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The Lives of American Indians

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Title: The Lives of American Indians


1
The Lives of American Indians
  • In the
  • Nineteenth Century
  • (1800s)

2
The Lives of American Indians in the 19th Century
  • Today we are going to begin learning about how
    our new nation the United States of America
    and its new government leaders our founding
    fathers decided to deal with the American
    Indians.
  • But before we can learn about the actions of our
    governmental leaders, we need to learn something
    about the people who lived on the land that we
    now call the United States of America.

3
When the US was born, it consisted of 13 states.
The rest of the United States was owned by the
French, the Spanish, and the American Indians.
Between 1776 and 1853 just 77 years all of
that land came under control of the United States
government.
4
An important part of our study about American
Indians is just how the original inhabitants of
North American lost almost all of their land
during this period. As you can see on this map,
before the English colonists arrived in the early
1600s, all of the North American continent was
under the control of the many Indian tribes.
By the end of the nineteenth century, almost
all that land had come under the control of
non-Indian peoples.
5
  • Before we can learn how the American Indians lost
    their land, we need to learn a little more about
    who they were and how they lived when the United
    States was born.

6
The Lives of American Indians in the 19th Century
  • When the US Constitution was signed, hundreds of
    tribes lived in North America tribes that had
    been living there for thousands of years.
  • Tribal members spoke
  • hundreds of different languages,
  • practiced many different spiritual beliefs,
  • and experience a wide variety of different
    political, cultural, and economic lifestyles.
  • Indians of North America were diverse peoples.

7
Diversity
  1. Discuss the word diversity. What does it mean
    in general? What is cultural diversity?
    Spiritual diversity? Political? Economic?
  2. Discuss the concept that from the time of
    European contact forward, North American became
    even more diverse, especially in terms of race.

8
Diversity
  • Racial diversity arrived early to North America.
    Indeed, as early as 1619 when the first Africans
    arrived, the continent became the home to at
    least three races of people Anglo Europeans,
    black Africans, and American Indians.
  • Ask students if they think there is much
    diversity among themselves? Ask them to relate
    some information about their ancestry and
    emphasize how truly diverse they are even
    though they may not appear to be diverse.

9
SOVEREIGNTY
  • Not only were Indian peoples of North America
    quite diverse, they were also politically
    sovereign.
  • Does anyone know what sovereignty is?

10
SOVEREIGNTY
  • Sovereignty is the supreme power from which all
    political powers are derived. A nation is
    sovereign when its people have the power to
    govern themselves.
  • Were the Indian Nations sovereign at the time of
    European contact with the North American
    continent?
  • Yes! All Indian nations originally exercised the
    powers of sovereigns. Indian nations recognized
    the sovereignty of other Indian nations by
    forming compacts, treaties, trade agreements, and
    military alliances with one another. All the
    colonies recognized the sovereignty of Indian
    nations by entering into treaties with the Indian
    nations.
  • Sovereignty, then, was an inherent right of
    Indian peoples - a right that could not be taken
    away.

11
SAVAGE
  • But many Americans, instead of recognizing either
    the diversity or sovereignty of American Indians,
    instead referred to them as savages or noble
    savages.

12
SAVAGE
  • Noah Webster, the author of the first new
    dictionary produced in the United States in 1828,
    included the following definition
  • Savage, n. A human being in his native state of
    rudeness one who is untaught, uncivilized or
    without cultivation of mind or manners. The
    savages of America, when uncorrupted by the vices
    of civilized men, are remarkable for their
    hospitality to strangers, and for their truth,
    fidelity and gratitude to their friends, but
    implacably cruel and revengeful towards their
    enemies.
  • Questions
  • By this definition, Indians were savages who were
    uncivilized. What did uncivilized mean?
  • 2. What do you think Webster and other Americans
    felt was civilized?
  • 3. How are the definitions of savage,
    uncivilized, and civilized different in a
    contemporary Websters Dictionary?
  • Discussion This definition reveals the mixed
    feelings that many white Americans felt about the
    Indians. On the one hand was the so-called
    noble savage belief that Indians were good by
    nature (remarkable for their hospitality to
    strangers, and for their truth, fidelity and
    gratitude) because civilized society had not
    taught them to be otherwise. On the other hand
    was the cruel savage belief that Indians were
    violent, cruel, and revengeful. Regardless of
    whether white Americans viewed Indians as noble
    or cruel, they were always defined both as
    savages and as heathens persons who did not
    believe in God and were in need of conversion to
    Christianity. Nowhere was there any understanding
    that the actions of white settlers might be to
    blame for some of the cruelty, revenge, and
    violence they encountered among the Indians. It
    was easier to regard the Indians as fundamentally
    different from and inferior to whites.

13
Assignment
  • Now lets take a brief moment to think about our
    own beliefs and attitudes about American Indians
    who lived over 200 years ago.

14
Assignment 1
  • My Thoughts about American Indians
  • Goal To help students think about their beliefs
    and/or stereotypes about American Indians.
  • Directions Write a brief paragraph describing
    your thoughts about American Indians who lived in
    the US over 200 years ago. What clothing did they
    wear? What were their homes like? What did they
    do for a living? How did they have fun? Now,
    write a brief paragraph describing your thoughts
    about American Indians today.
  • Have students turn these in and keep them
    throughout this unit of study. At the very end of
    the unit, have them write a new paragraph about
    their thoughts. Then have them compare the two.
    Finally, have them write a brief paragraph
    telling how and why they think their thoughts
    have changed.
  • Homework Assignment Have students collect at
    least one example of stereotyping of any group of
    people from each of the following a television
    program a television commercial a popular song
    a newspaper article and food package. In at
    least one written page, have students explain
    each of their five examples and describe why they
    are stereotypical. Be sure to have them identify
    the group that is the focus of each stereotype.

15
Discussion
  • Discussion What is stereotyping? Do you think
    that American Indians have been stereotyped?
  • Stereotyping occurs when an entire group of
    people is characterized by mistaken ideas of how
    they behave, live, dress, or think.
  • What types of stereotypes exist about American
    Indians in our society?
  • What is harmful about such stereotyping?
  • Stereotyping degrades Indian people and their
    cultures and it distorts the reality of Indian
    people for non-Indian people. It is
    dehumanizing.
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