Native American Mistreatment

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The first Native Americans to arrive in North America arrived twelve thousand years ago. 1 They traveled across what scientists and historians call the “land bridge” that spanned the distance between modern day Russia and Alaska. The natives separated into many different factions and fanned all over North America; some tribes became nomadic roaming wherever their food supply went while other natives learned to grow and sew crops. The Native Americans lived in mostly peaceful societies until 1492, when Columbus landed on what is now the Bahamas2 The natives greeted Columbus and his crew with open arms only to be met with harsh treatment, slavery, rape, and death. When the Europeans arrived, they forever changed the lives of Native American’s by trying to transform religion and law that violated Native American customs. When Columbus, a Roman Catholic, landed in the Bahamas in 1492, he was received amicably by the friendly Arawak tribe. The Arakwak people were a largely peaceful society; they had settled in the Caribbean hundreds of years before European explorers found them. In Columbus’ private journal he wrote of the Arawak “ they willingly traded everything they owned...they do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance...with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” 3. These natives were known for their hospitality and friendliness; they openly traded all of their goods with the white men. This was especially odd to the Europeans. They had just left a continent ruled by kings and popes all in a mad scramble for power and money. Columbus’ notes their hospitality as a weakness and openly writes about enslaving the natives that only wanted peace with the European explorers. Columbus’ first order of business with the natives was to take “some of the natives by force in order that they might learn

Native People's­The Indians (blog), http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/btt/columbus/native_peoples.shtml.
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ibid ibid

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and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” (Columbus cite) The information Columbus desired so much was the location of gold and other riches in the region. His primary objective in the new world was profit. The royalty of Spain had allowed Columbus this expedition with the understanding he would bring back riches to the recently unified Spain. The pressure on Columbus was immense. Because of this, the natives suffered. The way the natives were treated over the next five hundred years was abominable; their kindness and their knowledge of the homeland was exploited for profit and power. Along with their hospitality being taken advantage of, their theology was altered as well. The Native American religions before European expansion were very connected to nature, the supernatural, and many different deities. According to Vine Deloria, author of God Is Red: A Native View of Religion ,“the most distinctive aspect of American Indian religious traditions is the extent to which they are wholly community based and have no real meaning outside of the specific community in which the acts are regularly performed, stories told, songs sung, and ceremonies conducted” (Deloria). Unlike Christianity, which unified an entire continent, the Native American religions were mostly confined to specific communities.4 When Europeans came to the new world they were united by their faith and a shared enemy of what they considered the savage. Deloria goes on to explain that “Indian peoples tend to locate sacred power spatially—in terms of places or in terms of spatial configuration” (Deloria). Native Americans view certain places in nature as sacred. They would often make pilgrimages to places of spiritual importance. This is in contrast with the European Christians who tend to express spirituality on days of the week or hours on a clock. When the Europeans landed in the Americas they were unified under the banner of god, and interested in converting the local population to their religious views.5 The natives were scattered
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Deloria Vine, "Native Religions ," , 1994, http://web.archive.org/web/20050330085408/http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_032600_religion.htm.
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about the continent each with a different view of the creator. The natives were separated by their religious beliefs as opposed to the Europeans who were unified by their shared religion and their desire to spread that religion. Among the Christians there were two primary views of the natives: first, people capable of being converted, and second, those who were heathens and incurable. In Robert F. Berkhofer Jr’s book, Salvation and the Savage: An Analysis of Protestant Missions and American Indian Response, he states that the Europeans believed “the first step toward civilization was believed to be conversion to Christianity” (Berkhofer). When Europeans began colonizing the new world they also began to convert locals to the religion of their state. To insist Natives give up their beliefs was to ask an entire race of people to give up everything they had ever known. The native response to European conversion was as varied as the natives religious practices themselves. Berkhofer goes on to explain the native reaction by saying “most tribes at least initially welcomed the missionaries, although reactions were mixed even among members of the same tribe...impressed by white technology, many Indians believed that white culture must hold some spiritual power as well, and they were willing to hear what the missionaries had to offer” (Berkhofer). The native tribes were, for the most part, willing to hear out the Christian missionaries. The natives were open to the white mans teaching because they believed the white culture must have some power in order to wield their technological advancements. The natives also were open to incorporating parts of Christianity into their established belief systems. The colonization of the Americas also brought the spread of Christianity, some natives accepted and welcomed at least part of the Christian doctrine but most natives were not as easily swayed. In several instances native’s rebelled against Christian rule with violence, however Sagoyewatha chief of the Sennece tribe rebelled with words and logic. Sagoyewatha penned a letter to Reverend Cram in Boston stating “there was a time when our forefathers owned this great

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land. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer , and other animals for food...All this He had done for His Red children because he loved them” (Sagoyewatha). Sagoyewatha states that before Christianity came to the new land, the natives already had a creator who blessed them with everything they needed. Sagoyewatha makes the argument that the natives were merely worshiping the creator in their own way. Sagoyewatha goes on to argue that “(an) evil day came upon us; your forefathers crossed the great waters, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small; they found friends, not enemies; they told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and come here to enjoy their religion.” (Sagoyewatha) He argues that when the Europeans needed a friend the natives were there to help adjust to the new world. The Europeans came to the Americas in search of religious freedom. Sagoyewatha argues that the natives should be shown the same kindness the Europeans expected. Sagoyewatha continues to say “ (Europeans) numbers had greatly increased; they wanted more land; they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened; and our minds become uneasy. Wars took place; Indians were hired to fight against Indians , and many of our people were destroyed.” (Sagoyewatha) Sagoyewatha argues that the Europeans took advantage of the Natives kindness, and demanded more land and resources from them. Sagoyewatha continues by saying that the Natives were then turned against each other; a once peaceful people were turned into mercenaries, fighting each other for a country two thousand miles away. Sagoyewatha took an nonviolent resistance path to reason with the Europeans, he argued with words and not with weapons. Like their predecessors many years ago, today’s American Indians continue to face an uphill battle to enjoy the American dream built on their homeland. Since the Indian Removal Act in the eighteen hundreds, the American Government set aside left over land to give the defeated people. According to New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, “the latest Census Bureau

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data show that Shannon (Reservation) had the lowest per capita income in the entire United States in 2010. Not far behind in that Census Bureau list of poorest counties are several found largely inside other Sioux reservations in South Dakota: Rosebud, Cheyenne River and Crow Creek” (Kristof). Kristof clearly explains how several Native American reservations are among the poorest counties in America. These reservations are plagued by alcohol and drug dependencies, educational failures, and dysfunctional families that often repeat generation after generation, consistently keeping Native American’s in a constant circle of poverty.6 Kristof goes on to explain that in the Pine Ridge reservation “half the population over [the age of] 40 on Pine Ridge has diabetes, and tuberculosis runs at eight times the national rate. As many as two­thirds of adults may be alcoholics, one­quarter of children are born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and the life expectancy is somewhere around the high 40s — shorter than the average for sub­Saharan Africa. Less than 10 percent of children graduate from high school” (Kristof). Many Native American reservations are at the mercy of severe health problems that more resemble parts of the third world then the richest country in the world. Without necessary medical care Native American’s will continue to be at the mercy of the diseases that plague them. Without proper medical treatment, and a better structured education system, the cycle of Native despair will continue. Since the first Europeans landed in North America, the native population have been relentlessly persecuted. The natives, in some cases, were forced to give up their long held religious beliefs for the religion of the Europeans. The Native population in America to this day suffers crippling poverty as well as an increased risk for diseases. Our nations first people deserve better than third world treatment. When the first explores landed in America, they forever changed the lives of millions of indigenous people.

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