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How Did The Native Americans Live On The Reservations

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After reading about the Native Americans and their lives on the reservations I believe they faced considerable difficulties when it came to a reservation lifestyle. However, I think the most difficult aspect of the reservation system for them was the acceptance of more passive roles. I believe this was a major cause of their culture identity being sacrificed.

After the Native Americans arrived on the reservations they had to give up their hunter-warrior roles and accept more passive ones (Olson & Beal p.194). I believe the differences that came along with living on the reservations caused changes in the traditional ways of thinking about power and authority so then responsibilities changed also. The acceptance of more passive roles sort of left the door open for the white settlers to come in and build the reservations in their image. The constant presence of white idealists trying to convert Natives to Christianity added to cultural identity loss (Olson & Beal p.194). The Iroquois tried resisting this conversion and stated, “We are Indians and don’t wish to be transformed into white men. The English are our Brethren, but we never promised to become what they are” (Everyculture.com/Iroquois Confederacy/Transformation of Culture). I believe this also led to the Native Americans having to speak English, as well as getting a “white” education. …show more content…

Political, social, and economical structures were everywhere (Olson & Beal p.194). Being forced from their lands and coerced onto reservations where the Native Americans were under the constant control of whites had to play a huge role in the loss of their cultural identity. They almost had to accept the lesser roles in order to survive. However, in doing so they lost their independence, as well as their sense of personal

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