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Native American Prejudice Essay Research Paper Koeneman

Native American Prejudice Essay, Research Paper


Koeneman 1


Adam J.E. Koeneman


English 190-28


Professor Engles


November 4, 1996


Prejudice Against Native Americans


These people began migrating thirty thousand years before Christopher Colombus


“discovered” the Americas. Native Americans migrated from Asia, crossing a land bridge


where the Bering Strait off the coast of Alaska is today. Over the centuries these people


spread throughout the continents of North and South America. Since the arrival of the


Europeans in 1492 the American Indian has been dehumanized, decivilized and redefined


into terms that represent a dominate European view. The Spanish explorers under


Colombus were the first to use the terms “Indian” to mean a Native American. These


explorers were under the false impression that the had reached the West Indies. This term


is still used today.


From the first interaction with the native peoples the Europeans inatiated dominance


and superiority. There are three distinctive reasons that the Europeans were able to


dominate and later oppress the Native American culture such as; the Native American


relgious beleifs and practices, the lack of interaction between Native Americans ans


Europeans and the lack of orginization of the Indian tribes. All of these aspects had a


strong influence the Europeans to become dominate figures on the Native American land.


These factors can still be attributed for the way that Native Americans are viewed in


society today.


After the Revolutionary War the new United States government sought to gain land


through treaties. The payment offered for the land was far from fair, however, and when


Native Americans resisted the surrender of their homeland the US government simply


used superior military power to evict them. The Europenas knew nothing of the new


civilizations they encountered. Most Native American tribes viewed the lands they


occupied to be no one man’s property. They believied that they were alowed to occupy it


by the grace of the “Great Spirit”, in return the tribes took care of the land the used.


Usually Native Americans harbored a great respect for the land they were allowed to use


. When the European leaders attempted to purchase this land from the tribes the Native


American leaders often thought they did not have the authority to sell the land. In their


view the land wasn’t theirs to sell. Often times, payment offered was refused because of


this view The Europeans, on the other hand, did not understand or care to understandthe


Native American way of life, culture or philosophy. Instead, they saw the land as a great


buisness oppurtunity to be bought and sold. Sometimes payment was accepted because


the American Indians did not fully understand the consequence or implications of the


sale. It was difficult for the Indians to comprehend the ownership of land because in their


view the land would always be avaliable for ever

yone to use.


Europeans feared these new people with a seemingly savage way of life. The dances


and othe cultural traditions that Native Americans practiced were extremely abstract and


foreign to the European settlers. These displays of savagery by the Native Americans


sparkedf fear within many settlers mainly out of ignoranceto their practices and cultural


traditions. The NAtive American lifestyle was, in fact very organized and very practical.


Most American Indians have little or no interaction with the everday lifestyles of the


average American citizen. They have been residents of reservations for almost two


cennturies. Two hundred years of social oppression has to be overcome inorder for the


American Indian socities to become more accepted into our modern culture. The


prejudice that American Indians endure rivals that of the African-Americans. In order for


the Native American tribal nations to become equal in social standings ther has to be


reform and awarness of the prejudice.


Lack of orginization is a strong contributing factor to why Native Americans are


dicriminated against. During the 1960’s the African-American population united and


fought for reform and equality. This has not yet fully occured in the Native American


social setting. Many of the tribes still fued with each othe instead of trying to create


social reform. This is especially apparent during the 1800’s when Indian-White relations


were especially full of tension. Crazy horse, the great Oglala Sioux leader, expressed his


concern for better relations between the American Indian tribes on his death bed


(Nabokov 178). The European settlerhad a problem understanding the differances


between the tribes. Many times they could not comprehend that one tribe of Native


Americans was seperate and sometimes enemies with another tribe.


Another major factor that helped develop the dicriminatory views against Native


Americans was the American Indian religious practices. The Europeans settlers during


1700’s and the 1800’s were mainly Christian fundamentalists. They viewed the practices


of the Native Americans such as dnaces, sacrifices and other religious ordinances as


against traditional Judeo-Christian ethics. The Europeans would recognizethese dances as


acts of evil. They did not take into consideration the Native American religious beleifs of


harmony, unity and equality in all things.


The last signifigant cause in why the Native Americans are dicriminated against are


the terms used to describe their race. The term Native American refers to hundreds of


distinct societies- including; Aluets, Eskimos,Cherokee, Zuni, Sioux, Mohawk, Aztec and


Incan- who first settled the western hemisphere. Indians in today’s society are often


looked down upon as not as productive or not as stable as other cultures. The high


alcoholism rates and the third world living conditions found on reservations do not


improve the terms used to describe the American Indian.


339

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