Beginning with the colonization of the United States of America, the lives of Native Americans were forever altered. When colonists began to settle in America and then spread out further west they clashed, many times violently, with the Native Americans already there. A lot of Native Americans were killed, forced off their land, and treated like savages or lesser than the “white man”. One of the most famous incidents of Native Americans being forced of their lands was the Trail of Tears. Crawford (2004) states that:
In the early 1830s President Andrew Jackson initiated a policy of forcible Indian removal from the eastern United States… Their ordeal became known as the Trail of Tears, as more than a third of tribal members died en route …show more content…
Even now, the effects of different policies and beliefs of the past are being seen in Native American societies. Ward (2005) states that “…Indians continue to experience the results of, first, paternalistic and, then, assimilationist practices that located them on reservations, delayed citizenship for many… created congressional trusteeship, and led to social and economic isolation as well as urban relocation” (p. 7). Many Native Americans struggle to get jobs and also find a place in today’s society due to much of the appalling treatment against their ancestors. As stated by Deloria (1995), “For American Indians, the struggle of this century has been to emerge from the heavy burden of anthropological definitions that have made Indian communities at times mere laboratories for political and social experiments” (p. ). There have been so many misconceptions about Native Americans, and they have been there for such a long time, that it is now a struggle for Native Americans to overcome them. “Indeed, some scholars become very competitive with Indians, believing that because they have studied an Indian tribe they therefore know more than any of the tribal members” (Deloria (1995), p. ). Once again, this highlights how some people give very little thought, or credit, to what Native Americans know and can teach about their culture, language, beliefs, etc. Another popular …show more content…
One way that white Americans tried to “civilize” Native Americans was by removing the children of native tribes and taking them to boarding schools where they were taught how to act like white Americans. This is stated in Crawford’s (2004) book, Educating English Learners with this section: “Beginning in 1879, federal officials began separating Indian children from their families and forcing them to attend off-reservation boarding schools” (p. ). A popular phrase of these schools was, as stated earlier, “Kill the Indian and save the man” (WGBH Video, 2007). The students who were taken to these boarding schools were taught English and punished for using their native tongues. The children were placed in a room and told to pick out new, “white,” names to be called by. Most of them just pointed to a name without giving it much thought, and others had an air of resentment about picking a new name. They had their clothes taken and were given more “appropriate” articles of clothing. Also, they had their hair cut, which for many, their hair was symbolic and a part of their culture. They were also taught to be individualists and more selfish, which goes against what most of their tribes believed. When these students would try to return to their tribes, they found it difficult, and sometimes impossible to return to their previous lives (WGBH Video,
In the early 1830s President Andrew Jackson initiated a policy of forcible Indian removal from the eastern United States… Their ordeal became known as the Trail of Tears, as more than a third of tribal members died en route …show more content…
Even now, the effects of different policies and beliefs of the past are being seen in Native American societies. Ward (2005) states that “…Indians continue to experience the results of, first, paternalistic and, then, assimilationist practices that located them on reservations, delayed citizenship for many… created congressional trusteeship, and led to social and economic isolation as well as urban relocation” (p. 7). Many Native Americans struggle to get jobs and also find a place in today’s society due to much of the appalling treatment against their ancestors. As stated by Deloria (1995), “For American Indians, the struggle of this century has been to emerge from the heavy burden of anthropological definitions that have made Indian communities at times mere laboratories for political and social experiments” (p. ). There have been so many misconceptions about Native Americans, and they have been there for such a long time, that it is now a struggle for Native Americans to overcome them. “Indeed, some scholars become very competitive with Indians, believing that because they have studied an Indian tribe they therefore know more than any of the tribal members” (Deloria (1995), p. ). Once again, this highlights how some people give very little thought, or credit, to what Native Americans know and can teach about their culture, language, beliefs, etc. Another popular …show more content…
One way that white Americans tried to “civilize” Native Americans was by removing the children of native tribes and taking them to boarding schools where they were taught how to act like white Americans. This is stated in Crawford’s (2004) book, Educating English Learners with this section: “Beginning in 1879, federal officials began separating Indian children from their families and forcing them to attend off-reservation boarding schools” (p. ). A popular phrase of these schools was, as stated earlier, “Kill the Indian and save the man” (WGBH Video, 2007). The students who were taken to these boarding schools were taught English and punished for using their native tongues. The children were placed in a room and told to pick out new, “white,” names to be called by. Most of them just pointed to a name without giving it much thought, and others had an air of resentment about picking a new name. They had their clothes taken and were given more “appropriate” articles of clothing. Also, they had their hair cut, which for many, their hair was symbolic and a part of their culture. They were also taught to be individualists and more selfish, which goes against what most of their tribes believed. When these students would try to return to their tribes, they found it difficult, and sometimes impossible to return to their previous lives (WGBH Video,