Native People and Native-European Colonialism: 1880-1920 Essay

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The era between 1880 and 1920 described the era when the European settlers realized about the extensive civilization in North America. There were thirteen colonies, which include Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and many others. The Britain ruled their empire and the American colonies under mercantilism economic theory. The process of enforcing this system resulted to the American Revolution.

As H.W. Brands noted, this period served as a reckless decade filled with tension, problems, and calls for resolution. During this period, the Populist Party drove the impulse for political, social, and economic reforms. The dramatic move in 1892 for reformation by the Populist Party platform at Omaha summarized the agenda of the union of farmers, small businesspersons, and reformist leaders with the impetus for change with a view to reclaim the freedom of the Natives.

The religion proclaimed by the Natives had great diversity resulting from isolation of tribes that existed across North America. This increased the growth of various beliefs and practices among many tribes. Most of the Native Americans believed in supernatural being who were omnipresent, invisible and three life crises, which include death, puberty and birth. Natives’ spirituality involves an emphasis on personal spirituality that connects with personal life, natural and spiritual world.

The source of misunderstanding came because of the Natives’ personal and practical religion, rather than exhibiting tendencies of institutionalized forms of religion. Federal mandates restricted the freedom of religion among the Native people, which included the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. This provided protection for tribal culture and other traditional religious rights. The Natives could not access sacred sites or worship through traditional ceremonies.

They were also restricted to use or possess sacred objects as used by the Eskimos, Native Hawaiians or American Indians. The other federal law includes the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This Act required federal agencies and institutions that received federal funds to return their cultural items and humans remains to their individual natives. These items include sacred and cultural patrimony objects.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act also restricted the Native Americans from their religious exercise. This was due to the constraints put on exercising their religious practices as federal law gave relief from government burdens. The Natives experienced forced mechanisms aimed at making them to join Christian boarding schools to worship as Christians. For 30 years, the Natives and their spiritual leaders were restricted from practicing their rituals.

The other law was the eagle feather law, which inputted charges on religious discrimination among the Natives. It also restricted the use of ceremonial peyote and repatriation of human remains as well as the use of cultural objects. The Natives viewed their religious and cultural practices as sacrificial and used various ways in order to avoid the federal restrictions.

The Natives avoided these laws and held a strong personal and spiritual link to their cultural practices and ancestors. For instance, they believed that the remains for the death should be peaceful. The first law that restricted access to sacred sites was avoided as the traditional leaders testified that the pristine mountain would be destroyed.

This occurred when the federal government wanted to build a road to the sacred land. The Natives avoided these laws by fighting back for their rightful benefits and showing evidence as protected by the free-exercise clause. The restrictions failed due to the inability of enforced provisions and the inability of providing religious freedom with no attached conditions. The laws did not protect sacred sites, which harmed the Natives culture and the religion.

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IvyPanda. 2019. "Native People and Native-European Colonialism: 1880-1920." April 24, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/native-people-and-native-european-colonialism-1880-1920-essay/.

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