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Jack Collins

Cooper/Whipple

AP English/AP U.S. History

24 May 2017

The Negative Impact of Cultural Interaction on Native Americans

Five hundred years ago about sixteen million indigenous people roamed the land that

would one day become the U.S.; however, only about five million exist today (Lord 1). The main

reason for this decrease in native people is their contact with outside societies. Throughout my

junior year, the major theme of study has been Native Americans and their relationships with

other people. From the Columbian era to modern times, cultural interaction between native

cultures and non-native societies has proven to be mostly disadvantageous for Native Americans

because this interaction has created violent conflict, led to a decrease in cultural autonomy, and

led to stereotypes created toward Native American society.

Throughout history, there has been a theme of violent conflict between Native Americans

and non-native societies, in which conflict either arose from a negative impact on native cultures

or resulted in the declination in various ways of Native American culture. In AP U.S. history, we

analyzed and wrote about ten documents from the Dakota War of 1862, which was caused by

white settlers seizing vast amounts of land that were crucial to such an agricultural-based native

economy. The ten documents we reviewed were written from the white settlers, Native

Americans, and federal governments perspectives, allowing me to create my central argument

that the federal government and white settlers were at fault for the war. The various points of

view, along with the cause and effect of the war (the natives in that area lost rightful land), gave

me a chance to clearly understand that this violent conflict deprived Native Americans of a
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critical cultural aspect (land). This was all the result of the governments/settlers ruthless nature,

view of natives as inferior beings, and their little regard for native cultural values. Similarly, I

analyzed a document from the Native American perspective regarding native responses to the

English settlers. As a result of English encroachment onto native land, the Wampanoag natives

fought a war known as King Phillips War against the English that ended in significant loss of

agricultural land for some tribes and complete decimation of other tribes. This war illustrated the

courageous mindset of the natives and the sheer will they had for preserving their culture

because they fought the English despite massive technological disadvantages. Also, the Native

American perspective exemplified to me not only the incredible determination they had to defeat

the English, but also their intense anger toward the colonists for depriving them of their

successful economic activities. A more modern-day example is the Native American occupation

of the Wounded Knee site in 1973, which is described in the book, Like a Hurricane, in which

we were tasked with analyzing six different aspects of the book. The occupation took place

because of native resentment of the federal government's failure to fulfill treaty promises of

leaving reservation lands alone, which made it more difficult for traditional native homes, land

use, etc. to persist. After writing about quotes from specific native activists, such as Russell

Means, the Native Americans passion for their rights and frustration with the government was

evident. This frustration stemmed from the government's untrustworthiness to keep promises,

which showed that preserving Native American culture was not a top priority to the government.

While on our New Mexico trip, we visited the Acoma Pueblo and learned about the Acoma

Pueblo revolt of 1599, where the Spaniards desired to take Acoma land and ended up defeating

them in a mass execution of hundreds of natives. This conflict resulted in the Spaniards forcing

many Native Americans to convert to Christianity and adopt other Spanish cultural values.
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In addition, cultural interaction between natives and non-natives has led to a decrease in

cultural autonomy, ultimately making natives more assimilated with white culture in a mostly

negative, but occasionally beneficial way. In the first semester of AP U.S. history, we took notes

on the effects of the Columbian Exchange on native populations in the U.S., in which we found

that approximately ninety percent of Native Americans were killed by European-brought

diseases (measles, smallpox, etc.). Since each native tribe had its own traditions and unique

culture, when several tribes were completely wiped out by disease, many of those cultural

practices were lost. Also, Native Americans who were not killed by disease were used in brutal

labor systems by the Spaniards such as the encomienda system, where natives were forced to

adopt Christianity and leave their traditional religious beliefs. However, the horse that was

brought over by Europeans proved to be a huge advantage for Native American hunting, showing

a scenario where native assimilation had a positive effect on their culture. Also, we watched a

TED talk by Aaron Huey claiming that hundreds of native languages are becoming extinct due to

English being the prominent language in most native schools, especially native boarding schools

that are supported by the government. Hueys speech also claimed that traditional native dances

are no longer able to be performed because of the loss of language, demonstrating a way in

which Native Americans culture is negatively affected through educational assimilation.

Similarly, my Pueblo Native American tour guide on the Rio Grande River trip discussed with us

the English language versus the declining native language in his particular tribe. In his

community, the only language taught in schools is English, and it is up to parents or relatives to

teach the younger generations the native language. His first-hand experiences proved to me that

native assimilation into another culture can cause something so precious and valuable as their

language to decrease in popularity. This theme of a diminishing Native American cultural

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autonomy was carried through an English project called IBL (Inquiry Based Learning), in which

my group researched the Navajo grazing restrictions enforced by the federal government. In the

late 1800s to mid 1900s, the U.S., government reduced not only the amount of land the Navajo

can graze cattle on, but also the amount of cattle they can own. This research conveys the small

level of concern the government has for the Navajo economy, as grazing sheep and goats was

their primary economic activity. As a result, some natives were forced to slowly shift away from

that lifestyle and begin to adopt new ways to be economically successful, further hindering their

ability to preserve cultural autonomy.

In addition, non-native people have created stereotypes of Native Americans that have

not only created negative attitudes and goals for natives, but also has led to Native Americans

creating their own stereotypes of other cultures. In English class, we read and annotated

Superman and Mean essay by Sherman Alexie that discusses how the stereotypes placed on

natives affects them. Through the first-person point of view and our annotations we saw that

Native Americans accept certain stereotypes that are placed on them, including the social norm

to fail in school. Superman and Me exemplifies that these stereotypes are powerful enough to

shape a negative cultural view that Native Americans hold upon themselves. However, while

visiting a fifth-grade classroom at the ToHajiilee Community school in New Mexico, I observed

the opposite. Contrary to what I have been studying, I saw intelligent Native American students

learning concepts I remember studying in elementary school, kids who were eager to learn and

who were staying on task. Also, I was surprised at the similarities between the ToHajiilee school

and my elementary school, a nice gym, simple desks, an abundance of classroom materials, etc.,

which allowed me to rid of the stereotype I had about the inferiority of Native American schools.

Along with Alexies essay, we watched a movie in English class, Smoke Signals, that
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demonstrated a different effect on natives of the stereotypes they live under. We completed a

viewing guide for the video that allowed me to see that the natives responded to stereotypes by

simply creating their own toward other cultures, which is understood through both the frustration

natives have with the white societys view of them and the Native American perspective the

movie is narrated from. We culminated our learning of Native American stereotypes in a socratic

seminar in English class by using examples from specific assignments throughout the year. Upon

reflecting over the year in this seminar, it struck me that not only are natives victims of

generalized stereotypes, such as they are all uneducated, but also the prejudices against them are

shown all over the nation in kids movies, books, and social media. As a result of many people

holding these generalizations to be true, interactions between natives and non-natives are less

friendly, and Native Americans adopt a negative outlook on themselves, leading to further

damage of Native American culture.

Culture is what makes a certain group of people unique and connected, and yet Native

Americans have had theirs crushed and ruined by other societies. This issue needs to be

addressed, and can be solved through a well-rounded education, such as the one the AGS juniors

received, that allows for truthful knowledge to be acquired, leading to a more successful

relationship between Native Americans and non-natives in the future. Unfortunately, for now,

natives traditional values are diminished through the violence, assimilation, and generalized

assumptions with non-native societies.

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Works Cited:

Alexie, Sherman. Sherman Alexie: Superman and Me. Salt Lake City, Univ. of Utah Press, 2010.

Eyre, Chris, et al. Smoke signals. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017.

Huey, Aaron. "America's Native Prisoners of War." TED. September 2010.

https://www.ted.com/talks/aaron_huey. Accessed 23 May 2017.

Lord, Lewis. How Many People Were Here Before Columbus? Essay - 387

Words. StudyMode, www.studymode.com/essays/How-Many-People-Were-Here-

Before-63677269.html. Accessed 24 May 2017.

Smith, Paul Chaat, and Robert Allen. Warrior. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement

from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee. New Press. 1996