Native Americans have been neglected, abused, and tormented since the 1700’s when their land was abruptly invaded by Europeans. Europeans declared this “unknown” territory to be their property from then forward and did anything and everything to make sure this would happen. This included forced assimilation, where Natives were stripped of their cultural traditions and forced to assimilate to an english speaking, westernized culture (McLeigh, 2010). This included taking children from their families and sending them to boarding school to learn a new language, new cultural traditions, and new religious practices. Starting in 1860 and lasting until 1970, children were taken from their families at a young age and often lost touch with their family
Our nation’s history has been deep rooted in the conflict involving Native Americans, ever since the beginning of America and it is one hard to get rid of even as the days go by. The impact of colonialism can be seen in Native American communities even today, and it can only be understood through a cultural perspective once you experience it. Aaron Huey, who is a photographer, went to Pine Ridge reservation and it led him to document the poverty and issues that the Sioux Indians go through as a result of the United States government’s long term actions and policies against them. One must question all sources regarding these topics because there is a lot of biased and misinformation about Native American struggles, and sometimes schools do not thoroughly teach the truth so students can get an insight. There are also different sociological perspectives in this conflict, along with many differing opinions on how to approach the problem and deal with it. This is where ideas clash because people believe their views are right regarding how to handle it.
Suicide is prevalent amongst Native American youth because of all the problems they may face. They face problems in many different ways and they think their only way out is to commit suicide. Based on the text, it states, “But lack of resources to treat mental health problems, substance abuse and family turmoil have an effect too, Wagner said. "There is this feeling of being trapped, and having nowhere to go"”(Newsela). This shows that the Native Americans have some problems that they think they can’t overcome. The reservations don’t have as many organizations to help and prevent suicide. Some Native Americans who go to school say that the teachers are being hard on them, but the teachers don’t know what is happening at home. They face problems at home with their family.
Reflecting on the many western movies of my youth, it can be clearly recalled that the Native Americans were either scalping Euro Americans or getting sloppy drunks so they could not function physically and/or mentally. This abuse of alcohol and, in general, acceptance of drunken behavior beyond recollection of actions or knowledge of one’s environment, was widely accepted as the norm by Euro Americans outside of the Native American world and far from the arid, treeless reservations.
THESIS STATEMENT: The Native Americans were historically doomed because of the Europeans inability to accept elements of Native American culture that they felt were savage, the natives inability to acknowledge the Europeans threat to their lifestyle and land, and the far superior European army used to defeat Indian tribes.
Historical trauma, as Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart expressed, is being carried on the genes of Native people without being notice, is something heavy that cause pain and unconformity that it is slowly killing them. As the article refer that historical trauma is “the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding, over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences.” Meaning that the things that happen in the past are still hurting people now, and it needs a great attention and cultural focus. It is really important to show a true respect to Native American culture, so it will be able to accurately help Native Americans from the roots of the problem. A lot of people will argue that what happen to the Native American community happened long time ago, but according to this article, Healing the American Indian Soul Wound, actually is something that kept on happening not so long ago, for example, “it was only in 1994 that native peoples were allowed to practice some forms of religion without fear of reprisal by state and federal government policies” (p. 345). It is surprising that this was still happening in 1994, which is so recent, and it shows a lot of immaturity from the government on the topic of respecting others as human beings. I actually argue with people that cultural genocide over Native Americans is something that I will not doubt is still happening now. I have a strong belief that
Throughout history Native Americans have experienced hardships, Native Americans have been run over for resources and treated unfairly. Over the years Native Americans have always been considered to be at a disadvantage when dealing with the Europeans due to their lack of communication and education. The Native Americans need to be given back if not all some of the land that they owned.
Current American society is constantly affected by events from the past, but sometimes what society thinks is in the past is not so far behind. The way Native Americans were treated historically continually plays a part in current American society. Due to the racism and stereotypes carried throughout society the Native American cultural circle is constantly under fire.
The Native Americans, at the time of the first encounter, were still very culturally and socially primitive compared to the Europeans. They moved a lot, lived mainly of fishing and hunting, spent their time cultivating and used primitive tools and equipment in their daily activities.
The definition of Sociology is the study of human societies through the synthesis of theoretical analysis and controlled research, focusing on the social patterns and the different factors that influence humans. I was born in a small town with roughly five hundred people in it; Terrero Negro the most beautiful town in Honduras is where I grew up for the majority of my childhood. Sadly do a corrupt government the majority of the population lives in poverty, however that does not stop anyone from always offering you a cup of coffee or any type of beverage when you arrive at their house. This is one of the most important norms, thus from a young age everyone is taught to be courteous and make your guest feel at home by offering them a beverage.
It's very often that the public has the impression that Native American cultures were inflexible, unchanging societies, with little or variation through the centuries. This is the central theme of this chapter I believe because throughout my days on this earth I have heard plenty of puts on the Native community. I believe the author was trying to address people with negative views on the Native community and open their eyes to the beauty, land, social classes, and development of the Native culture and this book counter acts the misconception of society. Throughout these chapters the dynamic culture of the Northwest Coast people are revealed. With a history that has many twist and turns just like in other civilization these 1400 miles called
Knowing some of the issues that Native Americans and the U.S. Government faced back in the 1800’s, believe it or not, there is still some that arise today, along with a lot of other issues that Native Americans have within themselves.
Though warfare and attacks on entire villages took a definite toll on the populations of Native Americans, disease was by far the biggest killer. We’ve all heard the stories of smallpox infected blankets being given to the Native Americans, and other such atrocities, but I was simply dumbfounded at the actual numbers of dead due to Old World diseases being introduced to the New World, North America. While it has been somewhat difficult for scholars to determine the exact count of Indians who died from disease, they have fairly accurate estimates.
Early European colonists that came to North America found a sparsely inhabited coastline which gave them opportunities to settle and succeed where others had previously failed. Since many of the pilgrims were in search of religious freedom they saw a land their god had prepared for them by wiping out the natives through pestilence and disease. The fact is that the plague of disease that wiped out more than 90% of the original inhabitants of the northern east coast was brought by European fisherman around 1617, who were fond of the cod in the Massachusetts Bay area. These fishermen would come ashore for firewood, freshwater and to kidnap the occasional native to sell into slavery, and unknowingly leave behind
Understanding the causes and effects of historical trauma is imperative to truly comprehend the current state of afflicted communities today. As historical trauma influences multiple generations, the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on the health of Native American populations is an important issue to consider and can possibly be viewed as an indication of historical trauma. ACEs are traumatic events that occur during childhood, such as abuse and neglect, and are known to have severe implications throughout an individual’s lifetime. The following review of literature explores impacts of historical trauma, the prevalence of ACEs in indigenous communities, interventions for healing, and future improvements in the field.