After the warFollowing the American Revolutionary War, the United States pursued alliances with Native Americans in order to benefit the new nation economically and politically[1]. During the both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the United States military sought assistance from Native American allies.
This relatively peaceable relationship ended in the early 19th century, as the United States established its power in relation to European nations, including England and Spain. Without the necessity of enlisting help from Native Americans in times of war, the United States’ attitude toward indigenous peoples shifted to a push for “civilization.” Thus began the steady invasion of white Americans into Native American territories[2]. |
The trail of tears: The Indian removal act in action
The origins of what historians now refer to as the "Trail of Tears" can be found in President Andrew Jackson's long-held anti-Native American attitude. During the War of 1812, Jackson earned a reputation as a military leader who turned the tide of the war in favor of the U.S. But during his time in the Army, Jackson led bloody campaigns against Native tribes in the South, including the Creeks and the Seminoles, taking their land and offering it to white farmers.
As President, Jackson set to work designing a policy intended to further push Native Americans out of the profitable Southern territories. The result was the Indian Removal Act, signed in 1830. According to the language of the document, this law only granted the federal government the ability to exchange land in the "cotton kingdom" east of the Mississippi for land out West. In practice, however, President Jackson and his government took a more coercive approach. In 1831, the U.S. Army threatened to invade Choctaw land, forcing the Choctaw to become the first Native American tribe expelled from their land. In the decade following, tens of thousands of Native Americans were forced to travel the Trail of Tears westward, their populations decimated along the way[3]. Although the Native Americans were technically "free" to accept these treaties, pressure from the government forced indigenous tribes to leave behind ancestral lands that they had occupied for thousands of years. Despite being the most "original" Americans, Native Americans were denied the protection of freedoms guaranteed to U.S. citizens. |
"kill the indian, save the man": Assimilation in boarding schools
Beginning in the late 19th century, the United States government began a policy of forcing tens of thousands of Native American children to attend “assimilation schools.” U.S. cavalry captain Richard Henry Pratt expressed the underlying sentiment in his infamous quote: “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.”
Pratt thought the assimilation of Native Americans would be to their benefit. He believed that Native Americans were born equal to white Americans, but in his view, this meant that the best way to help Native Americans would be to assimilate them into white culture[4]. In these schools, Native American children were stripped of their names, languages, religions, and culture, and instead given Anglo-American names, clothing, and hairstyles. In the Carlisle Indian School alone, at least 200 children died from diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza[5]. Today, Native American communities continue to feel the ramifications of these assimilation institutions, especially within the "boarding school generation" who attended schools like Carlisle[6]. |
The carlisle Indian Industrial School: A snapshot of the Assimilation System
nAtive American life today
In the United States today, there are currently 573 Native tribes recognized by the federal government. As sovereign nations outside the U.S., these tribes have unique autonomy in creating their own laws of governance[7].
For Native Americans living on reservations, life continues to be affected by colonization and assimilation efforts in the past. There is a crisis of physical and mental health among the Native population, with statistics showing Native Americans are 177% more likely to die from diabetes, 500% more likely to die of tuberculosis, and 82% more likely to die from suicide[8]. In spite of the constant threat of cultural erasure, Native communities continue to work to preserve their unique languages and traditions. |
Sources:
- "Native American History." AllAboutHistory.org.
- "Destroying Native American Culture." LibraryofCongress.gov.
- "Trail of Tears" by History.com Editors. History.com.
- Bell, Telling Stories Out of School,Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1998, cited in Witmer, p.75, 323 n. 31.
- Little, Becky. "How Boarding Schools Tried to 'Kill the Indians' Through Assimilation." History.com
- "American Indian Life: Traditions & Culture." IndianYouth.org.
- "Native Americans Enjoy Autonomy, But Land Use, Sovereignty Questions Persist" by Adam Phillips. VOANews.com, 2010.
- "Living Conditions." NativePartnership.org, 2015.