Process Of Indian Assimilation

With waves of the American population moving westward, government attempted to assimilate, or integrate, Native Americans into American society. Their goal was for Native Americans to live and behave like white Americans, and for them “to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community” (Doc 9). Children were sent to boarding schools where they were given new clothes and haircuts, and taught English, Christianity, and American ways of life (Doc 13). While many Americans believed this would be good for the Native Americans, it effectively destroyed their culture and identity. By forcing them to learn English, they were unable to communicate the concepts, beliefs, and ideas their languages were based on. Americans did not consider the fact that English could not substitute for Native languages, because they are based on different realities, histories, and cultures (Doc 3). Assimilation turned the lives of Native Americans upside-down, forcing them to give up ideas and beliefs they had been practicing their whole lives, without any say. Slowly, Native American culture and lifestyle faded until it was nearly

For almost as long as European settlers have interacted with the native peoples of the Americas, they have had a notion: what many call ‘assimilation’. To Europeans, assimilation of native peoples meant for their culture, which they believed to be superior, to be accepted over time by the natives. And as they grew more and more European in language, religion, customs, organization, morals, and behavior, they would slowly shed off all of their old culture which the European culture would be replacing. The Europeans believed this process was for the best for the natives and that they would be happier living ‘civilized’ lives as opposed to practicing their own traditions.

During America’s Gilded Age, a drastic change in the west transpired. While many Native Americans had already endured profound changes, their freedom was about to become nearly extinct. It was a time in which they called the Second Industrial Revolution. There was an ample amount of natural resources and a development in the market for manufactured goods. Railroad companies flourished and alas, Indian removal was imperative in obtaining land for laborers and miners (Foner, Give Me Liberty!, p.477). As Americans wanted to take their land, they also wanted to strip Native Americans of their culture. The federal government strived in trying to civilize them, so The Bureau of Indian Affairs created boarding schools all over the west in the 1870s. These schools were for Native American children of all ages. The goal was complete “assimilation” (Mabalon, 9/9/15). The children were forced to dress differently, they gained new names, and they were isolated from any cultural influence. It was as though they were forced to give up tradition. It caused them to start having hatred towards their culture and to be ashamed of themselves. Native Americans lost their values and their freedom almost completely. They were essentially being taught how to be white capitalists. (Mabalon, 9/9/15). It wasn’t until after a long, painful struggle and resistance that they finally gained citizenship for all in 1924. Even then, there was still a great way to go until the Native Americans were able to

Native Americans have had a long history of resistance to the social and cultural assimilation into white culture. By employing various creative strategies, Native Americans have attempted to cope with the changes stemming from the European colonial movement into the Americas. There are fundamental differences in world views and cultural and social orders between Indians and Europeans, which contributed to conservatism in Native American cultures. In this paper, two aspects of such cultural and institutional differences of Native American societies will be examined: holistic Native American beliefs versus dualistic world views and harmony versus domination. These two aspects are important in terms of explaining changes (or lack thereof) in

You made a good post. I agree with you that the House concurrent resolution 108 was the efforts of assimilation and laid the foundation for the termination. I think the losses of the Indians from this act were more than the gains. Many of their tribal rights were removed and their former land was not controlled by themselves. Under the Public Law in 1953, the federal government could lend the hand of the Indians to control over these tribes, which reduced their energy spending on the tribal issues. It was negative for the Indians because the federal government still tried to assimilate the Indians and force them to change their lifestyles.

There was also another good things about the forced assimilation they could help each other in a more elaborate way than before. During WWII (World War II) Indian men and women served in a manner that they would be recognized by government leaders (Assimilation). Pointed out in the text 350,000 Native Americans lived in the USA in 1941, and 25,000 served in the armed forces (Assimilation). About 40,000 Native Americans worked in some sort of war related job (Assimilation). This involved permanent move to the cities and the will, to assimilate to white culture (Assimilation). Another difficulty that was help was that Mirabella was acting like a wolf and disturbing all of the other girls that where doing well with their rehabilitation (St. Lucy’s).

Many of the Native Americans were driven out of their homes and were forced to colonize with the people of the United States. Many of their children were sent to missionary schools to incorporate the beliefs of the white culture and drive out the traditions of the Native Americans (Zitkala-Sa). Zitkala-Sa used “The School Days of an Indian Girl” to explain her experiences of those schools.

In 1756, the European groups such as Britain decided to colonize North America, resulting in multiple legacies for the First Nation groups who occupied these areas. As the Europeans started to imperialize and colonize Canada in order to expand globalization, they believed their culture was superior to the First Nations, and by having a Eurocentric worldview, this resulted in the European empires deciding to assimilate the Aboriginal groups with the use of The Indian Act and residential schools. The Indian Act was established in 1876, the purpose of the act was to encourage assimilation. It encouraged assimilation by controlling the First Nations, the government controlled them by defining if they were a status Indian or not. Another action the act took to assimilate the Aboriginal groups trying to abolish their culture by banning their cultural practices. Lastly the act banned them from pursuing land in 1927, without consent from those on the Indian Affairs. Not only did the government use the Indian Act to assimilate the First Nations, they also used residential schools to help. Aboriginal children were forced and or taken away to attend these schools in the 1880s. The residential schools used abuse to make sure the children wouldn't follow their traditional ways, this resulted in them losing their history, language, and culture. By using paternalistic ways to assimilate, it created cultural erosion for the Aboriginal groups, leading to the loss of their culture. As years went on, it created a cycle of problems towards them, as they were not able to pass on their traditional culture to the next generation, thus making them now have to revitalize their culture to help preserve and affirm their culture again. With their Eurocentric views and wanting to expand their resources, the Europeans left their mark on Canada

Native Americans are known to be the first inhabitants of the territory which is now known to be North America and as a result the United States of America. They fought through treacherous battles and countless endeavors to be able to live in their homes only to be relocated by American settlements. Centuries past, yet the Native American people still stay loyal to their land. From aggressive resettlements to forced cultural assimilation, they gave up everything they had to stay alive. In modern times, the Native American people have sought agreements and were granted trade-offs in respect to previous events that shocked their ancestors. Of these including but not limited to, territorial reassignments, healthcare coverage, and other governmental

To begin with, Education was the key to becoming civilized. (“Indian Country Diary. Assimilation, Relocation, Genocide) If the Indians wanted to become civilized, then they should become educated. With this in mind, most Indians got separated from their siblings when they were put in schools or anywhere else they were put.(Unseen Tears) For example, the kids would all be sent away, but they would be sent to different places and would not be able to them for a long while. All things considered, for a tribe to become dominant in an American Culture they must become civilized. (“Indian Country Diary. Assimilation, Relocation, Genocide”) Most Indians wanted to become civilized to the American Culture, so they would have to have to become more sociable. To sum all this up, occasionally Society wants people to be able to communicate better with their cultures and different cultures

There alot of romanticized assumptions on this thread. There is no conclusive evidence that the colonists assimilated with the Native tribes. This evidence along with oral history is very problematic. First one would have to re examine known history as well as look through the understanding of both the tribes and the colonists.

In 1830, Jackson Andrew signed the Indian Exclusion Act, making it as a law. This directly forced the Indians to migrate to the West more than 45000 people. In this long westward journey, nearly 1/4 of the Indians in the cold, hunger and disease, and ultimately lost their lives. So the Indians to a West Road named " Trail of Tear ". The minority of Indians who want to stay in the original place of residence is the price of being assimilated, which means that they need to completely deny their own culture, likes the life of a white man.

After the Indians were subdued and disabled militarily, the Government and the Church began to assimilate Indians in the Judeo-Christian culture. They robbed the parents of their children, dumping the children into white adoptive families or boarding schools, forcing them to dress and behave in white ways, forbidding them to speak their native languages, and pressuring them to relinquish their native religions. As a result, many young Indians were cut off from their traditional culture and virtually lost. They are deceived into believing that the Indians are inferior and dying out. They are also abused due to the conception that they are inferior.

According to Mudrooroo, “Our spirituality is an oneness and an interconnectedness with all that lives and breathes, even with all that does not live or breathe.” His words suggests that, Indigenous Australians have an intrinsic respect for the land and the living things around them, which is profound within their culture and heritage of the Aboriginals. The poem “Assimilation – No!”, by Oodgeroo Noonucal and the film, “The Sapphires” directed by Wayne Blair explores these ideas and concepts in the respective texts to convey a message, that everything in this world must be reticular/interconnected and should have a feeling of oneness within them, even though sometimes it will not transpire very often.

Acculturation is the process of adaptation migrants may undergo upon the relocation to a new society. This paper studies the influence of contact time on the process of acculturation. This is an important subject because in today’s world immigration is a common occurrence, since people migrate for employment, family and a variety of other reasons. Therefore it is essential to understand the elements that help or hinder an immigrant’s acculturation to their new environment. If it is in fact possible to discover these factors, it may even be possible to help make the process of acculturation easier and allow immigrants to transition smoothly into their new lives.