Introduction
Native Americans have a long and varied history from the colonial period to the twentieth and 21st centuries. Although at times, Native Americans are depicted as a monolithic ethnic group, the truth is that there exist over five hundred discrete Native American tribes, all possessing diverse cultures and languages (Barnes & Bowels, 2015). Owing to their massive geographical variances, the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and religious peculiarities of the Native Americans are so great that they warrant the group to be referred to as different nations. This difference assists, even though the group underwent identical assimilation and invasion activities. This paper explores events that transpired among Native Americans from 1877 onwards, concluding that there was an effort to get rid of the group, the group participated in World War II and other events, each impacting their way of life.
Native Americans’ Forced Assimilation Through Boarding Schools
The 1800s were characterized by the White Man developing novel methods aimed at depriving Native Americans of their land. It seemed to the white man that assimilation was a more economically feasible alternative to the previous massacres he was undertaking. This new method served not only to ease the white man’s conscience but also to confiscate the Native Americans’ space. The seizure was done by initially constraining the natives to reservations and using Christianization and education to civilize them.
The credence that it was impossible to solve the Indian problem unless the Indian identity was thoroughly cleansed from Native America was crucial for establishing Indian boarding schools. The initial federal government-funded non-reservation boarding school was instituted in 1879 in abandoned military barracks in Pennsylvania (Smithsonian, 2020). Captain Richard Henry Pratt was the school founder and defended that it was only possible to assimilate Native American children by exposing them to the white man’s culture and language. He added that civilization, far from their tribal ties and reservations, would also help. Force was used to take Native American children away from their families.
In a 1892 speech that was highly quoted, Pratt symbolized how the adopted Indian problem approach differed from that of General Sheridan. General Sheridan’s approach was a former method that involved attacking and massacring Native Americans. Pratt’s religious and military background was instrumental in his humanitarian treatment of Native Americans. He believed that keeping Native Americans away from all their former links and reservations would lead to their extinction.
In the schools, the identity of Native Americans faced a two-sided attack. Initially, all invisible and visible symbols and signs that linked the Native Americans to their tribal heritage and identity were cleared. After that, the children were required to adopt the white man’s cultural beliefs, behavior, and values. The children endured numerous challenges through this process, including punitive disciplinary approaches founded on military training. At six years of age, children were forced to bathe in kerosene, dress in uniforms, and were banned from speaking their language. Despite the adverse repercussions and challenges that the boarding schools presented to the group, today, multiple Native American students voluntarily attend these schools and have, as a result, received an education.
Native American Role in World War II
Before Christopher Columbus arrived in the United States, many Native Americans inhabited the land. This number is estimated to have been around one million (Barnes & Bowles, 2015). Four hundred years later, owing to massacres and hardships the Native Americans were subjected to, including the forced boarding schools, the number had decreased to around 250,000 (Barnes & Bowels, 2015).
However, the number had slightly increased to about 350,000 by 1940 (Barnes & Bowels, 2015). Of this number, 44,000 were enlisted in the military during the Second World War (Barnes & Bowels, 2015). These Native Americans performed excellently in the military, receiving various awards, citations, and medals. Some even received the Congressional Medal of Honor, including A Cherokee Indian, Lt. Jack Montgomery, A Choctaw, Lt Van Barfoot, and from the Creek tribe, Lt. Ernest Childers.
After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, most Native Americans either registered in the armed forces or embarked on working in war plants. The majority of the Native Americans who were in the troops enlisted voluntarily. By 1942, Native Americans’ annual enlistment in the military stood at about 7,500; by 1945, the figure had hit 22,000. Almost all of the Native Americans who were entitled to the draft had enlisted in 1945.
Use of Native Language for Coded Messages
While it could be thought that using the Native language in the war would present communication challenges, the fact is that using Native American languages helped enhance communication among American code talkers to the point of baffling their German opponents. American Indians, including the Choctaw, utilized native languages to send sensitive messages on the battlefield (Jevec, 2022). Philip Johnston, a veteran, grew up in the Navajo reservation and recommended that the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) employ Navajo men to help with the communication needs of the military on the battlefield. Navajos were deployed, developing a dictionary of words and codes to transmit tactical messages. Each English alphabet letter was matched to a Navajo word to spell phrases and words.
The codes had, with time, included hundreds of intricate terms that were memorized by men in the military through the application of cultural tradition. A new school was instituted to train the codes, enlisted recruits, and draftees comprising over 400 Navajos and other Native American tribes’ men. The recruits were also trained in wire and radio communication. From 1942 to 1945, code takers served in the military and on the battlefield. While there were challenges, including death during the war, overall, the achievement of helping in the war’s progress and victory was realized using the native language codes.
Native Americans’ Civil Rights and Activism
In the subsequent period after 1945, Native Americans were involved in civil rights activism and the movement. Notably, in June 1961, the University of Chicago held a nationwide Native American conference. Over 500 Native Americans, drawing close to 100 bands and tribes, took part. They formed the Declaration of Indian Purpose, which reinforced the tribal community development, vowing to ensure internal assistance and to seek government help.
A generation of Native American activists was mobilized through the conference. After the conference, a widespread activist and organizational response in native communities emerged. These included: The National Indian Youth Council, instituted in 1961, and the American Indian Movement, founded in 1968, which were part of a vast organization proliferation in cities and reservations. Additionally, the 1960s and 70s were characterized by establishing multiple native magazines and new papers.
Imperative economic, legal, and political national organizations were also instituted. These included the 1969 National Indian Education Association, the 1970 Native American Rights Fund, the 1971 National Tribal Chairmen’s Association, and the 1975 Council of Energy Resource Tribes (American Indian Movement, 2015). These organizations served to epitomize the interests of Indians at various government levels.
Several cities in the U.S. were also characterized by the growth of a Native American population, leading to the advent of a national Native American activist movement that was later referred to as the Red Power Movement. Native Americans started uniting in the 60s to take charge of their future. A Native American activist generation obligated the federal and public government to look at the challenges that faced the reservation tribes. Despite the difficulties encountered, including restricting fishing among North Pacific tribes, fishing was allowed by launching these and the fish-in movements.
Dakota Access Pipeline Protest
Commencing in April 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Members, a Native American tribe, led thousands of persons to gather at Camps close to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), and created the #NoDAPL movement. DAPL refers to a 1,172-mile pipeline for transporting crude oil from North Dakota to terminals and refineries in Illinois (Journal of International Affairs, 2020). DAPL investors sought to profit by providing an affordable transportation alternative to rail. The project’s proponents proclaimed that the pipeline would meet the highest safety standards for the environment.
The #NoDAPL movement viewed the pipeline as threatening water quality and the Lakota and Dakota Rock Sioux tribe person’s cultural heritage. Part of the construction of DAPL was through water and land, and the Native American tribes had never consented to it. They viewed the projects as being culturally and environmentally substantial to the wellness and safety of their members.
A significant challenge was that the project’s construction destroyed places culturally significant to the tribe, such as ancestral burial sites. In 2016, a judge delivered a judgment against the tribe, advising that the tribe had been consulted regarding the cultural heritage risk. A review of the judge’s knowledge and opinion of how processes of corporate consultation work shows a different perspective.
In the confrontations and standoffs, multiple indigenous individuals in the #NoDAPL movement emphasized that it was a prayer and ceremony for water protection. Time-tested knowledge of indigenous persons’ expressions, such as water and ceremony, informs the use of these expressions. The meaning often offers a respected moral relation to water and human beings, as well as all aspects that are important for the safety and wellness of humans. While the #NoDAPL camps were met with violent confrontation by police, their achievements include embracing #NoDAPL among many persons and creating a free online Standing Rock syllabus for educators.
Conclusion
It is clear that since 1877, various events have occurred affecting Native Americans’ way of life. The 1800s were characterized by a notion to get rid of the Indian aspect among natives, leading to the adoption of boarding schools aimed at assimilating their culture into that of the whites. In World War II, the natives were enlisted in the military, and their language was crucial to communication, which helped the U.S. win the war.
Post-1945, the Native Americans were instrumental in the civil rights movement, forming various organizations, including the Red Power Movement, to advocate for their rights, such as access to fishing. The #NoDAPL movement can be viewed as a continuation of the activism for which the 60s and 70s protests paved the way. Thus, it can be concluded that these events have shaped the American Natives as they are known today.
References
American Indian Movement (AIM). (2015). In T. Riggs (Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of U.S. economic history (pp. 5-10). Gale.
Barnes, L. D., & Bowels, M. D. (2015). The American story: Perspectives and encounters from 1877. Bridgepoint Education.
Jevec, A. (2022). Semper Fidelis, code talkers. National Archives, 33(4), 3-8. Web.
Journal of International Affairs. (2020). The standing rock protests and the struggle for tribal sovereignty. Journal of International Affairs, 3-4. Web.
Smithsonian. (2020). Struggling with cultural repression. Web.