Whitman Massacre Analysis

Great Essays
Facing the continuing decline of their population Native Americans called upon neighboring missionaries to aid them. This turning away from traditions was an added challenge to medicine men and traditional culture. Native Americans understood that European medicine came with the expectation of an earnest study of Christianity. Missionaries initially welcomed the desperate natives who were willing to study whichever religion in exchange for medical aid. In Oregon, the Whitman massacre is one example of the failure of European medicine and the desperate response of the Cayuses. “As both a physician and missionary, the Cayuses held Marcus Whitman accountable for the deaths of his patients, especially since they suspected him of spiritual Malpractice.” …show more content…
The findings of Kari O’Grady about traumatic events and how victims’ spirituality is affected reinforce the Cherokee response to the New Madrid earthquakes as well as the renewal of the Catholic faith after the Great Lisbon disaster of 1755. O’Grady’s collaborative article "Resilience Processes During Cosmology Episodes: Lessons Learned from the Haiti Earthquake," with James Orton, in the Journal Of Psychology & Theology discusses the influence of traumatic events on victims’ psychological and spiritual influences and the need for cross-specialty study. They compared their findings to that of a study done on the Mann Gulch Smokejumpers to gain perspective on human reaction during and directly after a life threatening event. When examining the 1993 flooding in the Midwestern United States, they also found that pre-existing religious connections influenced coping mechanisms in much the same way. O’Grady postulates that “these findings illustrate the interplay of the religious resources, beliefs, and practices… with religious attribution and coping….” Extending this link to resource situations allows the further connection between lack of resources and an increase in religiosity and conversion of the victim population. (O’Grady

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Everett Massacre has been called the bloodiest labor confrontation in the Northwest’s history. The was an armed confrontation between wobblies and local authorities in Everett, Washington. The date that all of this took place on was November 5, 1916. I believe that the main reason that this happened was because local authorities would not let wobblies land for a speech. There were many things that led up to or caused the Everett Massacre.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Massacre at mystic (contextualization) The Massacre at Mystic was the first major battle between the Native Americans and the Europeans. The context of this event shows how the Europeans and the Native Americans fought over the land that would soon become America. This fighting took place on a massive scale, but the first example of this brutality was the Massacre at Mystic. The colonization of the New World saw an unprecedented migration of people, known as the “Great Migration”.…

    • 1336 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Causes Of The Cayuse War

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Cayuse War was a devastating battle between the Cayuse tribe, the Oregon Rifles, and some U.S army men. This infamous battle took place between 1847-1855, a long 8 years. Looking back on the war, it seems the Cayuse tribe may have been very violent. However, they had a reason.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In an age of quasi-frequent catastrophic occurrences, grief and sorrow run prevalent on international news feeds. Those directly affected as well as those observing from afar, attempt to grapple with the complexity of suffering and the role of the supernatural in their anguish. The Doors of the Sea, written by David Bentley Hart, utilizes the 2004 tsunami in order to help the reader grasp the foundational quandary between human suffering and the problem of evil. I hope to achieve three primary objectives in this essay: briefly summarize Hart’s work, identify the major theme of free will and its influence on human suffering before pointing out the greatest rift in this supposed correlation, and conclude with the influence the book had on me…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The birth of organized crime and gang violence was, arguably, the 1920's. Business were scared into getting "protection" by gangs. While gruesome crimes were committed from avenging mobsters. The most unforgettable crime was the St. Valentine's Da y Massacre. Bugs Morans legacy is defined best through his participation in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Lewis and Clark are known for completing a harrowing journey into the unknown regions of the United States and returning with a wealth of knowledge. The expedition proved to be a valuable asset in paving the way for western expansion in the United States. Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of Native Americans living in the West, the exploration spawned the notion of Manifest Destiny, a philosophy that American citizens were entitled to the land stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This belief prompted many Americans to travel west of the Mississippi River and establish the beginnings of the western region of the 48 contiguous states of present-day US. Although the Lewis and Clark expedition brought about the downfall…

    • 1665 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    School shootings are something that we know about, in Canadian history they are something we aren 't oblivious to. The Montreal Massacre significantly affected Canada in terms of equality, justice and safety. Numerous individuals had differentiating perspectives on the massacre that took place. Many questions were raised: Why did Marc Lépine shoot and murder fourteen women, while leaving the men alive? Why was Lépine yelling "You’re all feminists?", yet shooting at women who guaranteed they weren 't feminists?…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After reading the text provided I came to the conclusion that the relationship between the Native Americans and the United States was in constant turmoil. The text is littered with many treaties made with the Natives and the effect these had on all parties involved. The westward expansion caused numerous battles and debates among the politicians and tribes. A quote from the article A Shawnee Argues for an Untied Indian Resistance, 1810 states “After mistreatment of the Native Americans by Presidents Jefferson and Madison, Tecumseh, a Shawnee, tried to organize the Midwestern Indian tribes into a united political alliance to thwart the steady advance of the white settlers.” This quote shows the strained relationship between the Natives and the…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Exposure Therapy

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Recovering from trauma may seem impossible to the victims who are left to cope with the intense symptoms that plague them long after the traumatic incident. Although progression is slow, recovery with the right therapy is possible (Wright, 2011). Some victims may choose a therapist who is well equipped to provide therapy to those who have been through trauma. Other victims might choose a spiritual leader to help them through the process of recovery and others may not choose to get help at all. Not only are the chances of recovery low for those victims who choose to untreated, they are also at risk for further difficulties that can disrupt their lives and the lives of their families such as anxiety, depression, pain, and substance abuse (Schiraldi, 2009).…

    • 1521 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Europeans have had an impact on many peoples’ life and culture. This was no different when the Europeans first came to America and encountered the natives. When the English and the Puritans first arrived, the Native Americans handled them in different ways. Some welcomed them with open arms, while others approached them with caution. ; however, despite handling the Europeans differently, the natives were still impacted by them all the same.…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Herd Mentality Tiger Breedlove GMC As human beings, we seem to be the at the top of the food chain solely based on our superior intelligence. We have evolved to a point of self-awareness with a desire to learn and better ourselves intellectually. However, we still cannot shed some of our more instinctual traits, such as our needs, fears, and reproductive desires. Moreover, there are certain psychological traits that are similar to those of the rest of the animal kingdom.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the world that we live in, there is often upsets in our lives and in the lives around us. Being that we are all a part of one society, everything that happens to one society happens to every other society as well. In the article, " The Earth is Cruel", by Leonard Pitts, he goes on to discuss all of the horrible things that occur in Haiti, and how they are still able to stand back up on their feet and move forward with their lives. In this article, I believe that there is one central theme that sticks out to me. The theme in this article "Sometimes the Earth is Cruel", happens to be faith.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Once Native leaders realized the distressing reality of the health issues in their communities, they decided to get help. As Belanger states, this is what “compelled Native leaders to request treaties with the British…

    • 1576 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Christians were able to cope with disasters resulting in a higher population of Christians surviving after the epidemic. Starks third thesis “is an application of control theories in conformity” (75). Stark's argument is that because of the large casualty rate many survivors were lefts without their families and past relationships. Christians had a higher survival rate because of their care, comfort, and commitments to responding to the epidemics. If the controls theories in conformities are true than many pagan and nonreligious survivors turned to the Christians for help and…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Purpose of the Study Countless studies have researched the relationship between religion and spirituality affects a person’s health. Having that said the article examines the roles of spirituality and religiosity to determine whether these factors are associated with a person’s response to stress, in young, healthy, adult women. The study is an attempt to replicate a previous study, using middle aged adults, to understand if spirituality provides a sense of meaning in life. Researchers hypothesize that spirituality and religion is positively correlated with successful coping skills.…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays