Native Americans

The Native Americans are well thought to be people with pre-Columbian ancestors, who were indigenous to the modern boundaries of the nation’s land. The natives were composed of many different bands, tribes, as well as ethnic groups. In this paper, I am going to discuss the historical events and issues that affected contemporary political development among Native American communities in North and South America. I am also going to explain the theories of the origin of American Indians in North America, and look at how Native responses to European activities affected the direction the colonies took, as well as discuss the legacy of the Dawesame act.

Many people have researched the historical events and issues that affected contemporary political development among Native Americans communities in North and South America over the years. According to Dowd, G. E. (1993), the original inhabitants, who are the ancestors, crossed into North America through Alaska from northeastern Asia. It is estimated that the crossing date varies between ten to twenty six thousand years ago. According to history, it is thought that there was no movement in mass, but a series of smaller groups’ migration in a long period. In the year 1980, an American census counted over a million Indian persons within the population including Aleuts and Eskimos, with more than half of the number living cities or towns. The government estimated over 800, 000 Natives living adjacent to or on Indian reservations. This shows that the rural reservations remain a significant focus for the Indian identity. The non-Indians, mainly the white Americans and the Europeans have failed consistently to acknowledge the specific identities as well as the culture of Native Americans, which has led historical events and issues of stereotypes, myths, confusion, and misunderstanding. This has been destructive particularly on the side of Native Americans since the definition of power has both tremendously and historically been white on red, Dowd, G. E. (1993). For instance, the confusion among the whites on the inability of the general public together with the specialist to set aside their own understanding of a political and governmental unit constitutes or structure and realize that the Native American structures are not the products of liberal representative democracy and economic individualism. The most typical form of a political discussion amongst Native Americans tries to reach an agreement; the idea of disregarding opposing and rival viewpoints by simple majority votes is alien.

The theories of the origin of American Indian in North America state that there were principally three routes through which they may have come; Aleutian Islands, Bering Strait, and Polynesia. According to Solis, A. (1975), the route that was used by no means depends upon the original habitat; thus, the Chinese may have passed from the Aleutian Islands till they reached the western continent, or the people of India may have crossed Bering Strait and immigrated to the north of Asia. The America was peopled theory, from East Asia, is more advocated than the other is, and it is more based upon a reasonable explanation than the other is. It is correct, originally, that the Americans may have had an origin that was autochthonic. However, if they might have originated from another continent, then it should be Asia that should be looked at for such an origin. Additionally, according to the fifth century Chinese theory settlement, it should be considered that there are more theories of Japanese and Mongol settlement. Kublai Khan, who was a Mongol emperor in the thirteenth century, sent a tough armament against Japan. The mission failed, and the fleet was dispersed by a tempest that was violent. It is said that some of the ships were cast upon the Peru coast, and the crews said to have founded Incas, the mighty empire, which was conquered by Pizzaro three centuries ago. The Mongolians reaching and settling America is just a matter of history, Solis, A. (1975). However, any other distressed ships that may have been driven on Peru’s coast may be just a conjecture since such news of arrival never reached Asia. According to Solis, A. (1975), the origin of Japanese, or a strong infusion of their blood were never recognized by the northwest coast. There is nothing unlikely in this; in fact, there are reasons to believe that there are   some parties of Japanese that reached the continent of America and married women then left some physical peculiarities and ideas upon their descendants. Maybe these visits might have been accidental, but it is certain that they occurred in great numbers. There are many instances of Japanese junks having drifted upon the coast of America; however, there is no record of any Japanese women ever been saved from such. The reason behind the presence of Japanese and the absence of Chinese is simple. There is a current of cold water that sets from the Arctic Ocean going south along the east coast of Asia, which in fact, drives all the Chinese wreck south, unlike the Japanese current, which runs north past the eastern coast of Japan then curves round to the south and east sweeping the entire coast of North America.

The native responses to European activities affected the direction the colonies took because of clashes between value and cultures systems. The American Indians believed that land belonged to everyone, and that it was to be used and shared by everyone, Starkey, A. (2002). For instance, when game animals became infrequent, they would move to other grounds. This was contrary to the Europeans’ concept of land ownership in which every landowner was the only one with access to use the land. Government officials, missionaries, settlers, and military officers perceived the communal, tribal, lifestyle and thinking of the natives deficient in contrast to their own. This concept difference of land ownership finally came to the natives losing the use of the North American land and thus being forced to reservation lands that nobody else wanted. There was pressure in population as the settlers expanded the territory, generally pushing people that were indigenous westward and northward. However, according to Starkey, A. (2002), raiding and warfare also took place because of the wars between the North American European powers, who enlisted allies from Native Americans to assist them in warfare against each other’s settlement. Many of the conflicts were local including some entailed cycles of reprisal. In the later years particularly, conflicts were drove by ideologies such as Manifest Destiny, which stated that the United States was meant to grow from coast to coast in the continent of North America. Later, in the years around 1830s, there was a policy in the United States of Indians removal in the east of the River Mississippi, which was large-scale planned removal of people that were indigenous from the settling areas of the Europeans. In the years that led to the Congressional passage of the act related, there were armed conflicts between the Native Americans and the settlers. Some removals were achieved through exchange or sale through treaties. In 1894, the Census Beaureu counted over 40 wars, which killed a number of 19, 000 whites, and around 30,000 Indians, Starkey, A. (2002). However, it was noted that the number of Indians killed was most probably higher than the count.