Native American Genocide

1
Native American Genocide
2
When colonization of the Americas began, the
relationship with the settlers was good.Native
people taught them to farm to live off the
landto survive the winters how to heal
themselves with Native Medicines
3
The settlers were invited to participate in
sacred Ceremonies.
4
Native Americans taught the settlers to bathe for
hygienic purposes. At the time bathing
was outlawed in many places in Europe!
5
They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton
and spears and many other things, which they
exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells.
They willingly traded everything they owned... .
They were well-built, with good bodies and
handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and
do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they
took it by the edge and cut themselves out of
ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are
made of cane... . They would make fine
servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate
them all and make them do whatever we want.
6
Columbus and his men were welcomed by the Native
people until they began to enslave them, making
men, women, and children find gold with NO PAY.
When the Native people resisted, they were
killed. Columbus defended his actions by saying
that the Native people were simple-minded,
barbaric, and godless.
7
Desire for Land Invented a New Attitude toward
Native American People Land

• The people were seen as
• Slaves
• No longer human
• Not worthy of compassion
• In the way of Manifest Destiny
• The land was seen as
• Free for the taking
• Rich with resources
• Property of Europes governments and religious
  leaders

8
Native Americans religious ceremonies were
OUTLAWED.
9
PART IIActs of CULTURAL GENOCIDE
10

• WHAT IS GENOCIDE?
• The practice of extermination of nations and
  ethnic groups as carried out by invaders.
• (2) The destruction of the national pattern of
  the oppressed group the other, the imposition of
  the national pattern of the oppressor. LEMKIN
• (3) Currently, "genocide" is commonly defined as
  "acts committed with intent to destroy in whole
  or in part a national, ethnical, racial or
  religious group."

11
Population Before
At the time of first European contact, North and
South America was peopled by more than 90 million
American Indians
12
10 million in America 30 million in Mexico 11
million in Central America 445,000 in the
Caribbean islands 30 million in the South
American Andean region and 9 million in the
remainder of South America.
13
Population After Contact
In the mid and early 1800s the population in the
US was around half a million people.
In 1970 833,333 Native people in the US.
In 1990 the census stated 1,959,234
In the year 2000 census the Native American and
Alaskan Native population was 2,475,956 (3
times the number in 1970).
14
There were over 700 tribes with their own
cultures, religious beliefs, governments, and
traditions. Each tribe may have had similarities,
but they were in essence 700 different countries.

15
today there are over 500 federally recognized
Native American tribes in the United States.

16
WHAT HAPPENED TO NATIVE PEOPLE????

• Famine
• Disease
• Forced Assimilation
• Warfare
• FORCED REMOVAL FROM THEIR HOMELANDS

17
In 1838 Congress passed the Indian removal act,
which forced Native Americans off their
HOMElands.- VIDEO
Trail of tears- 15,000 Cherokee and other
neighboring tribes were forced to move to
Oklahoma. Many people died along the way of
starvation and cold. 4,000 PEOPLE DIED ON THE
NEW LAND BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO
SURVIVE.
18
In 1975 alone, Indian Health Services permanently
sterilized some 25,000 Native American
women--many after being coerced, misinformed, or
threatened. The population was drastically
affected. On September 8, 2000, the head of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) formally
apologized for the agency's participation in the
"ethnic cleansing" of Western tribes and the
forced sterilization of Native women.
19
GERM WARFARE

• Native American people were given blankets
  contaminated with the deadly smallpox virus.
• It has been estimated that at least 300,000 were
  killed in this manner.

Lord Jeffrey Amherst ordered that blankets
infected with smallpox be distributed among enemy
tribes, and the order was acted on.
SMALLPOX
20
The American Holocaust

• The newcomers did not understand the different
  way that Native people lived.
• Out of their ignorance many violent acts were
  committed, permanently destroying many parts of
  Native American culture.

21
Boarding Schools

• Missionaries and government officials used
  boarding schools as methods to destroy the
  cultural identity of thousands of Native American
  people.

Apache children from Arizona shipped to
Pennsylvania
22
Boarding Schools-After

• Native people could not practice their own
  religion.
• They were forced to convert.
• Their hair was cut and traditional tribal
  clothing was taken away.
• They were not allowed to speak their own
  language, and were physically punished if they
  did not listen.
• They were taken far from their homes and
  families.

The Apache students four months later.
23
Native children were forced to go to boarding
school, and if they escaped, which many tried,
bounties were often offered to return them.
24
Rationale Behind Boarding Schools- VIDEO

• Kill the Indian, save the man.
• Indian culture was inferior.
• Indian religion was inferior.
• It is cheaper to Americanize the Indian than
  kill the Indian using the army.

25
The separation between the children and their
communities contributed the breakdown of the
Native families and Native culture
The children couldnt speak their language, and
therefore, often could not communicate with their
parents, grandparents, and other community
members when they finally returned home.
26
Tom Torlino (Navajo) as he appeared upon arrival
to the Carlisle Indian School, October 21, 1882,
Tom later.
27
ADOPTION

• Native American children were at times taken from
  their homes and adopted into white families
• They often never even knew the were Native
  American
• IMAGINE THAT!

28
Native people waited over 400 years for basic
RIGHTS

• Suffrage 1924
• 1970s and 80s- Repatriation Act was enforced to
  some extent
• 1977 the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed
• 1978 Freedom of Religion Act was passed

29
Eagle feather is to Native Americans (different
feathers as well to many tribes)

• As crucifix is to Christians
• As Mecca is to Muslims
• As the Star of David is to Jewish people
• IN OTHER WORDS SACRED, HOLY, BLESSED

30
The Basic Indian StereotypesBy Joseph Riverwind
(Creek/Seminole)

• Few of us lived in tipis, wore feather bonnets,
  or fought like "braves.
• We had no inherited royalty.
• We did not smoke a peace pipe.
• We did not whoop.
• We do not pound a drum or "chant" primitively.
• We do not have shamans.
• We do not worship nature.
• We do not all have spirit animals or funny
  "Indian names."

31
The Essential Facts About Indians Today
By Terry Straus http//www.bluecorncomics.com/essn
tial.htm

• "Indian" is a legal and political status, not a
  race.
• Indians have essentially a dual-citizenship
  status.
• Tribes all have separate governments.
• Tribes all have their own tribal constitutions.
• Tribes are different from each other, but have
  some things in common because of their
  relationship to the federal government.
• Indians are contemporary people.
• Indians are very diverse, and more than half live
  in urban settings.
• Indians are not all rich because of casinos.

32
What is an Indian Reservation?- video

• Land managed by a Native American tribe under the
  United States Department of the Interior's Bureau
  of Indian Affairs
• The US government owns the land
• Land cannot be sold
• Established when White Americans and American
  Indians signed treaties
• transfer of land
• forcibly taken from the American Indians

• Native Americans have limited national
  sovereignty
• Laws on tribal lands may vary from the
  surrounding area
• Laws can permit legal casinos on reservations,
  which attract tourists.
• There are about 300 Indian reservations in the
  United States
• Not all of the country's 550-plus recognized
  tribes have a reservation some tribes have more
  than one reservation, others have none.

33
Native American Issues Today

• Loss of cultural objects
• Loss of traditions through forced assimilation
• Poverty on reservations
• Connected to drug use and abuse
• Unemployment on and near reservations
• Choice between reservation and off-reservation
  life
• Racism mascots, unequal treatment, etc..

34
Misinformation about Native American culture has
been spread worldwide, which has lead to

• Playing Indian, wearing regalia as costume
• Outlawing religious practices
• Using sacred symbols as mascots or putting them
  on products to sell.
• Destruction of sacred sites and graveyards
• Mocking

35

• I really dont like the fake cartoon and
  illustration in Indian books that are here in the
  school library. My name is Monica Spencer and my
  tribe is Navajo, Laguna, Kiaoni and Pueblo, all
  full blooded. It makes me mad when children make
  fun of my culture. It makes the kids think we do
  that when we dont. When the children grow up I
  dont want them to think that Indians put
  feathers in their hair and dance around the fire.
  We dont do that. And I dont think that it is
  right for the kids to look at the silly things
  they put in those silly books. One day I saw a
  kid running around with a feather in their hair
  and putting their hand to their mouths and making
  weird noises and I cried when that happened. So
  what I want you to do is put those books away and
  learn about our real history.

36
(No Transcript)
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
Video