...Tragedy of the American Indians Today there are more than half a million Indians in the United States. They are still trying to adapt to the white civilization, being in all stages of development. There are a few Indians who have made money from natural resources found on their lands, but there are still thousands who live at close starvation levels. Many live in almost complete isolation from Americans who are not Indian, but there are some who are educated and living among the white society. Hundreds of Indians work in cities close to their reservations; thousands of other Indians hold onto the security of their reservations in hope of gaining education and being able to develop the resources of their lands and provide for their own needs without help from others. Today, there are about 300 federal reservations in the United States largely found west of the Mississippi. There are many environmental issues which have created many tragedies among the American Indians, which have left most of them facing poor living conditions. There is a long history of tragedies among the American Indians starting back in the 1830s. The Trail of Tears, also known as the “death march,” was the first initial tragedy that caught the attention of many historians to this day. The Trail of Tears is known as the enforced relocation and movement of American Indian tribes from southeastern territories of the United States with the Indian Removal Act of 1830 following. This removal included...
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...A Review of North American Indians North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account In her book North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account, Alice Kehoe appears to give a straightforward account of the history of North America from the point of view of the Native Americans. The textbook covers the periods from when humans first inhabited the North American continent, some fifteen thousand years ago, and continues through to the present. Due to the immense size and diversity of the North American continent, the text is written so that each chapter covers a geographical region of the continent. The regions covered range from the rich lands of Mexico, through the eastern and western United States, through the forests of Canada, and concluding at the Arctic Circle. Each chapter covers the region’s history, people, culture, ways of life, and the circumstance that caused its cultural identity to collapse. The book culminates with chapters on the trials and tribulations that the Native American nations will face as they enter into the twenty-first century and a chapter on how anthropologists view American Indians. The author emphasizes several key points and occurrences in the history of the natives of North America and their impact on the Indian populations. While her book discusses the heritages, languages, knowledge, technology, arts, and values that have been passed down through generations; it seems that Ms. Kehoe’s intention is to point out the injustices...
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...Diving Into The White Side American Indians are soon on the road to extinction due to intermarriage with other ethnicities/ races. Their blood lines will slowly thin out, generation after generation; leaving the American Indian population little to none. The United States federal government established a blood quantum for Native Americans to limit their citizenship and leading them on a road to oblivion. Blood quantum is a sense of pride to older Indians- they believe it is a measurement of a sacred identity. Non- Natives may ask, “what is blood quantum?”. Blood quantum is a term that determines one's ancestry background. American Indian blood quantum was established in the early 18th century to limit Native Americans citizenship in the...
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...Date Today there are more than half a million Indians in the United States. They are still trying to adapt to the white civilization, being in all stages of development. There are a few Indians who have made money from natural resources found on their lands, but there are still thousands who live at close starvation levels. Many live in almost complete isolation from Americans who are not Indian, but there are some who are educated and living among the white society. Hundreds of Indians work in cities close to their reservations; thousands of other Indians hold onto the security of their reservations in hope of gaining education and being able to develop the resources of their lands and provide for their own needs without help from others. Today, there are about 300 federal reservations in the United States largely found west of the Mississippi. There are many environmental issues that have created many tragedies among the American Indians, which have left most of them facing poor living conditions. There is a long history of tragedies among the American Indians starting back in the 1830s. The Trail of Tears, also known as the “death march,” was the first initial tragedy that caught the attention of many historians to this day. The Trail of Tears is known as the enforced relocation and movement of American Indian tribes from southeastern territories of the United States with the Indian Removal Act of 1830 following. This removal included the members of Cherokee, Muscogee, Seminole...
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...North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account In her book North American Indians: A Comprehensive Account, Alice Kehoe appears to give a straightforward account of the history of North America from the point of view of the Native Americans. The textbook covers the periods from when humans first inhabited the North American continent, some fifteen thousand years ago, and continues through to the present. Due to the immense size and diversity of the North American continent, the text is written so that each chapter covers a geographical region of the continent. The regions covered range from the rich lands of Mexico, through the eastern and western United States, through the forests of Canada, and concluding at the Arctic Circle. Each chapter covers the region’s history, people, culture, ways of life, and the circumstance that caused its cultural identity to collapse. The book culminates with chapters on the trials and tribulations that the Native American nations will face as they enter into the twenty-first century and a chapter on how anthropologists view American Indians. The author emphasizes several key points and occurrences in the history of the natives of North America and their impact on the Indian populations. While her book discusses the heritages, languages, knowledge, technology, arts, and values that have been passed down through generations; it seems that Ms. Kehoe’s intention is to point out the injustices that have been perpetrated on the Native...
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...“Culture Paper: American Indian Pride” December 2. 2012 Survey of Exceptionalities 1. What is the name of this culture? The name of the culture of people I selected is the American Indians of North American. I did not want to select just one type or subgroup of this culture, but capture a few elements of the people altogether as one whole culture. The four largest tribes of American Indians are Navajo (308,013), Cherokee (285, 476), Sioux (131, 048), and Chippewa (115, 859). These tribes of American Indians are the most indentify by people of this culture - according to the website www.infoplease.com. Each tribe has a special tradition or custom that is passed down from generation to generation, but the three common core themes of American Indians were family, story telling, and ritual dance. (Wikipedia, 2012) 2. What language do the people of this culture speak? I will continue to discuss American Indians as one whole culture, but will use the Navajo tribe above and explain the native tongue of their people. The Navajo people speak the native language of Navajor. Each tribe had their own native tongue common to the people of that subgroup, but all American Indians shared a common core element of hieroglyphics that told stories of past experiences or explain the existence of mankind. For example, The Navajo had ancient text on the Sacred Mountains, which was described as the Four Sacred Mountain of the Dire. These ancient images could be found on the sides of rocks...
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...1 The American Indian Holocaust Team D January 11, 2015 TY Little 2 American Indian Holocaust The “500 Year War” was known as the American Indian Holocaust known to history. There were so many Native Americans life lost it was around 114,000,000. It is said that Christopher Columbus was responsible for half a million of Native American Indian’s deaths. When Columbus arrived in 1493 he came with 17 ships, and killed and implemented slavery, and then the Native people occurred Wounded Knee and the Trail of Tears. It was known that the US Army supplied blankets contaminated with small box, and over 100 thousand native people died (Shawnee, Delaware, and Mingo). The Native peoples that suffered these atrocities were then expected to assimilate into the white culture. Their cultures were outlawed along with their language and traditions. This brought anger to the people that still stand today. This anger has done a lot of damage to the current cultures of Native Americans. These behaviors have become self destructive that have caused rampant alcoholism rates to sore 7 times higher than the national average. Their unresolved grief has resulted in high suicide and homicide rates 3 times higher than the national average. A culmination of the loss of their traditional rituals that used to allow the native people...
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...Asian American only make up 5% of the U.S population. However, they are the fastest growing racial minority group, with a projected twofold growth by 2050 (Goyal, pg 92). Among that, Asian Indian is the second largest subgroup (Goyal, pg 92). The Asian Indian culture is rich in tradition, especially during the prenatal period. In order to deliver a comprehensive and patient-centered health care, nurses ought to have a generalized cultural awareness and sensitivity to make appropriate and effective nursing interventions. Indian culture is traditional. Some birthing practices are upheld and passed on from ancestor’s experience and shared belief. Moreover, Indian culture is collectivism, which emphasize cohesion and priority of family goals (Goyal,...
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...Many American Indian communities are impoverished, with some tribes reporting unemployment as high as 85%. Existing jobs are found mainly within the tribal government, Bureau of Indian Affairs, state social services, the school systems, and the Indian Health Service (IHS) Hospital. Additionally, years of failed government policies have left reservation economies with limited economic opportunity. The government placed reservations in areas away from fertile land, population centers, water supplies and other vital resources, compounding economic challenges with geographic isolation. While it is important to know these economic challenges, it is also important to know that tribes are dynamic, open to new ideas, and committed to improving their communities and their children’s future. Poverty-related statistics: Employment: Native Americans have the lowest employment rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). In...
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...The Indian Removal act was not only a symbol in American History but really devastating. The Native Americans that lived in the 1800s especially the 1830s have endured the worst things possible and we didn’t have too because of our own selfish needs. But that’s not all how and why did the Indian Removal act have caused the war and there is more to talk about. Claim The Indian Removal act was important, it was significant to American History, and led to the Civil War. Reason The Indian Removal act was significant to American History because it allows Native a Americans to own that land and keep it from harm, and it led to the Civil War because of fugitive slaves. The Indian removal act was important because it led to the eviction of over...
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...Indians and Americans The customs of Indians are different than that of Americans. Even with Indians that have moved here and built their lives in America. From religion to fashion there is a big difference in Native Indians and Americans. They have adapted to a lot of America ways and enjoy their lives here yet some miss their Indian customs. India is acknowledged as the origin of Hinduism and Buddhism which are the third and fourth largest religions in the world. According to the “Handbook of Research on Development and Religion” Edited by Matthew Clarke (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013). There are differences of Hinduism and four predominant sects, Smarta, Shakteya, Vaishnava, and Shaiva. With around 13 percent of Indians being Muslims it makes India one of the largest Islamic nations in the world. Sikhs and Christians make up a small percentage of the India population, with even a smaller percentage of Jains and Buddhists (Indian Culture, 2016). In contrast, just about every religion known is practiced in the United States of America. Around 83 percent of Americans are identified as Christians according to the ABC poll, unlike the small percentage of Christians in India. Judaism is the second most religions identification and only .6 percent responding to being Muslim. India is almost opposite in comparison with religion in America (American Culture, 2016). Traditional clothing for men in India is the dhoti. It is an unstitched piece of cloth they tie around...
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...Throughout history of American Indians there have been distinct themes presented. While Native American heritage is rich in tradition and culture, there has been many various aspects leading to the fall of Native Americans. Waves of western settlers pounded against the borders of Indian lands. Yet the course of events that led the narrative of conquest was not inevitable. The first president of the United States, George Washington, and his secretary claimed to respect Indian rights and promised to secure land owned by the Natives for white settlement only through treaty and purchase. The Native Americans were betrayed by the white settlers, who quickly became allies of the American Indians in the beginning of this endless disaster. The promise...
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...History 214 May 30, 2014 Michael Kent Ward, “Teaching Indigenous American Culture and History: Perpetuating Knowledge or Furthering Intellectual Colonization?”, Journal of Social Sciences 7 (2): 104-112, 2011.doi 10.3844/jssp.2011.104.112 This article was interesting but very hard to read. Mr. Ward imposed some great questions about the way we learn Native American history, but in my opinion never answered them. While I agreed with his main argument, “.. everyone involved (teachers, students and indigenous peoples) are best served when traditional American Indian authorities are regularly consulted, with regard to matters involving public presentations and interpretations of indigenous cultures.” This article still left me wanting more. There are a number of ongoing issues related to the teaching of Native American History but only offering that communication is the answer was too vague for me. I would have liked the author to go into more detail on how the educators can better obtain the information to depict the Native Americans in a way where it was not a misrepresentation. “A related question concerns problems associated with limiting access to cultural knowledge versus increased demands for open access to information.” The only Native American studies I remember from grade school is the story of Sacagawea. Why? When Native American history is essentially the first American history, why are we waiting until the college level to educate ourselves...
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...The Health Status of the American Indian Bonnie Watkins Grand Canyon University The Health Status of the American Indian The American Indian has long been without adequate healthcare. It was without choice that they were forced trade their land and resources for care and protection offered by the Anglo-Americans ("Barriers," 2016). In 1955 the Indian Health Service was created to provide healthcare to the American Indians. Although the intent was good, this service has lacked the necessary resources to provide proficient care to the American Indian. Unfortunately, little has changed, and the American Indian continues to lack the resources necessary to obtain adequate medical care. Studies show that since the early 1960’s disparity in health status exists between the American Indian and the Anglo American. It consistently documented poorer health, with an increase in diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes, cancer, and depression. From the report: Invisible Tribes: Urban Indians and Their Health in a Changing World findings were: * 30 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives adults suffer from depression ("American Indians Urban Needs," 2007). * American Indians/Alaska Natives have higher prevalence of diabetes ("American Indians Urban Needs," 2007). * Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among American Indians and Alaska Natives ("American Indians Urban Needs," 2007). One of the biggest challenges is the inability to access adequate...
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...The Economic Development of the American Indian When discussing the effect of colonialism on native economies, whether in terms of dependency theory, colonialism, or other factors, one interesting example lies very close to home: the economic fate of the American Indian. Historically, American Indians were hunters and gatherers. These practices played a part in molding the culture of these people. When the white settlers came to America and began to force the American Indian people off of best parts of land, and killing many of the animals that they used for food, clothing and shelter, these military and economic challenges caused the hunting and gathering economic system of the American Indians to collapse, just like many of the other colonized nations discussed in Jefferey Sachs’s article Notes on a New Sociology of Economic Development. In this situation, the best thing for a society to do would be to industrialize, but a stigma for all things white made industrialization an unpopular idea for the American Indians. Even if they had wanted to industrialize, they had few natural resources to do so, and their only contact with international economy was through the people that were oppressing them. In addition, a written language was not part of their culture till fairly recently, and in many tribes mathematics beyond counting and record keeping was not widely used or taught. Both a written language and education of mathematics are cultural factors that contribute to a society’s...
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