Some Classmates' Blogs

Tiffany's essay was really interestig and she proffed  a good point. She talked about how both the Native Americans and Whites were responsible for all the damage and suffering that was caused by their discord. She pointed out how whites tried to help but not in the best way and how the Indians were not open to new ideas. It was a very good and convincing essay.

I really liked Carolina's essay. She explained it very well and supported her opinion that the white treated Indians in a bad way. It talked about the different things the whites did that was unfair to the Native Americans and how they took advantage of them. My essay was similar so I really agreed with her conclusions.

Randy's essay was pretty good even though he had some small ortographic errors. He supported his opinion about whites not showing respect towards the Indians with good examples. He explained the way in which they took away their lands and forced them to assimilate.

I liked Shae-lynn's essay because she supported her topic, which was assimilation, in many ways. She talked about the different things the Native Americans had to do, such as cut their hair, learn english, and change their clothing. She also gave  really good example of an Indian who went through all this which was Charles Eastman.

Genderie's essay was very similar to Shae's. They both explained the way in which Indians had to assimilate to whites. They essay was very good and she gave many details that supported well her idea.

Dealt With Awfully

Native Americans were treated awfully by the white settlers. The white settlers had come looking for land, gold and other resources and would do anything to get what they wanted. The Indians obviously became an obstacle for them and so they decided to try to rule them. The whites took away their lands and wanted the Native Americans to assimilate to them. They were even bending towards the idea of exterminating their tribes.

The Native Americans had lived in the United States for a long time and even though they did not believe in the term “owning land”, it should have been considered to be theirs.  Nevertheless, the white settlers arrived and took the land forcefully from them. General Custer drove out Indians from their lands in order to get the gold that was found there. The whites would offer the Indians to sign a treaty in which they were offered money to pay for their debts, as well as food, gold, and assistance with schools, trade and farming. Even though all this was promised the Indians saw very little of it. One of these treaties was The Treaty of Traverse de Sioux of July 1851. This treaty took away most of the Native Americans’ land, or Dakota land, in southern Minnesota and gave it to the US government, and the Dakota would receive a reservation and money to pay their debts, which very little was seen of it. The Indians were threatened that if they refused to sign the treaty their land would still be taken away and their rations would be restrained. Another treaty was the one presented to the Lakota Indians. This one offered them $1.25 per acre and a piece of land for the head of each household. Still, the Indians would lose their land whether they agreed to the treaty or not.

White settlers also wanted the Native Americans to assimilate to them. They forced them to move to reservations which the whites thought were the road for them to become civilized. There they had to cut their hair, learn the English language and wear different clothing. They also had to convert to Christianity and adopt Christian names. Another was that white officials banned the Indian’s Ghost Dance in December 1890. All of this took away the Native American’s freedom and they could no longer keep their old costumes or beliefs.

Native Americans then started to accuse the whites of trying to exterminate their race and they had good reasons for it. Most of the land they were forced to move in were infertile, which meant they could hardly grow crops to feed their families. They had little or no money since the one that was promised was never seen. They had no medical support and their people, especially the children, were dying of diseases. For these reasons the Indians would not have children since they knew they would only come to this world to suffer. The Wounded Knee massacre, which occurred in December 29, 1890, supports the idea of the whites trying to exterminate the Native American race. Colonel James Forsyth led the army that caused so many deaths that day. The white soldiers demanded that every Indian gave up their firearm. One of the soldiers then tried to disarm a deaf Indian man, and then a small fight broke out and shooting started. The Indians had no way out; their firearms had been taken and they were surrounded by cannons. About 150 Indians were brutally killed that day.

The Native American’s rights were violated because of the white settlers’ strong desire for land. They were driven out of their lands, which most was sacred to them. They were forced to leave their old costumes, beliefs and way of live behind. They even suffered a massacre and were at the edge of starting to become extinct. It is evident that whites did not deal with Indians the best way.