How can hospitality be expected by a guest who barges in and demands to take control? If hospitality is present in such situations, it will prove to be destructive. Similarly, when European explorers entered the New World, they discovered Native Americans, who had already been living in the Americas for several centuries. Undoubtedly, these indigenous people’s lifestyles were influenced by the climate, resources, and geography of this land. As the European explorers began to settle in the New World, the Federal Government played a major role in not only the Europeans’ lives but also the Native Americans’ lives. Under these circumstances one would expect for the Federal Government to treat the Native Americans fairly, yet this was not the case.
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The Dawes Act, which divided the reservation area into separate 160-acre plots for each Native American family, was passed by the U.S. Congress. However, the act weakened the Native Americans’ culture since the idea of private land ownership introduced an unfamiliar level of competition. Due to this disadvantage, it is understandable that some believe that the purpose of the Dawes Act was to divide Native Americans and to eliminate their culture. Then, more than half of Native Americans’ reservation land was lost as a result of homesteading. Because of this, the Native American population in the United States decreased drastically between 1850 and 1900. Furthermore, General Francis A. Walker, who was appointed as Commissioner of Indian affairs, moved many Native Americans onto reservations where Native American children could attend Indian schools. Through these Indian schools, much of the Native American culture was destroyed. For instance, Native American children were separated from their parents, required to cut their hair, prohibited from speaking any language besides English, given new names, denied the practice of their religion, and forced to relinquish their tribal identities. Along with being forced to leave their homelands, the Federal Government stripped the Native Americans of all that belonged to them. No government should have the ability to tell a group of indigenous people where to live and how to live. Thus, assimilation had a negative impact on Native
The Dawes Act, which divided the reservation area into separate 160-acre plots for each Native American family, was passed by the U.S. Congress. However, the act weakened the Native Americans’ culture since the idea of private land ownership introduced an unfamiliar level of competition. Due to this disadvantage, it is understandable that some believe that the purpose of the Dawes Act was to divide Native Americans and to eliminate their culture. Then, more than half of Native Americans’ reservation land was lost as a result of homesteading. Because of this, the Native American population in the United States decreased drastically between 1850 and 1900. Furthermore, General Francis A. Walker, who was appointed as Commissioner of Indian affairs, moved many Native Americans onto reservations where Native American children could attend Indian schools. Through these Indian schools, much of the Native American culture was destroyed. For instance, Native American children were separated from their parents, required to cut their hair, prohibited from speaking any language besides English, given new names, denied the practice of their religion, and forced to relinquish their tribal identities. Along with being forced to leave their homelands, the Federal Government stripped the Native Americans of all that belonged to them. No government should have the ability to tell a group of indigenous people where to live and how to live. Thus, assimilation had a negative impact on Native