Native Americans Essay Research Paper In this

Native Americans Essay, Research Paper

In this paper, I plan to talk about Native Americans people, the struggles they have had, their beliefs and customs, and some problems they are still facing today. Because there are so many Native American tribes, I decided to talk only about a few. I was looking in my diversity book, and I found there is a large tribe in Wisconsin called the Menominee tribe. Therefore, I will talk the Menominee tribe as well as some of their early history.

Native American s have always had it rough. When Whites started to come over to America, they didn t think twice about taking over the Native American s land. As it says in Strangers to These Shores, Columbus s first impressions of the Arakawa Tribe in the Caribbean reflected ethnocentrism

I knew they were a people who would better be freed and converted to our Holy Faith by love than by force they are all generally of good height, of pleasing appearance and well built They must be good servants and intelligent and I believe that they would easily become Christians, as it appeared to me that they had no sect. (#1, pg. 223)

Struggle number one. People from other cultures trying to convert the Native Americans to their ways. Whites were the minority for several years, yet they still tried to sell the idea that there way was better (#1). Whites were viewed by the Native Americans as liars, cheaters, and hostile people (#1). These two groups had a hard time trying to mix cultures. The Native Americans couldn t understand the Whites way of treating the land, animals, and each other (hangings, prison, etc) (#1). The Whites couldn t understand why the Native Americans didn t want to be Christian, and why they didn t want to join their enlightened way of life (#1). A bit later, violent wars between each group became common, and the ending result is that the Whites won. Whites gave the Native Americans puny areas of land (that was already theirs) to live on, and the whole history of this just make me disgusted. (#1 pg. 220)

Menominee History

The tribe out of Wisconsin, Menominee tribe, is the state s oldest continuous inhabitants (#2). They have lived on the land for over 5,000 years. (#2 pg. 1) Their language is the dialect of Algonkian language (#2). The tribe is considered to be a woodland tribe (#2). Most tribes east of the Mississippi are woodland tribes (#2). Before the Whites destroyed the land and animals (cannot help my contempt), their income was based on gathering, hunting, fishing, etc (#2). These activities required lot of land. Therefore, they inhabited area from the upper Michigan in the north all the way to Milwaukee in the south, west to the Wisconsin River and east to Lake Michigan (#2). They covered, all together, about 9.5 million acres. (#2 pg. 1) French later arrived in 1634 in the Wisconsin area to add beaver trapping to the Menominee s way of life (#2). Through time, beavers were becoming scarce and the Menominee had to travel to find them (#2). Also, trading became important to the Menominee because they were becoming dependent on the French for really cool things that they could barter for like guns, pans, blankets, beads, etc (#2). After a while, they were so dependent on the French for supplies and stuff they forgot how to do things the old way (#2). Then along came the British. The Menominee people soon realized that they could get better deals with the British, than with the French (#2). This lasted until the British were remove from the area after the War of 1812(#2). Americans then had authority of the area by 1814. (#2)

Later came the treaty era. Over all the Menominee tribe signed ten treaties and transferred 9.5 million acres to the U.S. government (#2). Land for settlers were needed (#2). The 1849 treaty had a clause to relocate the Menominee people to Crow Wing, Minnesota (#2). This treaty was flawed, and the government then offered a new treaty that removed the removal clause (#2). Finally in 1852 the Menominee people relocated to the section of land known as the Wolf River, and they have been there ever since (#2). It is a great area with an abundance of trees, streams, wildlife, and lakes (#2). The current population of the Menominee people is 3,270, living on 233,881 acres (#1).

Today the Menominee people earn their income from the logging industry (#2). The people run the sawmill and the cutting of the timber (#2). This operation currently employs 350 people (#2). The Menominee people run a successful operation because of their Sustained Yield Management Plan (#2). This management plan prevents clear cutting and put limits on the amount of board feet that can be taken in any given year (#2). The Menominee management plan is known all over the world and millions of observers come from all over to study it. (#2).

The Menominee s government is labeled as a sovereign nation, the only higher constitution than their own is the United States constitution (#2). The Menominee people have legislature consisting of nine people, and the governing body is elected by the voters (#2). Its purpose is to uphold all tribal affairs (#2).

Native Americans/Menominee s Respect for their Environment

Native American s have always viewed their environment as sacred (#3). Their belief is they are just a small part of the great continuous circle (#3). Everything is apart of this circle and if one part is e