Why The Crow Is Black

The Europeans were the first in the United States to express their hatred and racist behavior toward the Native Americans once they settled onto U.S. soil in 1609. Their actions and behavior follows the conflict perspective, considering the elite (Europeans) did everything in their power to dominate the weak and powerless (Native Americans), thus denying the Native American of any resources found in the United States. Even then, the

Natives were humiliated and dehumanized. Spaniards did not see the huge genocide that was going on , they just saw the land they was stealing from the natives and the money they were getting out of it. Time past and more and more settled in what now is called the United States. The Englishmen have settled near the east coast when coming to the Americas. English settlements kept growing so they needed to wipe out the natives out to have the land. “Not able to enslave the Indians, and not able to live with them, the English decided to exterminate them” (page, 19). The Indians learned that Europeans were and will always be stronger than them. They learned that European weapons will always be more powerful then whatever they made. Europeans had guns, Indians had spares. Europeans were devious and trick Indians to turn to each other. Tribes were tricked by these masterminds and started conflicted with each other and battles. The Europeans had mass murdered the native Americans with no sympathy. The native Americans could not do anything about it so they had to listen to the European due to the fact they were more powerful. As for the Englishmen they used any type of excuse to get into war. Europeans called native Americans Indians because when Columbus arrived in America he believed that he was in India so he thought they were Indians, its in politically incorrect but calling them Indians is okay because they truly traveled from Asia to America

Another reason the relationship between the Natives and the British were not as good, was those coming over for religious freedom. For instance, the Puritans did not have a strong relationship between the Natives. Puritanism was a type of Christianity and they believed there was only one God. On the other hand, the Native Americans believed differently. They believed that everyone was equal. The Puritans put their faith above everything while the Natives had actions, like dancing and rituals. Also, the Puritans believed in selling land while Natives did not. As one can assume that would not settle for a healthy relationship. The Puritans treated the Natives with disrespect due to the fact they had different beliefs. As Document 1 states, years later, the Indian religion would convert to Christianity. The Quakers also came over to the “New World” for religious freedom. The way the British treated the Natives is similar to the way the Nazis treated the Jews. The Jews and the natives were both looked down upon for a certain amount of time. The two groups’ social rank was at the bottom, based on their stance on their religion. Both groups were also murdered for their beliefs. The relationship between Natives and Quakers was different than the relationship of the Puritans and Natives. Very soon, the Quakers began to realize that their actions toward the

The arrival of Europeans in America greatly disrupted the life of the Natives. The natives had their own culture in America with their own special beliefs. When Europeans arrived they tried to alter the way Native Americans lived their lives to resemble their way of living. The Natives did not respect this because they had previously built a lifestyle in America that they wish not to be transformed. The two cultures had different opinions about government, religion, land, and society. Due to the many differences between the Native and European people, it was unfeasible that there would be no conflicts between them.

Much of European criticism of Native American was based on differences in religion, land use, and gender relations. Most Europeans reasoned that Indians needed to be converted to the “true religion” of Christianity (Give Me Liberty, 11). In fact, Verrazano concluded that the Indians had “no religion or laws” (Voices of Freedom, 10). The Europeans did not understand the Indians’ use of the land and thus justified overtaking it, reasoning that they did not truly “use” it. Some Europeans criticized gender relations, claiming that women lacked freedom due to their work in the fields (Give me Liberty, 12-13). Others, like Verrazano, criticized the Indians for having “absolute freedom” in which they did not abide to any laws due to ignorance (Voices of Freedom, 10). Regardless of

The first reason why Europeans shouldn’t be glorified is because they invaded and took over natives land, and took away their rights. In document one it states that the Spanish conquistadors taught the Indians how to plough the land, sow crops, harvest them, and sell them. The Spanish helped modernize their technology. The Spanish were really kind to the Indians until the 1550’s. Spain established the encomienda system in Latin America. This system allows the Spanish king to let colonist collect payments from Indians. The Spanish landowners

Incorporating animals such as crows, dogs and coyotes. All three creatures were relevant towards the primary topic question, because each animal represents a profuse amount of flashbacks. These symbols are distinctively associated with Lena’s youth and Armstrong’s tie towards the story simultaneously. Crows in many cultures including First Nation’s outlook represents the catalyst of change, self-indulgence and death. Scientifically crows are knowns to have a strong ability to adapt with the admittance that in a First Nation culture they have great respect for the bird. This can indicate that irony was implied in the story through the symbolism of the crow because throughout Lena’s past she never was able to accommodate to the society's ways. With sentences like “ She had hated the dirt road and the mud in the spring and the dust in the summer, the ruts in the fall, and the undegraded snow in the winter”. The need to use the particular word “hate” demonstrates how clearly Lena despises her background. However, with the addition of the use of past tense in the word “hate” this displays how she has grown to accept her culture; in contrast to how she did in the past. The choice she made to move from the reserve to the city was undoubtedly not a pleasant choice. Due to the fact that throughout the whole story she refers to the longing for home, and receiving judgmental attention from society

There are many reasons Native Americans and European Colonists did not have a good relationship. The reason for conflict between Colonist and Indians was due to the Colonists insatiable greed for power and land. Some of the reasons not only included physical mistreatment but also an ethical mistreatment of the Native Americans. European Colonists not only brought with them many different diseases that would later aid in the genocide of many Native American tribes, but also a mindset in which they felt superior to there Native neighbors. This feeling of superiority led to an outbreak of violence and many different civil wars. Due to the Native American and the Colonists irreconcilable

It is no secret that Europeans and Native Americans have an intricate history of conflict and cooperation. Going all the way back to the 16th century, where it all started, their encounters were mostly unpleasant. Indians were the first ones to settle in the Americas, so they had to be creative when it came to living with all this new land. Each tribe had their own culture, beliefs, religions, ideas, and ways of living which for the most part, were not in agreement with European lifestyle. In my opinion, all of those differences are what lead the Europeans and Native Americans relationship to frequent destruction.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west and found himself on the shores of a new world. His mission was to secure new land for Spain. Other European countries heard of his findings, they too crossed the ocean in hopes of securing new opportunities in this newly discovered land such as fur trading and gold mining. Little did they know that a community of indigenous people had already settled in this land thousands of years before. The Europeans decided to negotiate with the natives in order to set up their own communities in the land but the Native Americans held beliefs about society and religion that were far different from their European peers. Europeans thought the Indians to be “Noble Savages, gentle and friendly, but uncivilized, brutal, and barbaric” (citation). They could not see past their own

To better understand the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, one must closely examine the state of Europe’s economy at the time. Europe struggled with difficult conditions. This included poverty, violence and diseases like typhus, smallpox, influenza and measles. There were widespread famines which caused the prices of products to vary and made life very difficult in Europe. Street crimes and violence were prevalent in cities: “Other eruption of bizarre torture, murder, and ritual cannibalism were not uncommon”.2 Europeans

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

Distorted perspectives of european settlers led them to view Native Americans as “uncivilized savages.”As the Renaissance reached its ending term Europeans saw their religion (Christianity) as an advanced culture. When Europeans arrived to the “New World” in 1493 settlers discovered the native inhabitants were bizarre to the new settlers. Further in time Settlers observed their culture and viewed their religion as evil and thought of the Natives God as the “Devil in disguise.” As a consequence of their perspective of their religion Settlers thought of them as animals, non-human and branded the term savages to Native Americans. Since Europeans viewed their religion as advanced setters thought of the idea of emerging Native Americans into the white man culture and wanted to “civilize” the Native Americans. Native Americans didn’t like the idea of being rooted to the culture of the Europeans, so Europeans thought of the solution of moving the Native Americans west so the native could preserve their culture. Furthermore igniting the reaction of removal of Natives Americans, conversion of culture and the war between the Europeans and Native

While the Lone Eaters are going out to get revenge on the Crows, they come upon a solar eclipse. All of the warriors of the Lone Eaters start to get scared and tremble. Especially Running Fisher, he starts to break down and begins to cry. "White Man's Dog touched his shoulder, but Running Fisher didn't seem to notice. It was the first time White Man's Dog had seen real fear in the brother, and he didn't know what to do." (143; Ch. 11) The eclipse in the Native American culture means that a great leader will die or a sign of catastrophe within the tribe. Another way James Welch uses nature in a practical way in Fools Crow is by implying the buffalo in the story. Buffalo is a very important resource that the Native Americans have to survive. They use buffalo for food, shelter, trade, and clothing. When the buffalo aren't coming around, tribes don't have anything to eat for a while. White Man's Dog hunts for buffalo with Rides-at-the-door

From the time the first colonies were settled in America, relations between the Native American Indians and white settlers ranged from respected friends to hated enemies. Into the 1800s, Americans who were still in competition with the Indians for land and resources considered them to be uncivilized and barbaric. But many Americans admired the Indians and valued their contributions to American history and culture. These people hoped that with time the Indians could be peaceably assimilated into American society.