Transcript The American Holocaust - Colts Neck School District

Native American Genocide
When colonization of the Americas
began, the relationship with the settlers
was good.
Native people taught them:
to farm
to live off the land
to survive the winters &
how to heal themselves with Native Medicines
The settlers were invited to participate in sacred Ceremonies.
Native Americans taught the settlers to bathe for
hygienic purposes.
At the time bathing was outlawed in many places in
Europe!
“They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many
other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks'
bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were
well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not
bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they
took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have
no iron. Their spears are made of cane... . They would make fine
servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make
them do whatever we want.”
Columbus and his men were welcomed by the Native
people until they began to enslave them, making men,
women, and children find gold with NO PAY.
When the Native people resisted, they were killed.
Columbus defended his actions by saying that the Native
people were “simple-minded, barbaric, and godless.”
Desire for Land Invented a New Attitude toward Native American People
Land
The people were seen as
•
•
•
•
Slaves
No longer human
Not worthy of compassion
In the way of Manifest Destiny
The land was seen as
• Free for the taking
• Rich with resources
• Property of Europe’s
governments and religious
leaders
Native American’s religious ceremonies were OUTLAWED.
PART II:
Acts of CULTURAL GENOCIDE
WHAT IS GENOCIDE?
(1) The practice of extermination of nations and ethnic groups as carried
out by invaders.
(2) The destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the
other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor.
~LEMKIN
(3) Currently, "genocide" is commonly defined as "acts committed with
intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group."
Population Before…
At the time of first European contact, North and South America was peopled by more than 90 million American Indians:
Population of Native American at the Time of
European Contact
United States
Mexico
Central America
Caribbean Islands
S. American Andes
S. America (rest)
Population of Native American at the Time of
European Contact
S. America (rest)
Region
S. American Andes
S. American Andes
Caribbean Islands
Central America
Central America
Mexico
United States
United States
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Population in MILLIONS
10 million in America;
30 million in Mexico;
11 million in Central America;
445,000 in the Caribbean islands;
30 million in the South American Andean region; and
9 million in the remainder of South America.
Population After Contact…
Population of Native Americans in the United States
In the mid and early 1800’s the population in
12,000,000
the
US was
around half a million people.
10,000,000
Population
10,000,000
In 1970 833,333 Native people in the US.
8,000,000
In6,000,000
1990 the census stated 1,959,234
4,000,000
2,000,000
500,000
833,333
1,959,234 2,475,956
In the year 2000 census the Native American and
0
Alaskan1400's
Nativeearly
population
was 2,475,956
(3
1800's US Census
US Census US Census
times the number
in 1970).
1970
1990
2000
Years
There were over 700 tribes with their own
cultures, religious beliefs, governments, and
traditions.
Each tribe may have had similarities, but they
were in essence 700 different countries.
today there are over 500 federally
recognized Native American tribes in the
United States.
WHAT HAPPENED TO
NATIVE PEOPLE????
•Famine
•Disease
•Forced Assimilation
•Warfare
•FORCED REMOVAL FROM THEIR HOMELANDS
In 1838 Congress passed the Indian removal act, which forced Native Americans off
their HOMElands.- VIDEO
Trail of tears- 15,000 Cherokee and other neighboring tribes were forced to move to
Oklahoma. Many people died along the way of starvation and cold. 4,000 PEOPLE DIED ON THE NEW LAND
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SURVIVE.
In 1975 alone, Indian Health Services permanently sterilized some 25,000 Native
American women--many after being coerced, misinformed, or threatened. The
population was drastically affected.
On September 8, 2000, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) formally
apologized for the agency's participation in the "ethnic cleansing" of Western
tribes and the forced sterilization of Native women.
GERM WARFARE
• Native American people were given blankets contaminated with the deadly
smallpox virus.
• It has been estimated that at least 300,000 were killed in this manner.
Lord Jeffrey Amherst
ordered that blankets
infected with smallpox
be distributed among
enemy tribes, and the
order was acted on.
SMALLPOX
The American Holocaust
• The newcomers did not understand the
different way that Native people lived.
• Out of their ignorance many violent
acts were committed, permanently
destroying many parts of Native
American culture.
Boarding
Schools
•Missionaries and government officials used
boarding schools as methods to destroy the
cultural identity of thousands of Native American
people.
Apache children from Arizona shipped to Pennsylvania
Boarding
Schools-After
 Native people could not practice their
own religion.
 They were forced to convert.
 Their hair was cut and traditional
tribal clothing was taken away.
 They were not allowed to speak
their own language, and were
physically punished if they did not
listen.
 They were taken far from their
homes and families.
The Apache students four months later.
Native children were forced to go
to boarding school, and if they
escaped, which many tried,
bounties were often offered to
return them.
Rationale Behind Boarding Schools- VIDEO
“Kill the Indian, save the man.”
Indian culture was inferior.
Indian religion was inferior.
“It is cheaper to Americanize the Indian than kill the Indian using the army.”
The separation between the children and
their communities contributed the
breakdown of the Native families and
Native culture
The children couldn’t speak their
language, and therefore, often
could not communicate with their
parents, grandparents, and other
community members when they
finally returned home.
Tom Torlino (Navajo) as he appeared upon arrival to the Carlisle
Indian School, October 21, 1882, & Tom later.
ADOPTION
• Native American children were
at times taken from their homes
and adopted into white families
• They often never even knew the
were Native American
• IMAGINE THAT!
Native people waited over 400 years for basic RIGHTS
• Suffrage 1924
• 1970’s and 80’s- Repatriation Act was
enforced to some extent
• 1977 the Indian Child Welfare Act was
passed
• 1978 Freedom of Religion Act was passed
Eagle feather is to Native Americans
(different feathers as well to many tribes)
• As crucifix is to Christians
• As Mecca is to Muslims
• As the Star of David is to Jewish
people
• IN OTHER WORDS SACRED, HOLY,
BLESSED
The Basic Indian Stereotypes
By Joseph Riverwind (Creek/Seminole)
 Few of us lived in tipis, wore feather bonnets, or fought like "braves.“
 We had no inherited royalty.
 We did not smoke a peace pipe.
 We did not whoop.
 We do not pound a drum or "chant" primitively.
 We do not have shamans.
 We do not worship nature.
 We do not all have spirit animals or funny "Indian names."
The Essential Facts About Indians Today
By Terry Straus http://www.bluecorncomics.com/essntial.htm
"Indian" is a legal and political status, not a race.
Indians have essentially a dual-citizenship status.
Tribes all have separate governments.
Tribes all have their own tribal constitutions.
Tribes are different from each other, but have some things in common
because of their relationship to the federal government.
• Indians are contemporary people.
• Indians are very diverse, and more than half live in urban settings.
• Indians are not all rich because of casinos.
•
•
•
•
•
What is an Indian Reservation?- video
• Land managed by a Native American tribe
under the United States Department of the
Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs
– The US government owns the land
– Land cannot be sold
• Established when White Americans and
American Indians signed treaties
– transfer of land;
– forcibly taken from the American Indians
• Native Americans have limited national
sovereignty
– Laws on tribal lands may vary from the
surrounding area
– Laws can permit legal casinos on
reservations, which attract tourists.
• There are about 300 Indian reservations in the
United States
– Not all of the country's 550-plus
recognized tribes have a reservation —
some tribes have more than one
reservation, others have none.
Native American Issues Today
• Loss of cultural objects
• Loss of traditions through forced assimilation
• Poverty on reservations
– Connected to drug use and abuse
• Unemployment on and near reservations
• Choice between reservation and off-reservation life
• Racism: mascots, unequal treatment, etc..
Misinformation about Native American culture has been spread
worldwide, which has lead to:
• “Playing Indian,” wearing regalia as
costume
• Outlawing religious practices
• Using sacred symbols as mascots or
putting them on products to sell.
• Destruction of sacred sites and
graveyards
• Mocking
• I really don’t like the fake cartoon and illustration
in Indian books that are here in the school library.
My name is Monica Spencer and my tribe is
Navajo, Laguna, Kiaoni and Pueblo, all full
blooded. It makes me mad when children make
fun of my culture. It makes the kids think we do
that when we don’t. When the children grow up I
don’t want them to think that Indians put
feathers in their hair and dance around the fire.
We don’t do that. And I don’t think that it is right
for the kids to look at the silly things they put in
those silly books. One day I saw a kid running
around with a feather in their hair and putting
their hand to their mouths and making weird
noises and I cried when that happened. So what I
want you to do is put those books away and learn
about our real history.
Video