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Americanization (of Native Americans)
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Americanization in this article refers to the United States government efforts to assimilate Native Americans to the majority European-American culture in the 19th and 20th centuries, approximately 1880-1920. With increased waves of immigration from Europe, there was growing public support for education to encourage a standard set of cultural values and practices to be held in common by the majority of citizens.
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Americanization in this article refers to the United States government efforts to assimilate Native Americans to the majority European-American culture in the 19th and 20th centuries, approximately 1880-1920. With increased waves of immigration from Europe, there was growing public support for education to encourage a standard set of cultural values and practices to be held in common by the majority of citizens. Education was viewed as the primary method in the acculturation process for minorities.
Americanization policies were based on the idea that when indigenous people learned United States (European-American) customs and values, they would be able to merge tribal traditions with European-American culture and peacefully join the majority society. After the end of the Indian Wars, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the government outlawed the practice of traditional religious ceremonies. It established boarding schools which children were required to attend, where they learned English and standard subjects, attended church, and generally had to leave tribal traditions behind.
The Dawes Act of 1887, which allotted tribal lands in severalty to individuals, was seen as a way to create individual homesteads for Native Americans. Land allotments were made in exchange for Native Americans' becoming US citizens and giving up some forms of tribal self-government and institutions. It resulted in the transfer of an estimated total of 93 million acres (6,100 km²) from Native American control. Most was sold to individuals. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 was also part of Americanization policy.
Early European colonization of North America, 1513-1600
European contact with indigenous societies in the Americas found widely divergent cultures struggling to understand and sometimes dominate each other. Conflicts and misunderstandings often resulted in violence. Europeans believed themselves on a civilizing or dominating mission, helped by their gun technology. Where they settled in number, they coerced the labor of indigenous people. Most peoples believe their culture and people superior to all others; the indigenous societies and Europeans were no different.
Juan Ponce de León was considered the first European to reach the lands which would become the United States, reaching present-day Florida in 1513. Further expeditions by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1528), Hernando de Soto (1538-42) and others explored Florida and southeastern North America. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's expedition (1540-1542), which began in New Spain (Mexico), reached as far north as present-day Kansas. These expeditions led to clashes between the Spaniards and Native Americans and many of them ended with the destruction of the explorers. Yet these expeditions had lasting results. The Europeans made a substantial foothold in Florida. Horses were introduced. Native Americans readily learned to ride them and use them for transportation and hauling, which positively affected their ability to hunt and travel with game. Lastly, and most significantly, small pox and other infectious diseases were passed on to indigenous populations by contact. Because they had no immunity to such diseases, Native populations suffered high rates of fatalities and epidemics. , passed by both men and livestock, were introduced to the Native populations. By the time European settlement became more extensive in the 1600s, large portions of the Native population had already been destroyed.
British colonization of North America began with the settlement of St. John's, Newfoundland as early as 1497. It officially became England's first colony in 1583. The abandoned Roanoke Colony (1585/1587) was the only other official colony until the early Seventeenth century, when a number of new colonies were founded, including Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the United States.
French colonization of North America began in c.1524 when King Francis I sent Giovanni da Verrazzano in search of a northern route to the Pacific Ocean. After failed attempts in 1564 and 1598 the first successful French colony was Acadia, established in 1604.
The Europeans as a whole seemed to view the land as unoccupied by any meaningful peoples. While some came only to settle and land, others came to "conquer and govern". Regardless, from the first meeting, the governments of Europe dealt with the Native populations as peoples to be subdued and mollified, not as existing entities such as they viewed themselves, and thus they could justify settling in the Natives' lands without permission, using the superiority of their technology to gradually push the existing cultures from any land they desired.
Europeans and Native Americans in North America, 1601-1776
In this period European powers fought among themselves to acquire cultural and economic control of North America, just as they were doing in Europe. Native American tribes were often used as auxiliaries in the North American armies of England, France and Spain. In order to secure the help of the tribes, the Europeans would offer goods and sign treaties. The treaties usually promised that the European power would honor the tribe's traditional lands and independence. Many Native American tribes took part in King William's War (1689–1697), Dummer's War (c. 1721-1725), and the French and Indian War (1754–1763).
Britain, as the dominant power after the French and Indian War, instituted the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The document set a boundary separating the Native American country from that of the European community. In part, this justified complete control of lands on the European side, but did not effectively prevent individual Europeans from continuing to migrate westward.
As in the past, military/diplomatic and economic force was applied by Europeans and European governments to secure control of more territories from Native Americans. For further information see European colonization of the Americas.
From the Native American perspective, European control of an area, meant a dramatic change in their lifestyle. Many Native Americans did not survive.
The United States and Native Americans, 1776-1860
The struggle for empire in North America caused the United States in its earliest years to adopt an Indian policy similar to the one devised by Great Britain in colonial times. They realized that good relations with bordering tribes were important for political and trading reasons, but as had the British, they reserved the right to abandon these good relations to absorb the lands of their enemies and allies alike as the agricultural frontier moved west. The United States continued the use of Native Americans as allies, including during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. As relations with England and Spain normalized during the early 1800s, the need for such friendly relations ended. It was no longer necessary to "woo" the tribes to prevent the other powers from using them against the United States. Now, instead of a buffer against other "civilized" foes, the tribes often became viewed as an obstacle in the expansion of the United States.
George Washington and Henry Knox believed that Native Americans were equals but that their society was inferior. He formulated a policy to encourage the "civilizing" process. Washington had a six-point plan for civilization which included,
1. impartial justice toward Native Americans
2. regulated buying of Native American lands
3. promotion of commerce
4. promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Native American society
5. presidential authority to give presents
6. punishing those who violated Native American rights.
Robert Remini, a historian, wrote that "once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans." The United States appointed agents, like Benjamin Hawkins, to live among the Native Americans and to teach them how to live like whites.
Indian Removal
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 characterized the US government policy of Indian removal, which called for the relocation of Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. While it did not authorize the forced removal of the indigenous tribes, it authorized the President to negotiate land exchange treaties with tribes located in lands of the United States. The Intercourse Law of 1834 prohibited United States citizens from entering tribal lands granted by such treaties without permission, though it was often ignored.
While the Indian Removal Act made the relocation of the tribes voluntary, it was often abused by government officials. The best-known example is the Treaty of New Echota. It was negotiated and signed by a small faction of Cherokee tribal members, not the tribal leadership, on December 29, 1835. It resulted in the forced relocation of the tribe in 1838. An estimated 4,000 Cherokees died in the march, now known as the Trail of Tears.
In the decades that followed, white settlers encroached even into the western lands set aside for Native Americans. European-American settlers eventually made homesteads from coast to coast, just as the Native Americans had before them. No tribe was untouched by the influence of white traders, farmers, and soldiers.
Office of Indian Affairs
The Office of Indian Affairs (Bureau of Indian Affairs as of 1947) was established March 11, 1824, as an office of the United States Department of War, an indication of the state of relations with the Indians. It became responsible for negotiating treaties and enforcing conditions, at least for Native Americans. In 1849 the bureau was transferred to the Department of the Interior as so many of its responsibilities were related to the holding and disposition of large land assets.
In 1854 Commissioner George W. Manypenny called for a new code of regulations. He noted that there was no place in the West where the Indians could be placed with a reasonable hope that they might escape molestation by white settlers. He also called for the Intercourse Law of 1834 to be revised, as its provisions had been aimed at individual intruders on Indian territory rather than at organized expeditions.
In 1858 succeeding Commissioner Charles Mix noted that the repeated removal of tribes had prevented them from acquiring a taste for civilization. In 1862 Secretary of the Interior Caleb B. Smith questioned the wisdom of treating tribes as quasi-independent nations. Given the difficulties of the government in what it considered good efforts to support separate status for Native Americans, it began to consider a policy of Americanization instead.
Americanization and assimilation (1880-1920)
The movement to reform Indian administration and assimilate Indians as citizens originated in the pleas of people who lived in close association with the natives and were shocked by the fraudulent and indifferent management of their affairs. They called themselves "Friends of the Indians" and lobbied officials on their behalf. Gradually the call for change was taken up by Eastern reformers. Many of the reformers were Protestant Christians who considered assimilation necessary to the Christianizing of the Indians. The nineteenth century was a time of major efforts in evangelizing missionary expeditions to all non-Christian people. In 1865 the government began to make contracts with various missionary societies to operate Indian schools for teaching citizenship, English, and agricultural and mechanical arts.
Grant's "Peace Policy"
In his State of the Union Address on December 4, 1871, Ulysses Grant stated that "the policy pursued toward the Indians has resulted favorably...many tribes of Indians have been induced to settle upon reservations, to cultivate the soil, to perform productive labor of various kinds, and to partially accept civilization. They are being cared for in such a way, it is hoped, as to induce those still pursuing their old habits of life to embrace the only opportunity which is left them to avoid extermination"
Within this brief excerpt of the State of the Union, the "American" view of the Native Americans is evident. Grant proposed a peace policy: land west of Arkansas and Missouri and south of Kansas was given to the Native Americans in 1830 and called "Indian Territory".
Yet, this policy was not adhered to, as the United States began to confiscate the western portions of the Indian Territory and began to resettle the Native Americans who lived there. In 1889, Congress authorized the opening for homestead settlement of land seized from the Indian Territory. A year later Congress passed an act that officially created the Oklahoma Territory from that land.
Suppression of Religion
With officials believing in the virtue of Christianity, the United States Government worked to convert American Indians to Christianity and suppress the practice of the Native religions (spiritual leaders had been associated with leading uprisings.) The goal of the United States Government was to get Native Americans to assimilate to their culture. Some called this "making apples", as the Indians would still appear 'red' on the outside, but would be made 'white' on the inside.
Even in the 20t century, "spiritual leaders ran the risk of jail sentences of up to 30 years for simply practicing their rituals" . It was not until 1973 that the law changed, when the Freedom of Religion Act was passed, although the government had stopped prosecuting Native American spiritual leaders.
Different traditions continued to cause problems. For instance, the government included peyote among strong drugs that were illegal on the open market because of its hallucinogenic properties and general problems with drug abuse. But, the Peyote Indians traditionally had used peyote cactus as central to their religious rituals and practices, where use took place within orderly structures. It was not until the Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act of 1993 was passed that the Peyote Indians could lawfully again use the peyote cactus in their religious celebrations.
Native American education and boarding schools
Non-reservation boarding schools
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School founded by Richard Henry Pratt in 1879 was the first Indian boarding school established. Pratt was encouraged by the progress of Native Americans whom he had supervised as prisoners in Florida, where they had gotten basic education. When released, several were sponsored by American church groups to attend institutions such as Hampton Institute. He believed education was the means to bring American Indians into society.
Pratt professed "assimilation through total immersion." Because he had seen men educated at schools like Hampton Institute become educated and assimilated, he believed the principles could be extended to Indian children. Immersing them in the larger culture would help them adapt. In addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, the Carlisle curriculum was modeled on the many industrial schools: it constituted vocational training for boys and domestic science for girls, in expectation of their opportunities on the reservations, including chores around the school and producing goods for market. In the summer, students were assigned to local farms and townspeople for boarding and to continue their immersion. They also provided labor at low cost, at a time when many children earned pay for their families.
Carlisle and its curriculum became the model for schools sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. By 1902 there were twenty-five federally funded non-reservation schools across fifteen states and territories with a total enrollment of over 6,000. Although federal legislation made education compulsory for Native Americans, removing students from reservations required parent authorization. Officials coerced parents into releasing a quota of students from any given reservation.
Once the new students arrived at the boarding schools, their lives altered drastically. They were usually given new haircuts, uniforms of European-American style clothes, and even new English names, sometimes based on their own, other times assigned at random. They could no longer speak their own languages, even with each other. They were expected to attend Christian churches. Their lives were run by the strict orders of their teachers, and it often included grueling chores and stiff punishments. Such accounts must be put next to daily lives of many people in those decades, when grueling work on farms or in factories was a part of many children's and adult lives.
Additionally, infectious disease was widespread in society, and often swept through the schools. This was due to lack of information about causes and prevention, inadequate sanitation, insufficient funding for meals, overcrowded conditions, and students whose resistance was low.
An Indian boarding school refers to one of many schools that were established in the United States during the late 19th century to educate Native American youths according to Euro-American standards. In some areas, these schools were primarily run by missionaries. Especially given the young age of some of the children sent to the schools, they have been documented as traumatic experiences for many of the children who attended them. They were generally forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity instead of their native religions, and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their Indian identity and adopt European-American culture.
"Corporal punishment of students during that era also was an acceptable practice at many schools. So you can't blame people for being a part of their time," said JoAllyn Archambault, program director, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Worse than that have been documented cases of mental and sexual abuse, as in North Dakota.
By 1923 in the Northwest, most Indian schools had closed and Indian students were attending public schools. States took on increasing responsibility for their education. Other studies suggest attendance in some Indian boarding schools grew in areas of the United States throughout the first half of the 20th century, doubling from 1900 to the 1960s. Enrollment reached its highest point in the 1970s. In 1973, 60,000 American Indian children were estimated to have been enrolled in an Indian boarding school..
The Meriam Report of 1928
, officially titled "The Problem of Indian Administration", was prepared for the Department of Interior. Assessments found the schools underfunded and understaffed, too heavily institutionalized, and run too rigidly. What had started as an idealistic program about education had gotten subverted.
It recommended:
- abolishing the "Uniform Course of Study", which taught only majority European-American cultural values;
- having younger children attend community schools near home, though older children should be able to attend non-reservation schools; and
- ensuring that the Indian Service provided Native Americans with the skills and education to adapt both in their own traditional communities (which tended to be more rural) and the larger American society.
Change to community schools
Several events in the late 1960s and mid-1970s (Kennedy Report, National Study of American Indian Education, Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975) led to renewed emphasis on community schools. Many large Indian boarding schools closed in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007, 9,500 American Indian children lived in an Indian boarding school dormitory. From 1879 when the Carlisle Indian School was founded to the present day, more than 100,000 American Indians are estimated to have attended an Indian boarding school.
A similar system in Canada was known as the Canadian residential school system.
Lasting effects of the Americanization policy
While the concerted effort to assimilate Native Americans into American culture was abandoned officially, integration of Native American tribes and individuals continues to the present day. Often Native Americans are perceived as having been assimilated. However, some Native Americans feel a particular sense of being from another society or do not belong in a primarily "white" European majority society, despite efforts to socially integrate them.
In the mid-20th century, as efforts were still under way for assimilation, some studies treated American Indians simply as another ethnic minority, rather than citizens of semi-sovereign entities which they are entitled to by treaty. The following quote from the May 1957 issue of Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, shows this:
- "The place of Indians in American society may be seen as one aspect of the question of the integration of minority groups into the social system."
Since the 1960s-1970s, however, there have been major changes in society. Included is a broader appreciation for the pluralistic nature of United States society and its many ethnic groups, as well as for the special status of Native American nations. More recent legislation to protect Native American religious practices, for instance, points to major changes in government policy. Similarly the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 was another recognition of the special nature of Native American culture and federal responsibility to protect it.
See also
External links
- , Hartford World History Archives
- , National Public Radio
Further reading
- Tatum, Laurie. Our Red Brothers and the Peace Policy of President Ulysses S. Grant. University of Nebraska Press (1970).
- Senier, Siobhan. Voices of American Indian Assimilation and Resistance: Helen Hunt Jackson, Sarah Winnemucca, and Victoria Howard. University of Oklahoma Press (2003).
- Churchill, Ward. Kill the Indian and Save the Man: the genocidal impact of American Indian residential schools, San Francisco : City Lights Press (2004).
Footnotes
Additional references
- Adams, David Wallace (1995). Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875 – 1928. University Press of Kansas.
- Ahern, Wilbert H. (1994). "An Experiment Aborted: Returned Indian Students in the Indian School Service, 1881-1908", Ethnohistory 39(2), 246-267.
- Borhek, J. T. (1995). "Ethnic Group Cohesion", American Journal of Sociology 9(40), 1-16.
- Ellis, Clyde (1996). To Change Them Forever: Indian Education at the Rainy Mountain Boarding School, 1893-1920. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Hill, Howard C. (1919). "The Americanization Movement", American Journal of Sociology, 24 (6), 609-642.
- Hoxie, Frederick (1984). A Final Promise: The Campaign to Assimilate the Indians, 1880-1920. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
- McKenzie, Fayette Avery (1914). "The Assimilation of the American Indian", The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 19, No. 6. (May), pp. 761-772.
- Peshkin, Alan (1997). Places of Memory: Whiteman’s Schools and Native American Communities. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
- Spring, Joel (1994). Deculturalization and the Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of the Education of Dominated Cultures in the United States. McGraw-Hill Inc.
- Steger, Manfred B (2003. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
- Wright, Robin K. (1991). A Time of Gathering: Native Heritage in Washington State. University of Washington Press and the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum.
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