Murde Murder State Summary

Trigger found that the Native Americans’ reaction to the Europeans is mostly affected by rational points. The Indian “...beliefs should never be underestimated, in the long run a rationalist and materialist analysis of cultural interaction seems to explain far more about what happened to native people following European

This section highlights that history has created a false narrative depicting the natives as a victimized people, which they were to some extent but only in the fashion that they did not possess the same technology for warfare, immunity of communal diseases transmitted, and they were not anticipating combat. All other factors considered, the natives stood to be a potential threat. In regards to knowledge obtained by Spaniards prior to arrival and knowledge gained from observation, it would be remiss had they not prepared for battle. This argument is not to be misconstrued in approving their actions; I do recognize colonization as an evil for both the reasons employed and its damaging effects, but rather to change the narrative surrounding that of the native people. While they did experience a tragedy, I feel that it is erroneous to write them into history as being incompetent resulting from their

“My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain...There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory.” (Chief Seattle, Chief Seattle’s Speech). Lethal Encounters Englishmen and Indians in Colonial Virginia by Alfred Cave is a book that extensively describe Britain’s and Spain’s initial colonization of America. The book mainly focuses on the facts and primary entries of Native Americans and pioneers, and their initial thoughts thoughts about each other. Albert Caves book, Lethal Encounters Englishmen and Indians in Colonial Virginia, discussed many issues between those indigenous to America and the pioneers, including; racism, imperialism, culture clash, religion, and war.

A Constant attitude towards indians had been up held by most white westerners, And they had a view that had stuck around throughout the ages. During the eighteenth century, many white americans had considered the indians as "noble savages"; people without real civilizations but people who had an inherented dignity that made civilization possible amongst them. In the begining decades of the nineteenth century this vaguely paternalistic attitude had given way to a more hostile one, mostly among whites in the western states and territories. They

Upon Columbus’s arrival, approximately 30 million Native Americans populated North America. Since then, 90 to 95% have been wiped out. Throughout the 1700’s, a number of wars broke out between Native Americans and whites. A population of 200 million people inhabiting the Americas found themselves subject to the will of foreigners who happened to have relatively lighter skin tones than them. The barbaric subjugation of indigenous peoples by whites is illustrative of the impact

Manifest Destiny, American Exceptionalism, Superiority… these are the ideas that supposedly justified the inhumanity of Americans during the colonization period. These ill-conceived and dangerous notions led early settlers to believe that they held the right and duty to claim and cross the new world. Any measures required to achieve this process were seen as necessary and just, even if it meant taking the lives and land of American Indians. America, the nation that prides itself on “liberty and justice for all,” began its history with the genocide of the American Indian culture and population, through the means of American Indian Boarding Schools. These schools were established with the goal to eliminate the “Indian problem” in America by assimilating

“How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white people?” said by the Seneca Chief, Red Jacket. The faith in the colonist was lost, but what occurred between these groups that led to their differences? The history between the early Europeans and the Native Americans had different conflicts as in religion, manners, way of life, and inequality.

One of the many tendencies of the White European system of Westward Expansion is a blindness to recognize the history and advancements of civilization achieved in the West prior to White European arrival. Within the passage “The American West and the Burden of Belief,” Momaday argues that White Europeans demonstrate unaccepting and naive attitudes towards Native culture and their role in society. Momaday’s argument is strengthened when describing an ex-cavalry leader in the Civil War: George Armstrong Custer. Momaday suggests, “George Armstrong Custer could see and articulate the beauty of the plains, but he could not see the people who inhabited them. Or he could see them only as enemies, impediments to the glory for which he hungered. He

From a European stand point, altering the lives of the Native Americans was a perfectly justifiable action. They were uncivilized, and thus must be welcoming of their attempts to convert them to a more advanced manner of living. At the same time, however, they must have notions of owning land, of claiming sections of the Earth as their own, of trade and association of certain objects with high value. This, however, was a paradoxical viewpoint. The main problem that resulted from the intermixing of European and Native American populations was a misunderstanding of what each culture maintained as important within their lives. To the natives, mourning wars, gods who were part of the Earth itself, sacrifices, and any other number of various traditions were natural to who they were. The Europeans, in contrast, valued war as a means of gaining territory, not people; they often were monotheistic, with odd customs all their own, such as self-torture or confession. The differences between the two cultures could have been overcome, perhaps, if there had been some attempt to understand one another’s values. However, as evidenced, Europeans did not attempt to understand without an ultimate aspiration to change.

New land meant new opportunity for the Europeans, but they soon discovered that they were not alone in the new world. The native inhabitants of what is now the modern day Americas had no idea what to expect from these strange people, but this marked the beginning of the rocky relationship between the Native Americans and the European explorers; This would have a big impact on the Native American’s way of life. The Native Americans are often generalized and put into one big group, but this could not be more wrong; each tribe had their own religions, and customs. Their diverse cultures are often overlooked in favor of the stereotypes that are usually placed on them.

The Europeans looked down on the Native American culture because of the differences between their lifestyles. They also present them as people with no morals because the Native Americans were not Christians like they were. The word “savage”, one of the most popular terms used to stereotype Indians, was popularized by these seventeenth century settlers. This became the bases of people’s false assumptions about the Native American culture. America’s growing population increased the labels that Native Americans still deal with today.

Howard explains white European Americans role in society and their effects on other cultures. He explains, “the cultural genocide perpetrated against American Indians, the enslavement of African peoples, the exploitation and discrimination against Mexicans and Asians as sources of cheap labor-on such acts of inhumanity rests much of the success of the European enterprise in America,” (Howard, 1994, p. 3). He relates the discrimination of these cultures to the white privilege that most European Americans aren’t aware that they

Unfortunately, for Native Americans their experience since initial contact with White Europeans has been a constant struggle. The very existence of Native American’s culture, religion, language, and land, and their form of political organizations have been threatened since the White Europeans began colonization in the regions indigenous to the Native Americans. Evidently, the White European’s misunderstanding of the American Indian has been a motivating factor in the poor treatment administered towards them. Not to mention, the various tribes had warfare amongst themselves, which perhaps gave the Europeans a reason to believe they were violent people and ignore any feeling of guilt for partaking in warfare with them as well. Upon arrival,

A brief comparison of various encounters between several Native American nations and European settlers of various periods will demonstrate the series of fundamental factors that had an impact of the relationships between the various groups. There was however, one universal characteristic among the Europeans which was that "all Europeans of whatever social origin considered themselves superior to the Native Americans" and this was reflected in their

If Native Americans were the savages, what were we (or most early Americans)? Were we the victims of the people whose land we chose to take? Weren’t we the ones to slaughter and maim thousands, if not millions of men, women, and children? Not only did we take their sacred land, but also we took every piece of pride they had and stomped on it, watching them leave down a trail of tears. One such event that escalated into a battle to the death was also known as the “Fort Mims Massacre.” The Fort Mims Massacre exemplifies the patterns of promises, betrayals, and the representation of the land that characterized early relations between the U.S. and Native Americans.