Abstract This paper will discuss the demise of the Californian Indians that populated much of the territory before the white men came in to the country. The issues that will be explored in this paper will deal with certain tribes and how they were exterminated from the Californian coast because of land problems (dealing with gold), technology, cultural weaknesses and other sources of man-made manifest destiny (such as warfare) that Americans took out on these tribes. By understanding the scope of history that surrounds the fall of the Indian tribes of California, we can see how they were cajoled into accepting an inferior rank to the white settlers that slowly, but surely, removed them from the land that was once theirs.
Abstract This paper discusses the nature of Native American politics in today's world. By analyzing the different policies and events that are occurring within the Tribal nations of Native America, the writer shows what is being done within this scope. The writer demonstrates how the Native American situation functions on political level of the casino, so that a better understanding of their culture can be revealed.
Abstract This paper will discuss the way the railroad changed the way of life for the Indians of Northern California. The effects of the railroad from the builders perspective will be analyzed as well.
Abstract This six-page undergraduate paper compares the tenets of attachment parenting to the teachings and culture of Native Americans in terms of birth-bonding, breast-feeding on the cues of the infant, bed-sharing, baby-wearing, and the belief in the signal value of the infant's cry.
Abstract This six-page undergraduate-level paper is in the form of a memo to a civil rights organization director who is faced with the challenge of protecting the voting rights of the Native American community in South Dakota.
Abstract This paper formulates two testable hypotheses to explore the causes behind the theory that the American Indians are underserved by rehabilitation services. Moreover, the paper continues to develop the remaining components of the research in order to test the hypothesis.
Abstract This undergraduate level paper takes Using several sources, including stories from Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, to argue that there continues to be very little room in the American culture for Native Americans. It concludes that without a fundamental shift in perceptions and education of White America, this situation will certainly not improve.
A brief historical analysis of the Comanche Indians in the American West.
2,400 words (approx. 9.6 pages), 7 sources, 2002, $ 89.95
Abstract This paper discusses the Comanche Indians of the American West, starting at around 1830 and continuing until the tribe was forced onto a reservation. The author focuses the discussion upon why the Comanche were important.
Abstract Writers often use the knowledge of a situation to form their novels, but, often, words are added to form a descriptive way of making the story interesting and appealing to the readers. This can be seen in the movie, "Dances With Wolves". The film is based on the social, economic, and racial background of the Lakota people; however, imagination and creativity add to the film and draw the interest of the viewer.
Abstract This paper uses the experiences of two historical figures in early America, Bartolome de las Casas and Anne Bradstreet, to reject the notion of the right to religious freedom in America. Bartoleme de las Casas, while more humane than other Spaniards of his time, still represented the dominant philosophy of Spain during early America, that religious freedom meant the freedom to convert others to one's own religion. Bradstreet is described as belonging to a community, typical of the Puritan era, that rejected the rights of others who chose to believe differently.
From the Paper "Bradstreet does not discuss the issue of freedom of religion in her poems but seems rather to live that freedom herself. She determines meaning by contemplation rather than by repeating lessons learned from some authority, for instance. She concentrates most on her family rather than on God and religious issues. She contrasts in this regard with Edwards, who gives all his concentration to religious matters and who judges everything in the community on the basis of how it accords with his religious beliefs."
Abstract This paper deals with Native American customs and their whole spiritual realm. It illustrates this by using three, short Native American stories, which show how different and complex Native American belief systems are.
From the Paper "People make minor mistakes all the time. Most of these mistakes can be easily corrected; however, when people make major mistakes in judgment that can be life- changing and do nothing to correct them, the spirit world will sometimes help one along towards the right path. Sometimes people might not realize that they are even making mistakes and hurting those whom they love. Joseph Bruchac, a Native American and the author of ?Bone Girl,? writes a very moving story about a Native American man who is taking a writing course and is writing a story for his class. His teacher wants him to write from the beginning in a straight line towards the end; however, he chooses to writes in a circular fashion because that is how a lot of native Americans write and tell stories."
Abstract This paper examines the history of relations between the Native Americans and the settling colonialists in 1500 and onwards. It discusses why the settlers did not manage to enslave the Native Americans and how they ended up turning to Africa for their labor needs.
From the Paper "Perhaps the ultimate form of exploitation would be the advocation of slavery, at that time a universal practice. The custom of enslavement came from the necessity of disposing of prisoners-of-war, from the greed of traders, and from the demand for labour. Slaves, by character, were people apparently weaker than their masters either in the sense of being defeated opponents (i.e. prisoners of war), or people with no means to withstand capture and imprisonment from an oppressor. The oppressors often based their justifications for denoting a population suitable for being slaves by claiming higher moral and religious understanding, i.e. to be civilised. In America, the indigenous population certainly fitted the part to be this inferior class, with inferior technology and crucially, an 'inferior' religion. Yet the extensiveness of negro slavery in Southern America by the time of the civil war (over 4 million African-origin slaves existed) compared to the virtual non-existence of Indian slavery indicates that for whatever reason, the local southern Native American Indians were 'passed over' in the search for a suitable candidate to solve the labour shortage created by the rapidly expanding colonies. Therefore, can it be argued that the southern Native Americans were too powerful to be enslaved?"
Abstract This paper presents a detailed examination of the Bering Strait Theory. The author of this paper explores the various theories about the Bering Strait and the belief that the Native Americans came across it during a migration out of Asia. The writer argues that the Bering Strait Theory has several conflicting elements, making it a questionable theory.
From the Paper "As science continues to evolve there are many questions about mankind that are coming to light and being answered. One of the most pressing questions in recent history has been the question of migration and different races and cultures settling in various areas of the world. Historians, scientists, and others have been putting together facts as they are being discovered, and many of those facts point to the possibility that the theories society has accepted in the past may have been untrue. One theory that has been scrutinized lately has been the Bering Strait Theory. The Bering Strait theory contends that the Native Americans actually started out as Asians and migrated across the strait many years ago. Currently there are people who have begun to challenge the Bering Strait theory, claiming that the time lines and other evidence do not add up."
Abstract Ahanu tells the story of his interaction with the Englishmen in Massachusetts during the 1600s. This paper covers the main events that happened between the Englishmen, first Pilgrims and then later Puritans, and the Wampanoag Indians. The two peoples were friendly at first, but then engaged in warfare and bitterness, resulting, ultimately, in the downsizing of the Wampanoag Indians. Also, this paper presents an overview of the Wampanoag tribe. All of the facts presented in this paper are true, as are references, but there is a storyline here that gives the facts a dramatic effect.
From the Paper "I am Ahanu of the Wampanoag. But I don?t like it when I am called by my name. I prefer for people to call me by my Christian name, William. I have lived many long years and I have seen my people dwindle in number. I have seen the English with smiling faces and I have seen them with faces of blood-lust and hate. I have gained some things from the pale invaders, but I have lost so much to them. I was ten years old when they first came. I am now eighty years old and they have not left. Wampanoag means "eastern people" in the English language and that's what we are. We live in the northern part of what is now called New England by the English. Before the Englishmen came, we lived between the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island to the western end of Cape Cod, in southeastern Massachusetts. I use the English names for the lands mentioned in my story for the sake of clarification. We were located north of the Narragansett tribes and south of the Pocumtuck tribes. Our language is Algonquin, and we share that language with the Massachusett, the Nauset, and the Nanagunsett tribes. We are a horticultural people, but we also hunt and fish in addition to our harvest. We especially like seafood from the coastal areas of Massachusetts. Our government, if you want to call it that, is a confederacy with a Grand Sachem and lesser sachems and sagamores."
Abstract This paper provides an overview of the Alabama-Coushatta tribe and, in particular, examines how it is currently changing to fit the new circumstances of the modern world as it struggles to maintain ties to traditional values and practices in the Big Thicket of East Texas, where the members of this cultural group have lived for a number of years.
Outline
History of the Group
Modern Americans, Not Noble Savages
A History of Misfortune
From the Paper "The Alabama Indians, who came to Tyler County in 1805, were members of the Upper Creek Confederacy of Indians as well as members of the Muskogean Nation. The Coushattas arrived in East Texas at about the same time: They came to East Texas in the years directly after 1795. Both groups were given land to settle by order of the Texas Congress; however, this land (which was relatively good for raising stock and had regular access to water) was illegally claimed and homesteaded by white settlers, Sam Houston intervened to ask the government of Texas to purchase land for the Indians ? who had supported Houston and other Texans in the state's battles for independence."
