Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown is a documented account of multiple massacres of the Natives, with emphasis on the battle at Wounded Knee. Along with Zinn, it characterizes the Native American experience from a sympathetic standpoint. The first chapter tells the reader that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492 expecting to anchor on the shore of the West Indies. When he arrived, he discovered that an entire people already inhabited the land. He called them indios, now known as Indians to those living today. They welcomed the Europeans with open arms, gifts, and food. Christopher Columbus noticed that the Native Americans were happy to serve the Europeans, and could thus be more easily forced into slavery. The Europeans even convinced one tribe leader (Chief Powhatan) to make his people do the bidding for the newcomers. This changed the Native Americans viewpoint of the white men and tension began to form between the two races. The rest of this chapter then paints a vivid story of all of the tribes who were killed, converted, and relocated by the following generations of Europeans.
The authors, Bailey and Kennedy, are less descriptive and cover a smaller time period when explaining the experience of the Native Americans. Although American Pageant uses a dramatic tone when appropriate, the text still reads more as a narrative. Zinn and Brown try to convey the experience of the Native Americans from their viewpoints. Zinn and Brown tell of similar events, but American Pageant informs the reader of the Federal Indian Agents. At the time, the US’s border ran through mid-Texas and continued North into Canada. When the US wished to remove the Native Americans, they promised them food and supplies to compensate for their moving. When it was time for the Native Americans to receive their compensation from these agents, the US gave them rotten food and poor provisions. This is one of many of the promises broken by the US made to the Native Americans.
Another source that discusses the Native American experience is The Vanishing Race, written by Joseph K. Dixon. The text is the viewpoint of an actual Native American describing a buffalo hunt by the Blackfeet tribe during the 1870s. This was a ritual in which everyone took part in. The men women and children moved along with the hunter tracking the buffalo. When the buffalo were found, all of the hunters began their hunt at the same time so as to give each other a fair chance. The Native Americans used every part of the buffalo and shared it among the tribe. Dixon constantly stresses the idea that Native Americans were peaceful and only hunted for food and not for fun. This particular value that the Native Americans held is not one that we practice today as a consumer society. The audience that this excerpt is most likely aimed d at would be one that believes that the Native Americans were merely innocent inhabitants of the land. One of the limitations of this source is that it is a primary resource, but however, it does not address specifically the effect that the “white man” had on the Native American experience. In order to understand the motive behind the writing of this excerpt, one would have to know some of the background information or read it in context.
A major landmark in the Native American experience is the Dawes Act. Passed in 1887, it attempted to force the Native Americans to act more like Americans rather than a tribe. Reservations were eliminated and each head of a family would be given a quarter of land, any one over eighteen and single were given an eighth of a section, same for orphan children. This meant that the Native Americans took up less land than they did when they lived on a reservation. The Dawes Act was aimed at a white audience because the whites were the only benefactors from this abominable act. This was an obviously prejudiced source because, at the time, the US was only concerned with their own needs and greed for land. The Dawes Act was a response to those who opposed the way the US was treating the Native Americans, such as Helen Hunt Jackson. In her book, A Century of Dishonor, she condemned the government for harming the Native Americans. She discusses the many broken promises and treaties that the US made. This was aimed at those who held the same viewpoints as Jackson. This book was powerfully written; enough that even Theodore Roosevelt himself pointed out that it was “capable of doing harm”. People were attracted to her writing because she believed in her cause so much that she poured her heart out into it.
Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas and the Start of a New Nation by David A. Price is a non fiction book informing the reader of John Smith’s travels within the New World. There are many scenarios in which he leads a conflict against the Native Americans. Price’s book focuses on the conflict between Smith and Chief Powhatan. He gives the reader a balance between the horrible battles fought between the Europeans and the harmony between the two races. The viewpoint isn’t John Smith’s; it is more of a long narrative explaining what happened during the early years of the New World. John Smith’s diary is often used to tell of details and events that happened. Price leaves nothing out of all the brutalities brought upon the Native Americans, but he never actually voices his personal opinion. From he writes, the reader is able to understand the viewpoints of the whites and the Native Americans.
The Native American experience in the US was not decent as see in many different sources. Today, we acknowledge the fact that we have treated the natives wrong ever since we set foot on this continent. We have murdered, relocated, and tortured the Native Americans and made them feel like they weren’t a part of society. As one can see our treatment for them was so equal and the US is blameless for their actions, or not. Next time you walk into a casino, remember the Native American experience and maybe think twice before continuing.
by
camman (student)
