Native American Assimilation

Native American Resistance Movements

1492-Present

Native American/Indigenous Peoples Resistance

• Settler Colonialism - the process replacing the people of a land with settlers from another land

• Example: "European countries engaged in settler colonialism which pushed Indigenous groups further west."

• Assimilation - the process of removing a person or group's culture in favor of the dominant culture

• Example: "One way the United States attempted to remove Indigenous culture was through assimilation, forcing Native Americans to adopt European clothes and lifestyle."

U.S. Methods of Native American Removal

• Broken Treaties - United States used legal methods to coerce Native groups into treaties that would later be broken.

• Warfare - U.S. Army and militia groups used as method to displace Native groups from homes / destruction of environment to disrupt Native American ways of life

• Assimilation - Schools and other methods were used to remove Native American culture and ways of life

Methods of Native American Resistance

• Legal Resistance - Challenging the U.S. to uphold the treaties that were broken / challenging U.S. through court system / petitioning for changes

• Physical Resistance - Warfare against U.S. military / protests

• Survival - Physical survival and survival of culture

Multiple Choice

True or False: The United States typically honored treaties made with Native American groups.

• True

• False

Open Ended

What changes were Tom forced into changing about his appearance through attending this school? What is important about these changes?

Luther Standing Bear was a member of the Lakota tribe and attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School beginning in 1879. 

At the age of eleven years, life for me and my people was ended without regard for our rights in the matter. At once I was thrust into an alien world, into an environment as different from the one into which I had been born as it is possible to imagine, to remake myself, if I could, into the likeness of the invader.

At Carlisle, the “civilizing” process began. It began with clothes. Never, no matter what our philosophy or spiritual quality, could we be civilized while wearing the moccasin and blanket. The task before us was not only that of accepting new ideas and adopting new manners, but actual physical changes and discomfort. Of course, our hair was cut, and then there was much disapproval. But that was part of the transformation process, and in some mysterious way long hair stood in the path of our development.

Almost immediately our names were changed to those in common use in the English language. . . . I was told to take a pointer and select a name for myself from the list written on the blackboard. . . . By that time we had been forbidden to speak our mother tongue, which is the rule in all boarding schools. . . . 

Open Ended

How does Luther Standing Bear describe his experiences at the Carlisle Industrial School?

Resistance to Assimilation

• Resisting the school by practicing customs and traditions

• Native American teachers at the school were viewed as traitors, but also viewed it as a method of survival. Some teachers quit and used their experience to teach in their communities.

• Establishing Indigenous schools that celebrated history and culture

• Risking death by keeping local traditions alive

Open Ended

Exit Ticket: What is assimilation? How did Native American groups resist attempts by the U.S. to erase their culture?