After reading Chapter two-Shifting Governmental Relationships form our "Indians of Minnesota" book its obvious that the Natives were treated horribly, to say the least. They were treated as if they had no opinion or say in the way things went at all. There fate and the fate of there families and there tribes were left up to Congress, and in my opinion still is. Treaties were the Europeans way of taking land from the Indians and giving very little back of what wasn't there's to govern in the first place. I find it funny how the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 started with "The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent..." This was obviously a lie, and the United States didn't hold up to there end of the bargain.
The U.S. Constitution gave Congress the "exclusive rights and power of regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians". The Europeans came to this land and took what wasn't there's and made the Natives there business when that wasn't needed. Affairs didn't need to be managed they should of left the Natives be and at peace, but instead they tried to destroy there culture. Its amazing that still to this very day the Native Americans are still being mistreated by the United States, after everything they have already been through. And its even more crazy that the fate of the Native Americans and there families and there tribes is still left up to the United States Government.
Sade Kelly
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A large part of the early laws governing trade with Native Americans was actually set down to protect both the Natives and the United States interests from the British and French. This however changed as it became more advantageous to control the Natives rather than just their interactions with others. A folklorist - D. Kraybill - identified certain behaviors that communities that view themselves as under threat from outside forces employ to maintain their cultures. One of these is control of interactions with the outside world. While he was speaking specifically of the Amish, I think it also applies to the newly formed nation of the United States of America. Controlling interactions with other nations - both internal and external - was necessary for the community to flourish and survive.
ReplyDeleteDr. Dass