There alot of romanticized assumptions on this thread. There is no conclusive evidence that the colonists assimilated with the Native tribes. This evidence along with oral history is very problematic. First one would have to re examine known history as well as look through the understanding of both the tribes and the colonists. European colonists historically did not assimilate into other societies upon coming to the New World. They may have co existed but no reliable accounts of assimilation. One would have to assume that Europeans looked upon Natives as equals ( which they did not), and that also Europeans settlers were all willingly to set aside their religion and their traditions to become part of a race of people they viewed as heathen
There were initially two to ten million natives in the United States prior to European contact. Those numbers dwindled down drastically in the years that Europeans came and started colonizing. The Europeans came to explore the New World in search of land, spices, gold, God and glory. Among these colonists were the Spanish who colonized most of the southwest of the United States. Evidence of their settlements can still be seen today in the missions scattered across the land. These missions were started with the purpose of converting the Native Americans to Christianity. Try to put yourself into the shoes of the Native Americans, imagine living your entire life with a particular set of beliefs, based on what was handed down by your ancestors and culture. Then suddenly a group of foreigners would come and proclaim that your views are all wrong and that you must follow their beliefs for the salvation of your soul. This is exactly what the Spanish colonizers did to the Native Americans as they invaded their territory which is the reason why the relationship between the two parties were strained and rife with tension. The conversion of the Natives and the constant hostility by the Spanish conquerors subsequently led to the disintegration of native life and culture.
"No study of acculturation in colonial America would be complete,"(272) exclaims James Axtell in his book the european and the Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America, "without giving equal thought to the question of how English culture was altered by its contacts with Native America." (272) during this anthropology and ethnohistory based work, James Axtell clearly lays on the table that this analysis inter-piled into a book wasn't meant to be simply a general assortment of Native american encounters and battles with the Europeans; but a real, real, and factual assessment of how they intermingled with one another. Showing how they were each able to interact as well as react to each others own beliefs and ways shows the
The next leap in colonization of American was to get all the people in the nation on the same page; meaning speaking the same language, same culture, same beliefs, and same leaders. This is known as assimilation, which the book Racial and Ethnic Groups by Richard T. Schaefer refers to as “The process by which a subordinate individual or group takes on the characteristics of the dominant group and is eventually accepted as part of that group.” Regardless, the native tribal people would try to live by their traditional ways. But as Schaefer explains “Members of the dominant group see it as reasonable that subordinate people shed their distinctive cultural traditions.” How would the U.S. get the natives to listen to them, by turning the
During the period between 1850 and 1900, there were conflicting ideas toward Native Americans. There were two contradictory impulses that were designed to fight “the Indian problem”; one desire was to commit violence upon Native Americans, including massacre, rape, and forced removal, and another was a paternalistic approach of forced assimilation. Many, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs, adopted an assimilation policy, especially through the creation of Native American boarding schools. Their policy was to “kill the Indian, save the man,” to eradicate all Indian cultures and force them into white American life. However, happening during the same time as this policy, many people had the goal of murdering Indians, examples including the
Europeans tore through America in the 1700s and destroyed the lives of Native Americans, and yet their culture remained principled with a high level of respect and honor. This is shown in a meeting that was held by the six nations of the Iroquois, where Chief Red Jacket gave a speech on the Native Americans view on missionary stations that the Europeans wanted to set up. Red Jacket explained their past with the first settlers, “We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return” (1). These first Europeans set the tone for how these new colonist treated the natives. They took what they wanted and left a trail of death and destruction in their path. However, the natives acted in return with upstanding respect and treated these missionaries
For almost as long as European settlers have interacted with the native peoples of the Americas, they have had a notion: what many call ‘assimilation’. To Europeans, assimilation of native peoples meant for their culture, which they believed to be superior, to be accepted over time by the natives. And as they grew more and more European in language, religion, customs, organization, morals, and behavior, they would slowly shed off all of their old culture which the European culture would be replacing. The Europeans believed this process was for the best for the natives and that they would be happier living ‘civilized’ lives as opposed to practicing their own traditions.
First Nation Peoples within Canada have been facing many injustices in their homeland since the dawn of colonization. The most unraveling point to First Nation assimilation was the formation of the consequential Indian Act and residential schools resulting in a stir of adversity. As racist ideologies within Canada developed, upheaval against such treatment was undertaken as First Nation communities fought back against government land claims and eradication of treaty rights. In attempt to make amends, proper compensations from the injustices within residential schools have been released and the key for the future is allowing First Nation self-government. Ideals with the intent of ultimate assimilation have been standardized unto First Nation
Colonization was detrimental to not only the physical bodies of the Native Americans, but to their minds as well. The shift in indigenous education was a destructive one; Western education completely overtook the indigenous education that had thrived for generations. Instead of allowing education to benefit both indigenous and European peoples, it was used as a tool to destroy indigenous culture. When the settlers from Europe and Spain first came to the Americas, “indigenous men and women articulated their petitions for more educational spaces” (Díaz 60). The attempt to share educational spaces was continuously rejected by the settlers in an attempt to spur assimilation instead of cooperation.
Native Americans have had a long history of resistance to the social and cultural assimilation into white culture. By employing various creative strategies, Native Americans have attempted to cope with the changes stemming from the European colonial movement into the Americas. There are fundamental differences in world views and cultural and social orders between Indians and Europeans, which contributed to conservatism in Native American cultures. In this paper, two aspects of such cultural and institutional differences of Native American societies will be examined: holistic Native American beliefs versus dualistic world views and harmony versus domination. These two aspects are important in terms of explaining changes (or lack thereof) in
“The circle of life is never broken” (Taos Pueblo Indian). The colonists just tore apart the land and started changing the Native American culture. Some Native American’s learned to coexist with the colonists by setting up trade networks and adopting some of their technologies. Many others thought that what the colonists were doing was wrong and didn’t cooperate with the transition to the European customs.
Imagine a person bought something that the person valued. The person was the owner of the product and took good care of it.Then, all of a sudden, a stranger comes and takes that product and declares it “discovered”. Now since the stranger “discovered” it, the product now has to be shared among them. This is similar to what happened to Native Americans in North America. Native Americans owned and lived in North America for several thousand years. Then, all of a sudden, European explorers came to North America and claimed the land “discovered”. Europeans started moving into the land and later, started sharing the land. Encounters between Europeans and Native Americans in the colonial era led to the exchange of diseases with Native Americans,
The moment when Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas was the beginning of the interactions between American Indians and European colonists. These very first interactions were mostly positive due to the the generosity of the Indians but turned violent when the Europeans began to mistreat, kidnap, enslave, and kill the American Indians. Actions taken by the American Indians and European Colonists, especially actions of violence, during the 1600s caused the relationship between the two parties to be negative and conflicting in New England and Chesapeake.
Assimilation of the native Indians occurred in different phases. The United States in the early years adopted an Indian policy that they used to build good relations with the bordering tribes which helped politically and in trading with the natives. However, they reserved to stop the good relationships in order for them to acquire more land as the moved west to expand their territory. (Keller,1983)
Hypothetically, there would be a sense of unity with the joining of the colonizer and the colonized. The colonized would finally feel a sense of belonging within the colonial system, with a voice that he had never had before. It provides a standard set of practices and values that would be shared by an entire population, instead of an unequal divide. However, assimilation would merely benefit the few who actually homogenize into the colonizer, leaving the larger mass torn from these sacrifices.
Since the Europeans set foot on North American soil in 1620,they have had a devastating effect on the native population. I will be discussing the long term effect of North American colonisation on the Native Americans, focusing on such issues as employment opportunities, the environment, culture and traditions, health, as well as social justice.