American Indians Conflicts

Many races and ethnics were battered, but American Indians were the most misunderstood and degraded than other racial or ethnic groups. Unlike other minorities groups in America, the American Indians were not the newcomers. They had lived in this land many years before white men arrived here, most of them lived peacefully on this land. Indians have a unique and singular culture unlike any other minorities group in America. Their values and culture were much too different to the white settlers which caused a great conflict between those groups until today.
American Indians were composed of distinct tribes with different languages, values, lifestyles and so on, but with a common characteristic, this was the respect for the land and nature. They lived in harmony with their environment not abusing of it. At the beginning of the first wave of European immigrants, many tribes helped to these early settlers to establish in America and to acquire new skills to survive in the new land. This relationship between settlers and Indians were a peaceful coexistence. However, this situation changed the European population growth as well as their ambition by getting more lands including the Indians’ land. The expansion of areas by European-American population was made with extreme violence. They forced the American Indians tribe to relocate to other lands for the economic benefit of the whites. Most Indians maintained the land for the use

“Conflict theorists examine inequality in society and how existing social patterns benefit some people while depriving others” (p.20) They were victims of territorial invasion, genocide, and the destruction of their culture. Indians were systematically eliminated and segregated in reservations. The whites took Indians' fertile lands to improve their businesses and economy, American Indians had been active to demand through the organization of social movement against