This week will explore the relationship between Indian country and the early American republic. Topics include Lewis and Clark, Andrew Jackson, Indian removals, and the Trail of Tears.
Points of Entry:
Lewis and Clark Expedition and Early Expansion:
Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:
List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.
What are some of the arguments?
How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?
What are some of the arguments?
“Another Indian woman who bore herself with regal bearing was the Osage wife of American Fur Company trader Giraud. Men who married such women were marrying up, rather than down, in the social scale.”pg 220. It was important for men to marry a women who had a high ranking because they would marry into that high ranking. They would now have more means to gain wealth in trade,
ReplyDelete“Those who could afford it provided seminary education for female children, promoting marriages with either white men or their mixed-blood peers. Boys’ bilingualism and occupational continuity with fathers encouraged them to marry full-bloods or mixed-bloods.”pg 224. It appears that for the majority, mixed and full-blood women were highly valuable during this period. Men were concerned with marriage status and how it was going to affect their trade so they married women who could provide for them. Intermarriages helped trade. If native cultures were suffering and losing people then why would they not want to have native women marry native men? Was trade the only reason for the marriages between native women and white men?
"Narragansett habits of travel and long-term visiting clashed with European concepts of "belonging" to a particular place." pg 194
ReplyDeleteThe contrasting styles of inhabitance by Native Americans and the Anglo/American settlers sadly led to the Narragansett to be purged from the Rhode Island history books and later led to greater conflict.
"As many Revolutionary War Veterans, often illiterate, signed away their land grants for a pittance to more powerful and prosperous citizens of the new nation, so too Indian veterans, who had fought to win the United States independence often found themselves reduced to selling off land simply to survive." pg 178
This was the sad beginning of the Indian's prominence declining in American history that led to more and more Native American land grabs further and further West.
"Columbus and those who followed him are responsible for genocide, slavery, colonialism, cultural plunder and environment destruction." pg. 22
ReplyDeletewhen you really begin to think about genocide you have to think about the actual definition, as defined by webster ": the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group" you have to think about the definition meaning with intent, then you must really think about whether the Europeans has deliberately wanted to kill, or hurt the natives.
"The boarding school concept was imply another way for the federal government to deal with what its officials always called the "indian problem" [...] this was true for most tribes, not just the cherokees pg. 7
In this passage you begin to see the cruel things the europeans would do to the natives (cherokees) in effort to try to colonize them or to get ride of the indian, and leave the gentlemen and ladies in them.
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ReplyDelete“…it is apparent they reflect a degree of paternalism that encouraged cultural genocide for native peoples.” p.54 This goes back to domestic dependent nations and the film clip of the Cherokees trying to assimilate into American culture in order to preserve their own society. Indian genocide does not necessarily have to do with killing off the actual people, but instead by forcing Indians such as the Cherokee, to stop practicing their beliefs and become “civilized” Americans.
ReplyDelete“Whether as slaves or as runaways, blacks who interacted closely with Indians during the early nineteenth century contributed to the formation of multiracial families and even of scattered communities across the South.” p. 212 As more and more white settlers invaded Indian country in the South, they also brought with them their black slaves. Slaves took advantage of the situation by running away into Indian country creating further disputes among white American settlers and the Indian nations.
"What are humanity and justice in reference to this unfortunate race? Are these found to lie in a policy that would leave them to linger out a wretched and degraded existence...if continued in, they must perish?" (Hurtado 203). An Indian Commissioner wrote these words in order to express his dissatisfaction for Indians. Americans separated the idea that Indians are human beings. Indians are savages that need to be told what to do in order for them to survive, only on the good graces of Americans.
ReplyDelete"The worst part of our holocaust was that it also meant the continued loss of tribal knowledge and traditions" (Mankiller 47). Mankiller expresses that the true victim of the forced removal of the Cherokee is culture. Culture is something that identifies a society and sets it apart from others. The forced removal destroyed part of Cherokee culture and so part of their identity died also. This seemed only easier for Americans to call Indians savages.
"The upmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indian, Their lands and property shall never be taken from them with out their consent." (Hurtado pg200)
ReplyDelete"with one foot he pushed the red man over the Oconne[river] and with the other he trampled the graves of his fathers" (Hurtado pg 204)
The first quote comes directly from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. It is just mind blowing how the federal government can just go back on their legal documents and relocate whole tribes. The second quote describes exactly how it was done by pushing the Indians further and further west.
"The voices of our grandmothers are silenced by most of the written history of our people" (Mankiller 20) I found this quote very interesting because it is indicating that the written history of Native Americans by white has il-legitmize the authenticity of Native oral history. Most importantly it is saying that the written history of Natives is no better than the oral history.
ReplyDelete"It is also importtant that we never forget what happened to our people in the Trail of Tears. It was indeed our halocaust" (Mankiller 49). This quote is the displaying the negative affects that jacksonian polcies. It shows the emocional detachment that was felt by the Native Americans when they were forced to live their origin lands and move into a territory foreign to them. This act stripped the cherokees from their sovereign identity as well due to the notion that were are being displaced from their land of origin and are being set for a future of political,economic, and social turbulence.
"Although it is so crucial for us to focus on the good things--our tenacity, our language and culture, the revitalization of our tribal communities--it is also important that we never forget what happened to our people on the Trail of Tears" (Mankiller 49).
ReplyDeleteThis quote shows that the past is inherently tied to the present. For Cherokee people the Trail of Tears was a devastating event that not only resulted in the removal of a people from their home, but also resulted in a loss of some cultural aspects of Cherokee society. The Trail of Tears would be one of many attempts the U.S. has made to eliminate the "Indian problem." Whether it be forced removal, forced assimilation, or termination, the Cherokee have been subjected by attempts to weaken their presence. Even though the Cherokee have experienced these injustices, they are still present today.
"Written records of tribal people have been taken from the notes and journals of diplomats, missionaries, explorers and soldiers--all men. They had a tendency to record observations of tribal women through their relationships to men."
This shows the limits of the written record. The written record has only shown a limited view of Native American women and their history. I see this book as a whole as a response to this issue. Mankiller is offering Cherokee history through the female perspective. This is reminds me of the discussion we had in class about written record and who controls the history. This book is an example of the Cherokee, and women reclaiming their history.
" Native Americans regard their names not as mere labels, but as essential parts of their personalities (Mankiller pg 3)."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is significant to me because it indicates how vital their name is to them in their own tongue in their own language. When you translate that to English you take away part of their identity.
" The names by which many tribes are known today were given to them by white explorers and trappers (Mankiller pg 17)."
The very name in which we refer to Native American people is purely false according to this quote. We gave them that name and thus we are imposing are will upon their culture. We take something away from them.
"That is why I thought it was very sad, in 1992, when so many people wished to celerate the five hundreth anniversary anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas. There were festivals, parades, seminars, motion pictures, and many attempts to summarize the monumental changes North America has undergone since 1492."
ReplyDelete(21) When I read this I thought of the videos we watched in class about the opposing views about Columbus Day. Whether or not it should be celebrated.
"It was not a friendly removal. It was ugly and unwarranted. For too many Cherokees. it was deadly. The words part of our holocaust was that it also ment the continued loss of tribal knowledge and traditions." (47)
This related to the concept of how the colonists began to strip the Native American communities of their culture and began to do so with the Trail of Tears. We also have been discussing the concept of oral history. If the knowledge was lost during this time, how were the history and traditions passed down orally?