Case Study: Native Americans and Settlers

Case Study: Native Americans and Settlers

 

Following the discovery of the New World (North and South America) by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the European colonial powers commenced a pattern of mass destruction and death across these “new lands,” utterly decimating Native American tribes and nearly destroying indigenous tribes entirely.

 

Beginning with the arrival in the Western Hemisphere of Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish Empire gradually expanded from early small settlements in the Caribbean to over three centuries to include Central America, most of South America, Mexico, what today is Southwestern United States, the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of North America, reaching Alaska.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas

 

The poster children for this Age of Discovery were the Spanish conquistadors such as Vaso De Balboa, Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Juan Ponce de Leon, and Hernando de Soto. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conquistadors)

 

A Conquistador (Spanish: [kon.kis.t̪a'ð̞oɾ]) (English: Conqueror) was a Spanish soldier, explorer, and adventurer who took part in the gradual invasion and conquest of much of the Americas and Asia Pacific, bringing them under Spaniish colonial rule between the 15th and 19th centuries. Notice that the term is not used for the Portuguese explorers and conquerors of Brazil, such as the Bandeirantes.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquistadores

 

While the Spanish concentrated most of their efforts upon conquest and exploration, other European nations such as France, England, and Holland fully intended to stay when they arrived in the New World.  In what would become The United States of America, the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth consolidated footholds for England upon a vast new continent.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown_Settlement)  Over time, the wars with between the European colonists as well as the new diseases that they brought with them (especially smallpox) had a devastating effect upon the Native American populations. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox#Epidemics_in_the_Americas)

 

The European colonization of the Americas nearly obliterated the populations and cultures of the Native Americans. During the 16th through 19th centuries, their populations were ravaged by conflicts with European explorers and colonists, disease, displacement, enslavement, internal warfare as well as high rate of intermarriage. Scholars now believe that, among the various contributing factors, epidemic disease was the overwhelming cause of the population decline of the American natives

 

European settlers brought infectious diseases against which the Native Americans had no natural immunity. Chicken pox and measles, though common and rarely fatal among Europeans, often proved deadly to Native Americans. Smallpox proved particularly deadly to Native American populations. Epidemics often immediately followed European exploration, sometimes destroying entire villages. While precise figures are difficult to arrive at, some historians estimate that up to 80% of some Native populations died due to European diseases.

In 1617-1619, smallpox wiped out 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans. As it had done elsewhere, the virus wiped out entire population groups of Native Americans. It reached Mohawks in 1634, Lake Ontario in 1636, and the lands of the Iroquois by 1679. During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30% of the West Coast Native Americans. Smallpox epidemics in 1780-1782 and 1837-1838 brought devastation and drastic depopulation among the Plain Indians. By 1832, the federal government established a smallpox vaccination program for Native Americans (The Indian Vaccination Act of 1832).

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States

 

With disease, war, and forced relocations combined into a trifecta of despair, the effect of Western imperialism upon the indigenous population was nearly complete eradication, and America nearly lost the culture and customs that were found in the Americas prior to 1492 forever.  However, over time, the population of Native Americans was reduced to a level at which the incoming Europeans could tolerate their numbers.  The majority of the Indians were removed to federal Indian reservations where they could eke out sustenance living from the land.

 

In 1851, the United States Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act which authorized the creation of Native American reservations in modern day Oklahoma. Relations between settlers and natives had grown increasingly worse as the settlers encroached on territory and natural resources in the West.

 

Grant pursued a stated "Peace Policy" as a possible solution to the conflict. The policy included a reorganization of the Indian Service, with the goal of relocating various tribes from their ancestral homes to parcels of lands established specifically for their inhabitation. The policy called for the replacement of government officials by religious men, nominated by churches, to oversee the Indian agencies on reservations in order to teach Christianity to the native tribes. The Quakers were especially active in this policy on reservations. The "civilization" policy was aimed at eventually preparing the tribes for citizenship.

 

In many cases, the lands granted to tribes were not ideal for, and in some cases resistant to agricultural cultivation, leaving many tribes who accepted the policy in a state bordering on starvation.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation#Reservation_beginnings

 

For a while, the Reservation System seemed to be seriously failing America, especially the Native Americans.  For most of American history, the Indians kept getting less and less land much like Palestine from 1947 until the present day.  And, America was hesitant to keep up with the obligations of the treaties with the Indians given our numerical and technological advantages.  However, might does not make right!

 

Reservation treaties sometimes included stipend agreements, in which the federal government would grant a certain amount of goods to a tribe annually. The implementation of the policy was erratic, however, and in many cases the stipend goods were not delivered.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation#Reservation_beginnings

 

The policy was controversial from the start. Reservations were generally established by executive order. In many cases, white settlers objected to the size of land parcels, which were subsequently reduced. A report submitted to Congress in 1868 found widespread corruption among the federal Indian agencies and generally poor conditions among the relocated tribes.

 

By the late 1870s, the policy established by Grant was regarded as a failure, primarily because it had resulted in some of the bloodiest wars between Native Americans and the United States. By 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes began phasing out the policy, and by 1882 all religious organizations had relinquished their authority to the federal Indian agency.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation#Controversy

 

With ongoing poverty and decreases in their level of independence and land, there was almost continuous war between the Native Americans and the mostly white settlers from 1492 until roughly the middle of the 20^th century.  How could Native Americans constantly accept being bullied and ferried around the continent in the interest of “Manifest Destiny,” the belief that America was destined to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny  

 

Manifest Destiny was the belief that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean; it has also been used to advocate for or justify other territorial acquisitions. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not only good, but that it was obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny”). Originally a political catch phrase of the 19th century, "Manifest Destiny" eventually became a standard historical term, often used as a synonym for the expansion of the United States across the North American continent.

 

The term was first used primarily by Jacksonian Democrats in the 1840s to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States (the Oregon Territory, the Texas Annexation, and the Mexican Cession). It was revived in the 1890s, this time with Republican supporters, as a theoretical justification for U.S. expansion outside of North America. The term fell out of usage by U.S. policy makers early in the 20th century, but some commentators believe that aspects of Manifest Destiny, particularly the belief in an American "mission" to promote and defend democracy throughout the world, continues to have an influence on American political ideology.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_Destiny

 

However, in 1934, the Indians finally received a “New Deal” from the US federal government.  I like to think of this act as the beginning of some semblance of peace and equality between our peoples.

 

The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, also known as the Howard-Wheeler Act, was sometimes called the Indian New Deal. It laid out new rights for Native Americans, reversed some of the earlier privatization of their common holdings, and encouraged self-government and land management by tribes. The act slowed the assignment of tribal lands to individual members, and reduced the assignment of 'extra' holdings to nonmembers.

 

For the following twenty years, the U.S. government invested in infrastructure, health care, and education on the reservations, and over two million acres (8,000 km²) of land were returned to various tribes. The Indian Reorganization Act also provided for termination and relocation of certain tribes. This eventually resulted in the legal dismantling of 61 tribal nations.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation#The_Indian_New_Deal

 

Many Native Americans who live on reservations deal with the federal government through two agencies: the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

 

Life qualities in some reservations are comparable to the quality of life in the developing world. Shannon Country, South Dakota, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is routinely described as one of the poorest counties in the nation.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation#Life_and_culture

 

There have been a number of ups and downs for European immigrants and Native Americans over the years.  Had the European immigrants devoted more time, money, and effort towards the welfare of Native Americans, we might have seen an end to the warfare in roughly 1850 instead of 1930.  But, that did not happen like many of the agreements between the settlers and indigenous people of the land.  With each failed agreement, the level of trust between the groups diminished, and violence of any kind, particularly warfare, is often very difficult to end.  I like to say that “Weak men make war, but it takes extremely strong men to make peace.” 

 

Eventually, the quality of life improved upon the Indian Reservations.  They increased the level of their autonomy, and they also increased their quality of life.  One of the best and the worst additions to Indian reservations was Indian casinos and other forms of gambling such as bingo halls, something that can be seen as partial compensatory justice for past grievances suffered by the natives.  Much like alcohol or drugs which have also plagued Indian reservations over the years, it is easy for some people to become addicted to gambling.  If you are already largely indigent, a gambling addiction can be extremely dangerous for your family and yourself.  Money that is spent in the casino “for entertainment” is not spent upon diapers and formula for your infant children.  It is just that simple.

 

However, Indian reservations have also seen a significant influx of revenues into their communities by the addition of legalized gambling.  With money from the more prosperous descendants of the former settlers, Native Americans can find their own version of “The American Dream.” 

 

In 1979, the Seminole tribe in Florida opened a high-stakes bingo operation on its reservation in Florida. The state attempted to close the operation down but was stopped in the courts. In the 1980s, the case of California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians established the right of reservations to operate other forms of gambling operations. In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act which recognized the right of Indian tribes to establish gambling and gaming facilities on their reservations as long as the states in which they are located have some form of legalized gambling. Today, many Indian Casinos are used as tourist attractions to draw visitors and revenue to reservations.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation#Gambling

 

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Native Americans and the general population of America.  I suggest that the addition of revenue to the Indian reservation is a positive development in American history and with the addition of enhanced services, the existing tension between the two populations will continue to decrease.  Probably, the days of the wars between the “red man” and the “white man” will continue to be just another chapter in American history.  However, I would appreciate seeing the quality of life on the Indian reservations continuing to improve until it is roughly commensurate with the quality of life of the immigrant population from so long ago.

 

With the Native American analogy, it is difficult to tell who are "the Native Americans" in the extenuation to Palesrael, the Israelis or the Palestinians.  With tentative agreement to revert to roughly the 1967 borders, it could be argued that either Israel or Palestine is losing land for the benefit of the other nation.  We might argue that it is really the Canaanites that lost land to both Israel and Palestine, but I suspect that their lineage will not be specifically compensated in this treaty for their loss ancient losses.  As people say, “Time heals all wounds.”

 

The Canaanites are said to have been one of seven regional ethnic divisions or "nations" driven out before the Israelites following the Exodus. Specifically, the other nations include the Hittites, the Girqashites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites (Deuteronomy 7:1).

 

According to the Book of Jubilees, the Israelite conquest of Canaan, and the curse, are attributed to Canaan's steadfast refusal to join his elder brothers in Ham's allotment beyond the Nile, and instead "squatting" on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, within the inheritance delineated for Shem.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan#Biblical_Canaanites

 

It is also quite possible that the biggest losers were Neanderthal men and women who were replaced by humans and completely extinguished as a species.

 

The Neanderthal, or Neandertal, was a species of the Homo genus (Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) which inhabited Europe and parts of western and central Asia. The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 350-500 thousand years ago. By 130,000 years ago, complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared and by 50,000 years ago, Neanderthals disappeared from Asia, although they did not reach extinction in Europe until 30,000 years ago. No Neanderthal skeletons of younger dating have been found, though it has been suggested that Neanderthals survived longer in Southern Iberia. Neanderthal may have coexisted with modern humans up to 15,000 years after Homo sapiens had migrated into Europe. It is believed that the population of Neanderthals was never much more than 10,000 individuals.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal

 

I prefer to think of the Palesrael treaty as a winning situation for both Israel and Palestine.  Both nations have been losing their loved ones for roughly 60 years, and war is expensive in monetary terms in addition to human costs.  Perhaps, both Palestine and Israel could be fully developed nations as of this time had they chosen a path of peace instead of a path of warfare.  We will never know what might have been.

 

The anticipated treaty in Palesrael has a number of benefits for both Palestine and Israel.  I like to think of these two nations as different sides of the same coin: a happy and healthy Holy Land with disparate interest groups and walks of life.  What would Palestine be without Israel and vice versa?  The answer is clearly, “Lonely.”