Indian Assimilation Research Paper

Tatanka Iyotake a principal war chief of the Lakota and Oglala Sioux better known as Sitting Bull , once said “If we must die, we die defending our rights”. This shows the strong tension between the native americans and the settlers. Throughout history the two groups created multiple treaties among each other. As gold mines were discovered, indian land was bought off by the white settlers, the indians were faced with the ultimate choice: assimilation or extermination. The age old quote, “kill or be killed” applied to the natives as they fought to keep their culture and their land. The assimilation was an ineffective and inhumane way to solve the indian conflict because the indian land was limited, the indians were forced to adapt into the settle’s culture and were no longer able to be in charge of their own government. The impact of the assimilation affected the indians negatively geographically, culturally, and politically.
Because of their nomadic lifestyle, the indians would hunt buffaloes along the plains. After overhunting became an issue, …show more content…
With the assimilation the indians lost most of their culture such as their language and their way of life. Many were stripped of their identities as they were force to adapt christian names and convert into christianity. Children involuntary were forced to go to boarding schools that degraded the native american culture and taught the settlers way of life, though the government did not aim to kill the Indians, they did aim to destroy their societies (Bechtel et al. 54) . As stated by Mahpiua Luta known as Red Cloud “White man uses many means to attack us...we have always feared your guns the least” (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee). This shows that the native americans did not fear the settlers for their guns but the death of their culture. This was also viewed as a cultural genocide of the native