Native Americans' Civil Rights Struggle Essay

Native Americans, or Indians, as they were mistakenly called, have been the “pathetic footnotes to the main course of American history” (Axtell 981). But James Axtell, the author of Colonial America without the Indians: Counterfactual Reflections, would beg to differ. He says that instead, Indians played a key role in making America great. James Murray gives another term to describe America’s greatness: America’s “exceptionalism.” Throughout his article Axtell makes many points as to why Indians played a vital role in “American Exceptionalism”. He even says that America wouldn’t have been colonized nearly as soon if the Indians were gone, because Columbus would know he was not in the Indies and move on. So because they simply existed in the first place, Axtell says they were significant in the history of our country. Furthermore, he says Indians specifically played a vital role in the exceptionality of America’s early economy, culture, and historical events and places.

From its birth, America was a place of inequality and privilege. Since Columbus 's arrival and up until present day, Native American tribes have been victim of white men 's persecution and tyranny. This was first expressed in the 1800’s, when Native Americans were driven off their land and forced to embark on the Trail of Tears, and again during the Western American- Indian War where white Americans massacred millions of Native Americans in hatred. Today, much of the Indian Territory that was once a refuge for Native Americans has since been taken over by white men, and the major tribes that once called these reservations home are all but gone. These events show the discrimination and oppression the Native Americans faced. They were, and continue to be, pushed onto reservations,

One of the most celebrated protests happened February 1973 at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. This was the site of the 1890 massacre of the Sioux Indians murdered in cold blood by American federal troops. AIM occupied and seized the town of Wounded Knee for about two months, demanding changes in their administration and asking the government to honor their treaty obligations that were said to be forgotten. Only one Indian was killed during this protest and another one wounded. The Indian civil rights movement, like most other civil rights movements of their times did not win full justice and equality for their people. The principal goal to some Native Americans was to defend, and protect their rights as Native Americans. As to other Native Americans it was equality. Native Americans wanted to win a place in society as an equal to all groups that made up Americans. However, there is no single Indian culture or tradition in America, so the movement to unite all Native American tribes failed. The Indian civil rights movement, for all the limitations it had endured, did accomplish winning a series of brand new legal rights and protections, which gave them a much stronger position in the twentieth century. (Brinkley, 2012 page

Native Americans are a central pillar in the history of Texas. Texas is one of the most critical states to them. Their story revolves around the exploitation of the natural resources in their places of origin, and it shapes their interactions with the European colonialists and subsequent governments. The acquisition of the Indian lands by the American colonial government through treaties was the first type of contact that the Indian communities had with the government. The primary treatment of Native Americans by their government subjected them to duress, pressures, undue influence, and policies that produced uncertainty, despair, and frustration.

Native Americans have existed in the different regions-the plains, mountains, marshes- of the North American continent- long before the United States existed. Yet, most were not treated with the respect and dignity that the white American settlers were given. Viewed as outlandish and savage by white settlers, series of negotiations to “correct” the Indian way of life were implemented- through forced relocation, war, and assimilation into white culture. Those who stood up against the American government were viewed as beacons of hope by their fellow Native Americans. Many Native American traditions still exist today, but unfortunately most of them have been lost along with their people.

“Native Americans have faced centuries of atrocities to their people, their land, and their culture - all under various presidents who took an oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” (Markwayne Mullin). Native Americans have been living a hard life ever since Columbus arrived in North America but, we need to change that. Native American have been living here before any of us, and we’re just living in their land. Native Americans have struggled since white people first arrived in North America. Some contemporary issues Native Americans face are their ability to prosecute crimes such as rapes against their community, as well as land rights, and the ability to be recognized by the government. It is important that we, as a country, address these issues.

The intervention of the American Indian Movement (AIM) at Wounded Knee (February 1973 till May 1973) played an important role for the people at the Pine Ridge reservation and was extremely significant for the Indian country and the course of the Red Power movement. AIM supported the Oglala tribe and the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) in their fight against the corrupt tribal government under the leadership of Richard Wilson and its Guardians of Oglala Nation (GOONS). AIM affected every party involved in a different way and finally, Wounded Knee created a watershed in Indian activism, by helping to give the American Indians a voice through national and international media attention.

On the 12th of October in the year 1492 Christopher Columbus came to America or “the new world” and changed the lives of Native Americans forever. After his discovery Native Americans later were forced to convert to Christianity, weren’t aloud to speak their language, practice their tribal practices, and their land was taken. Some people believe that Native Americans should stop complaining, and live like everyone else. That everyone just needs to be treated equally, that we shouldn’t have reserved land for ourselves, or be able to govern ourselves. But Ii believe we should be able to have the rights we do, and the land we do, and we should also be able to claim our land back. I don’t think it’s fair that we had to be placed on reservations, put in boarding schools, and have our sacred lands and waters taken away from us.

In conclusion the oppression of Native Americans is an often overlooked subject. It's important to learn about this and be aware of it because many Native Americans still live on reservations. Their oppression has not yet dissipated completely and not until recently, as recently as 1962, were they allowed to vote in every state. So we must be well informed in order to continue to dissipate Native American oppression and try to correct the mistakes of the

People have been living in the Americas for thousands of years. Only fairly recently, the past few hundred years, have foreigners begun to arrive and drastically disrupt the way of life of the aboriginal population. The situation has become so severe that a population that was one believed to be numbered in the millions, was at one point reduced to as few as 220,000 in 1910, and entire tribes have been either irretrievably warped or have disappeared altogether. While Native American Indians have almost completely recovered population-wise, they will never catch up to the rest of the world, and their culture can never fully recuperate. At the time the United States was settled by Europeans, it was abundantly populated by dozens of

The history between Native Americans and Americans is harsh. Native Americans have been pushed off of their land by Americans and put into smaller reservations. The united states have enforced a number of treaties trying to better the relationship but it has oppressed Natives. Recently the united states were plaining to build an oil pipeline that would run through native land and the native Americans did not want the pipeline to be built. So this created more tension between the two.

The Native American’s were the first known settlers in North America, ten thousand years before Columbus came to the continent. Their origins completely unclear, anthropologists believe there were three to five million Native Americans in North America in the year 1492 (Hoxie and Iverson, 1997). As early as the Revolutionary War in 1775, European settlers started taking note of the Native Americans. Unfortunately, the Native American population plunged significantly in the first decades after their first contact with Europeans. Native Americans were now unprotected and exposed to deadly diseases like smallpox, influenza, and measles which did not previously exist in their society (North American Natives, 2016).

Shortly, after fulfilling local obligations the AIM began to address the state and national arenas. Indian youth from colleges, reservations and urban centers began to speak out against treatments they were receiving, while advocating self-government and autonomy. The AIM focus took a shift from socioeconomic discrimination against Indians towards the government's policies and programs. This identity based movement began to receive extreme support from returning Native American Vietnam veterans. "Why was I fighting to uphold a U.S. treaty commitment halfway around the world when the United States was violating its treaty commitments to my own people and about 300 other Indian Nations?" asked one Creek-Cherokee veteran. "I was fighting the wrong people, pure and simple" (Calloway 437). The ethically comprised members of the AIM started to raise their concerns through radical events to attract public and governmental action on their behalf.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 50's and 60's was arguably one of the most formative and influential periods in American history. Hundreds of thousands of civil rights activists utilized non violent resistance and civil disobedience to revolt against racial segregation and discrimination. The Civil Rights Movement began in the southern states but quickly rose to national prominence. It is of popular belief that the civil rights movement was organized by small groups of people, with notable leaders like—Martin Luther King, Jr, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, and even John F. Kennedy—driving the ship. That is partly correct. The Civil Rights Movement, in its truest form, was hundreds of thousands of people organizing events and protests,

The American declaration of independence stated, that: “All men are created equal”. But in the 19th century only whites were born with equal opportunities. Africans were imported as slaves and had to work on the fields of the whites. Until 1865 the Negroes were treated and looked at as something lower than human. They were compared to apes, and therefore just owned the same rights as animals. They were raised believing that whites were superior. It took them years to realize that they have to stand up for their rights. The uprising turned into a brutal civil war.