Native Americans

Written Assignment 4

March 22, 2014

Native Americans were the first people living in the United States until Europeans arrived, sought to colonize and take over. During this time, Native Americans were subjugated to warfare, new government and losing their lands. Forced to submit to White settlers, many Native Americans have had to choose between assimilating into a White culture or preserving their heritage and ancestry. This essay will discuss public policy regarding Native Americans and provide some examples pertaining to ethnocentrism and cultural relativity.

Public Policy and Ethnocentrism

From early on, Native American culture has been on a collision with White society. During the colonial period, the government did not want to have any issues with settlers and Native Americans. Schaefer mentions that Whites were to take precedence regardless of the needs or interference by tribes (150). The secretary of war was put in charge of the Native Americans with regard to any Federal communications. Later in 1824 the Bureau of Indian Affairs was created as an intermediary between the Native Americans and the government (Schaefer 150). As White settlers started to move west, they had felt that Native Americans were blocking their progress. This led to the Indian Removal Act that was passed in 1824 which forced several tribes to leave their ancestral lands. Schaefer also mentions, “the federal government enacted legislation that affected them with minimal consultation” (151). The government’s goal was to weaken tribal institutions so that Native Americans would assimilate.

The government still tried to make Native Americans become more like White homesteaders. In 1887 the government passed the Allotment Act which would turn tribal members into land owners. While each family was given 160 acres, there were some stipulations. Schaefer mentions that “the act prohibited Native Americans from selling the land for 25 years”...