Native American Boarding Schools During the Westward Expansion

When the Europeans and Spaniards first “discovered” North America all was well. The Indians at first were truly intrigued with the white man as the brought all sorts of new stuff to trade. Matter a fact the first set of settlers would not been able to survive without the help of the Indians. Unfortunately, the settlers had very little respect for the land and resources. The Europeans then starting using violence to get what they wanted and as the number of settlers increased the Indians new that they were in over their heads. With all the new settlers came diseases such as small pox and measles. These diseases hurt the Indian tribes severely, and with the ignorance the settler’s wars began; the Indian Wars, the Indian Removal Act, Wounded knee, and the trail of tears are only a few of the many. The U.S. Government took it upon themselves to start relocation programs, with these programs the Indians were ripped from their homes, required to speak only the language of the settlers and robbed of their customs. The children of the tribes were taken away and sent to special schools to Americanize them and forget about their heritage. Then in the late 1800’s the government started

As the white settlers took the Native American land, they were abandoned and displaced. Which is why the United States government put the Native Americans on reservations. Native Americans had a difficult time adjusting to life on the reservations. The land wasn’t as rich as it was in the land that was taken by the white settlers. (outside info)

the white settlers forced the natives to get lost, killed them, introduced diseases to them, alcohol, drugs, etc so as to undermine their tradition and culture and hence

The Native Americans have a long history and tension with the American people. From the French and Indian war, which saw the indians pitted against the British colonists, to nineteen -twenty- four, when they finally gained citizenship, it was an uphill battle. The settlers turned Americans broke many agreements with the Natives, such as the selling of reservation land by the government or the declaration that tribes were dependent nations rather than foreign nations. In the cases presented to the Supreme Court by Native American tribes were often in favor of the white man, which disregarding the needs of the Natives.

The Westward Expansion started in the 1800s ever since then up until now Americans still have difficulty treating Native Americans the same as everyone else. The middle 1800s, Americans tortured and took everything that the Indians owned and loved, taking away their land, homes, religion, and lifestyle. Americans have forced Indians to be what they are not, they wanted them to act and be "normal" or what Americans at the time thought was normal. In the current day, Americans aren't trying to take their land away now the United States is attempting to build an oil pipeline through reservations in Dakota. There were a lot of short and long-term effects of the Westward Expansion, which were land being taken, poverty and life challenges that Indians had to face, and the government taking over.

The whites came to America and wanted all the Indians to move west. “Before these laws could be put in effect, a new wave of white settlers swept westward and formed the territories of Wisconsin and Iowa.” (Page 6) So they could live on the east side of the United States, this went on for years. “For two centuries these events were repeated again and again as the European colonists moved inland through the passes of the Alleghenies and down the westward-flowing rivers to the Great Waters (Mississippi) and then up the Great Muddy (Missouri)” (page 4). The problem was that the Indians didn’t want to move west. They wanted to stay on the land that they lived on forever, and make peace with everyone. “The five nations of the Iroquois, mightiest

For more than 300 years, since the days of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Government, an attempt of genocide of the Native American Indian has existed. From mass brutal murders and destruction by Spanish and American armies, to self-annihilation through suicide, homicide, and alcohol induced deaths brought about because of failed internal colonialism and white racial framing. Early Explores used Indigenous inhabitants upon first arriving to the America’s to survive the New World and once they adapted, internal colonialism began with attempts to convert the Indians to Christianity, repressing their values and way of life, forcing them into slavery, and nearly exterminating an entire culture from existence.

The relationship between Native Americans and the United States has always been troubled; moreover, when white settlers expanded westward, Native American’s life style was forever changed. Violence occurred when the Mormon settlers encroached onto Indian land, causing a chain of events that lead to the horrific Bear River Massacre. Along with violent interactions, the US government wanted to integrate the Indian tribes into the American way of life. One way the government tried to civilize the Indians was through boarding schools where children were forced from their homes to learn how to be a white person. Even though children were mistreated, they learned life skills in their classes and how to be independent.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus “discovered” what is known today as North America. Mistakenly, Columbus thought that he had landed in the Indies, and therefore the native peoples were called “Indians.” The New World soon became flooded with Europeans from a number of countries, and the Indians allowed them to settle on their land. Treaties and agreements were made between the settlers and the neighboring tribes in which European goods were exchanged for Indian land and assistance. The survival of these settlements could not have survived without the active support and protection of the Native Americans. However

The Native Americans also lost their old cultures throughout time. In 1860, Americans created the first boarding school for Indians. The government forced many families to put their kids into the school. At the school it was mandatory to learn english, American ways of living, religious training for Christianity, change names to American names, and wear proper clothing. Americans thought if they were taught the religious beliefs of Americans everyday, they would soon believe in Christianity and forget about their old culture. Their end goal was to completely demolish the Indian culture. One boarding school then turned to sixty schools for 6,200 Indian students all learning the same things. In order to change the kids from Indian to American,

The westward expansion was a fresh start for white emigrants, not so much for the Native Americans who were already living there. From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s the Native Americans were mistreated by the US Government by being forced from their home, from their way of living. By 1881 white emigrants killed off the majority of the buffalo simply for their hides or just for sport. Even though treaties were signed battles still broke out between white settlers and the Native Americans. Many Indian Tribes battled the US Army for control of the West.

The entire goal of the boarding school was to take a massive amount of an entire Native American generation, and change their overall outlook on life by educating them in the western way instead of allowing them to grow up in their Native households. In the end you will be left with a mass amount of civilized Native Americans, and not many of their generation will be able to keep the Native American way of life alive because they do not know much about it. This is a very effective tactic used by the settlers. It serves to kidnap an entire generation of Native Americans, and turn them into westernized peoples, who can be easily placed infiltrate a Native American community.

Native Americans refer to the group of people who are considered to have been the first dwellers of the present day United States (Beaulieu, 2013). When the European settlers first came to the United States, there were several varied groups of indigenous people. However, their number began to dwindle due to things such as wars and foreign diseases. The United States also came up with certain policies that were not very friendly to them, which led them to migrating to other areas.

Throughout history, relationships between the Native Americans and the United States have been nothing but battle torn, and unfortunately have followed a consistent path of betrayal. There is no denying the universal fact that Native Americans have been unfairly treated and portrayed throughout American history. According to American history written during and after the war the Indian Wars that occurred were very subjective, and prejudiced in its depiction of the Native Americans. For example one work, The Pioneer History of America (1883), is titled, "A popular account of Heroes and Adventurers who, by their valor and war-craft, beat back the savages from the borders of civilization and gave the American forests to the plow and the sickle."

Natives are forced to have European culture and leave their own culture to fit in with everybody else. They thought that the chances of being successful in life was to adopt Christianity and to learn English. Going to a residential school is one of the most common ways of assimilation. Natives were treated poorly that have encountered traumatic, physical and sexual abuse from the schools that were directed by churches. Before the Indian Residential Settlement Act was made, many sexual assaults were unreported. Along with abusive procedures, communications with their family and friends was strictly prohibited. During that time they were not allowed to speak their own language and practice their own culture. They barely had a chance to encounter a normal life as well as seeing their siblings that were in the same school were rare because all the activities are separated by