Native American Response to Settlers

Initially, the Native Americans welcomed the Europeans to America. Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand that the Indians on San Salvador Island responded warmly to the gifts the Europeans gave them, and became so entirely [their friends that it was a wonder to see (Hurtado 45).

Montezuma and the Aztecs welcomed the Spaniards as a God that came in fulfillment of their destiny. This Aztec belief induced them to submit themselves entirely under the Spaniards' rule. Many Native American tribes, such as those encountered by Jacques CArtier, Cabeza de Vaca, and Hernando de Soto, regarded the Europeans as powerful shamans or Gods. The Native Americans would bring their ill tribal members to them to heal their sickness (Hurtado 56).

The influx of European goods greatly altered the relationship between the Native Amer icans and the invading Europeans. As the Native Americans began to use European goods, such as hatchets, iron arrowheads, sword blades, knives, and other goods, their dependency upon Europeans became more established. Divisions between tribes began to emerge as some Native American tribes allied themselves with the English, and others allied themselves with the French settlers.

Initially, the Christian missionaries were accepted also, as the polytheistic Native Americans did not resist the worship of the Christian god. But when the conquering Europeans began to rigorously suppress the Native Americans' religion, they began to resist. As in the case of the Tewa Indians, they resisted passively at first by keeping their religious observances hidden from the Spanish. But as the Spanish invaders became even more ruthless in suppressing their religion, the Tewa Indians openly rebelled, killing many of the Spanish, including non-combatants such as women, children, and priest s. The Tewa Indians also ransacked Christian churches and desecrated their holy places.

Another type of resistance used by the Native Americans is exemplified in the case of the peaceful Cherokee Indians. They worked within the confines of the legal system of the United States to resist their forced removal from their homelands in Georgia. They filed a lawsuit with the United States federal government against the state of Georgia to be able to remain in their traditional homelands. Although they ultimately lost the lawsuit and were forced to leave their homelands, the Cherokee tribe did not turn to warfare as a response to their tragic displacement. The majority of the Cherokees quietly submitted to the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which so many of them died along the way due to exposure and starvation from lack of adequate provisions.

The Plains Indians, such as the Lakota, were the most likely Native Americans tribes to respond to their oppression with open warfare. The taking of the Black Hills is a very good example of this. When the settlers first began to swarm into the Black Hills looking for gold, the U.S. government initially tried to keep them out in accordance of the treaty with the Lakota and their allies. But as more and more gold-seekers trekked in, the federal government reversed their position. The government offered to buy the Black Hills, which was rejected.

Then the U.S. government issued a law requiring all the Indians to vacate the Black Hills. This action led to such violent confrontations as the battles of Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee. Not all the Plains Indians fought in this war, as many of them followed Red Cloud and remained out of the fighting. This taking of the Black Hills is still an important issue today, since the Lakota tribe continues to assert their claim over the Black Hills, and refuses to touch the money the United States government holds in trust for the purchase of the Blac k Hills.

Bibliography

Hurtado, Albert, Peter Iverson, and Thomas Paterson, editors. Major Problems in American Indian History: Documents and Essays. Houghton Mifflin Company Collegiate Division, 2000.

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Author:: Mary Arnold
Keywords:: Colonial settlers, Native Americans
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