The Ghost Dance CHAPTER 8: (NATIVE AMERICANS) From Conquest to Tribal Survival in Industrial...
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Transcript of The Ghost Dance CHAPTER 8: (NATIVE AMERICANS) From Conquest to Tribal Survival in Industrial...
Contents
• Introduction
• Native American Cultures
• Reservations
• Native American Resistance
• Secondary Structural Assimilation
Introduction
• Contact period started at Jamestown in 1607 and lasted nearly 300 years
• Conflicts spread across the continent west; each newly encountered tribe was conquered and subordinated in turn
• *By the 1890’s, surviving Native American tribes had become minority groups
(C) Native American Cultures
• Hundreds of different tribes with their own language and heritage
• Within this diversity are widely shared cultural characteristics– the universe is a unity– humans are simply a part of a larger reality– living in harmony with the natural world
(C) Native American Values:
• No private property (land)
• Tribe/ clan oriented
• Intermingling of the physical and spiritual worlds
• Egalitarian values stressing the dignity and worth of every man, woman, and child
(C) Conflicts with Western Culture:
• Land development
• Commercial farming
• *Bending the the natural world to the service of humans
• Differences in values placed them at a disadvantage when dealing with Anglo Americans
(R) Developments After the 1890’s:
• Indians nations were defeated and forced onto reservations
• Minimal political power– *non-citizens-14th Amendment (1868)– small populations separated by language,
culture, and geography– dependent on the government for basic needs--
food, shelter, clothing, other necessities
(R) Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Paternalistic social systems
• Controlled reservation budgets
• Controlled criminal justice systems
• Controlled schools
• Superintendent controlled food and communications to the outside world
• *Determined tribal membership
A Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood (CDIB) certifies that an individual possesses a specific degree of Indian blood of a federally recognized Indian tribe(s). A deciding Bureau official issues the CDIB. We issue CDIBs so that individuals may establish their eligibility for those programs and services based upon their status as American Indians and/or Alaska Natives. http://www.doi.gov/bia/ots/cdibfedreg.htm
Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood
(R) Forced Americanization
• Cultures attacked
• Languages and religions forbidden
• Institutions circumvented and undermined
• Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 divided Native American lands into individual plots
• 90 million of 140 million acres acquired by dominant group (Oklahoma)
• Native American boarding schools
(R) The Ghost Dance
• Resistance to Americanization
• 1890 vision by Wovoka (Paiute)
• Non-violent dance to rid the world by flood of white society
• Cross tribal movement
• Feared by the government
• Death of Sitting Bull & Massacre at Wounded Knee (Dec 1890)
(R) Indian Reorganization Act of 1934
• FDR and the New Deal
• Rescinded the Dawes Act
• Opportunities to expand tribal holdings
• Financial aid for economic development
• Reorganized schools
• *Western style elections– elected leaders sold off tribal assets--mineral
resources, farmland, water rights
(R) “Termination” Policy of 1953
• Canceling special relationships and treaty obligations
• Decertifying tribes• Return tribal lands and resources to private
ownership• About 100 tribes were terminated; most
ceased to exist • Repealed in 1975
(R) Advantages of the Reservation
• Native Americans are the least urbanized minority group (75%)
• Reservations provide:– government services– closeness to kinfolk, friends, religious services,
and tribal celebrations– opportunity for political participation
• *It’s not as tough to live on the reservation
(W) Protest and Resistance
• National Congress of American Indians (1944)– preserving the old ways– preserving tribal institutions– protecting Indian welfare
• Red Power Movement (1961)– self-determination– pride in race and cultural heritage– restore Native American rights
(W) Native American Activism
• National Indian Youth Council– “Fish-in” in the State of Washington (1965)
• American Indian Movement (1968)– *Occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969)– Trail of Broken Treaties March on Washington
(1972)
• Goal: To find a way to be a part of the larger society on their terms
(W) Continuing Competition
• *Natural resources (ironic)– 3% oil, 15% coal, 55% uranium deposits– water & fishing rights, woodlands, wilderness
• Attracting industry to the reservation– low taxes, rents, low-wage labor pool
• Legal Action to recover lands
• Gaming (Indian Casinos--not taxed)
(C) Assimilation and Pluralism
• Retaining their language
• Retaining their culture
• Native American Church
• Native Americans function as a group
• *Reservation system has helped preserve traditional languages and culture
Secondary Structural Assimilation
• Population Increase– 250,000 in 1900 to 2,000,000 in 1993– social and political phenomenon– predominantly in the western states
• Health– poverty, rural isolation,substandard housing,
lack of health care on the reservation– alcoholism (related to 33% of all deaths)
Secondary Structural Assimilation (Cont.)
• Education– 400% increase in high school grads since 1970– 20% increase in college grads since 1976
• Jobs and income– 35% to 85% unemployment on the reservation– median income of $20,500 (68% of majority group)– 32% of households fall below the poverty line
(1991)