Native American Boundaries

Cherokee Indians have been around for many years, but when the topic of Native Americans is discussed it is only about the struggles and hardships they went through but never their actual culture of how and where they originated or how they came to be. There are many interesting things to learn about Cherokee Indians such as their heritage, religion, language, and their traditional songs, dances, and food.

There is no doubt that communities and cultures have been exposed to one another over the course of time. This interaction is known as the “middle ground” where different groups come in contact for various reasons either accidentally or purposely. This interaction and mixture of communities has the potential of creating a good or bad relationship between the two different groups, depending on the circumstances and their intentions. The reality is that there is fear towards many different communities which is mostly due to the lack of knowledge and lack of comprehension there is for these groups. Communities and cultures cross borders because they want to create a just society; we continue to live in a world full of unjust treatment, the drive to help others and fight for a fair society explains why communities and cultures cross borders. Crossing over of these communities leads to understanding and

Native Americans thrived from nature and their way of life depended on the land of the grassy Great Plains. Their life changed due to horses, and then afterward guns, being introduced to them by the Spanish; which made it easier for them to move and hunt. As settlers moved in, the Native nations were treated poorly and had little to no ability to stand up for what they believed in and how they wanted to live with all the restrictions laid upon them. The federal government created policies, such as The Concentration Policy, “relocation”, and The Dawes Severalty Act, as settlers began moving west which eventually lead to many warfares’s.

In the essay “The Meaning of Property,” C.B. Macpherson states the argument for how property is “a concept of rights (15),” not a thing that can be claimed. The Native Americans loosely used this idea of property in their lives. Their land was a recognized right by the surrounding communities and ownership rights within a territory usually meant what one had made with their own hands. The European colonists had the notion that “Indians seemed to live like paupers in a landscape of great natural wealth (Cronon 50).” Since the Indians utilize many resources from the land, and not totally dependent on farming, Colonists used this to justify taking the their land. Europeans observed how the Indians did not make a permanent, exclusive mark on the land as a “token not of their chosen way of life but of their laziness (Cronon 50).” John Winthrop claimed that the Indians didn’t actually own any land since they failed to inclose any land,“fences and livestock were thus pivotal elements in the English rationale for taking Indian lands (Cronon Fields 66).” The European way of thinking also saw property as a means of wealth, power, and social status. European treatment of nature can be reflected upon their culture. The culture they came from focused on capitalism, so they saw the new lands as a means of profit. Native American culture differed since they collected from the land what they needed. They had respect for the land and even realized the danger of over fishing salmon in the rivers. The Indians would make sure to only catch enough fish to feed themselves and then stopped fishing to let the fish go back upstream to reproduce. European culture on the other hand, depleted the natural resources they found, which could be seen through the depleted beaver population due to the high demand and profitable fur

The Cherokees used that land as the main focal point. For instance, "The land on which we stand we have received as an inheritance from our fathers, who possessed it from time immemorial, as a gift from our common Father in Heaven. We have already said, that, when the white man came to the shores of America, our ancestors were found in peaceable possession of this very land. They bequeathed it to us as their children, and we have sacredly kept it, as containing the remains of our beloved men. This right of inheritance we have never ceded, nor ever forfeited." The Cherokee insisted that they inherited this land from their ancestors; therefore, the Cherokee argued for the right to sustain their inherited lands without any conflict The Americans were so overwhelmed with the lust for gold that they ignored the most basic right of the

The native Indians surrounding New England were very closely related in culture but lacked political unity. Most of the tribes were subdivided into many bands. Each of these bands would wage wars against each other although causing few casualties the defeated were humiliated and had to pay tribute to the winner. These Indians were much less demanding from nature as they moved between locations as seasons passed. As the New England colonists saw this they appointed themselves to judge how much land they needed as they took the rest. The Indians did not understand how this working expecting it to be an agreement to share the land although shocked when they were arrested for trespassing. As the colonists kept cutting down the trees creating land

During the American Revolution, many Cherokee people were killed by American colonists. After the Americans won the war, they took control of the thirteen colonies, which included land belonging to Native Americans. Native American peoples’ land was taken from them. This caused warfare between some Northern tribes and the American colonists. To keep peace between the

The Northeastern Native Americans (also known as the Woodland Indians) had a good geography. Some of the Northeastern Native Americans lived along the atlantic coast. This was good and bad for the Native Americans. This was good, because of the water source they could use for food and trading. It was not so good, because they had contact with the Europeans. That lead to friendships, alliances forged, land deals struck, treaties were signed, and then conflict arose. The atlantic coast will be located on our exhibit behind the mountains and connected to the river/ stream. While having a good atlantic coast as a water source, the Native Americans of the Northeast also had the Gulf of Mexico, which

It isn't unheard for powerful empires to obliterate obstacles in the path of expansion. Mankind is never satiated with their appetite for expansion and growth, never satisfied with what they currently possess, always wanting what the people next door have. This has led to the demise of many extraordinary leaders, armies and nations like the Romans, Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte. But still, pioneers have and probably will always push forward to foreign lands, disregarding everything currently inhabiting it. Co-existing with another race or group of people has proven difficult time and time again to last for long without clashing. For these reasons, I am not the slightest bit surprised the United States expanded Westward on the large semi-barren frontier, even though Native Americans had lived there

Land was a common resource village leaders could assign to families to live on but not to own. Indians believed that the land was common to everyone and can’t be sold because it doesn’t belong to anyone. Black Hawk, a leader of the Sauk Tribe, said, “The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon and cultivate as far as necessary for their subsistence, and so long as they occupy and cultivate it they have the right to the soil”.

When people think about the word ‘border’ or ‘boundary’ they tend to only think about the physical ones. However, there are many different borders and boundaries that one can face. Theo and Kee, from Children of Men, and Melanie, from Three Miles, encounter different types of borders and barriers throughout their journeys. Theo, Kee, and Melanie face racial, economic, and mental borders. Theo and Kee are able to transcend all the borders they are faced with.

When thousands of new and strange people came pouring in from on boats, Native Americans thought little of it. Bringing in foreign diseases, destructive animals, and powerful weapons was only the beginning of Native American suffering. Even as immigrants were strongly disturbing their way of life, they helped the strangers survive through freezing winters and famine. As the invaders prospered, they began moving in all directions, conquering land as they travelled. All throughout this wide expansion, skirmishes between the settlers and the Native Americans began to become more and more evident. Fighting back against the immigrants was pointless and it only left the Native Americans with lost people as well as lost land. Settlers had more firepower, more of everything that was all but unknown to the Native Americans at the time. As the settlers pushed, the Native Americans had nothing else to but move one step ahead of the permanent tourists. Finally, once the new residents of almost all of North America were happy, they began to, which can’t be said better in any other words, “feel

In the western United States between the 1860’s and 1900’s, there was a conflict of who owned what land. The West was bought by Thomas Jefferson, whose previous owner was France. The land included states from Montana to Louisiana, excluding Texas. Essentially everything in the middle of the United States. In this land purchased by Jefferson, many Native American tribes lived within their own villages. This caused problems because American settlers wanted to be able to have their own privately owned land in the West; however Native Americans didn’t want to lose the land they had already claimed.

The political boundaries existing between states hinder the co-existence of humanity in several ways. These borders exist due to several reasons such as political and economic segregation. The increase in human interaction across the world necessitates setting of policies or frameworks that enable efficient interaction of humanity. The boundaries created by political powers are a major hindrance to the progress of humanity as one as they exist to serve certain specific quarters of the population. Despite these boundaries, several efforts have been made to ensure people interact well across borders. Some of the efforts that have been made include the creation of trade blocs and economic blocs that facilitate the efficient movement of people,

Borders are in our everyday lives. Each one of them affects different cultures, politics, and even just personal space. As you’re growing up, your experiences shape on to the borders that you end up creating to fit your needs of being comfortable with what goes on around you. While Borders are a good form of protection they are also a form of restriction. They limit the way we interact with the world around us and create emotional borders in our life that are incredibly hard to take down.