

Native Americans. All the Europeans wanted from the

Native Americans were their land, their gold or their labor.

Unfortunately for the Native Americans, the Europeans

succeeded in taking advantage of the Native Americans

and in the end the Europeans did get them.

Native Americans did not understand European ideology.

Native Americans had no idea why the Europeans could

fight for land, "Death makes us owners of nothing" (Dear

John Wayne) is what the Native Americans believed. They

also couldn't understand on how one person or group can

own land since he or she "could not own the sky".

The Native Americans were getting sick and tried of being

oppressed so one glorious day the Native Americans

decided to ban together to stop the oppression.

"Sometimes it's a good day to die" (Smoke Signals) was

an idea that was present on that day. That day was when

the Battle of Wounded Knee happened. Unfortunately for

the Natives Americans, they lost that battle and Native

American resistant was shattered.

Native Americans have been through a lot in America.

They were the first ones here and they still are here. But the

problem is that Native Americans are still treated with

disrespect. There are still a lot of prejudice and racism

against the Native Americans. I believe that if a race could

survive after all the wars and disease that the Native

Americans have been faced with, they should be respected

and not be treated with disrespect.