Native American Assimilation

As Europeans began to come to North America, they began to have encounters with native tribes that resided there. When more and more people arrived, clashes between the cultures and territorial disputes were inevitable. Settlements turned to colonies, and eventually the colonies turned into the United States. Throughout this time period, people began the process of westward expansion, causing even more controversy between the cultures, as well as many fights for the land that was being taken. Many treaties tricked tribal leaders into signing away land, though many did not believe land could be owned or sold. Governmental policies began unfairly segregating tribes into different areas, or reservations, but their dwelling place was subject to

As mentioned above, the loss of their culture terribly affected the young children’s relationships with their families. In an interview, a Native American that had been affected by these schools, Bill Wright, shared that his loss of his language led to his grandmother feeling as if he had lost his identity, as he had lost his ability to communicate with her and others he had associated with. Though this was clearly deleterious to the indigenous tribes, Americans still felt as if they were assisting them with their opportunities for the future. Officially, they made it seem as if they thought this was polite, beneficial, and in the best interests of both parties. From the inverse perspective, though, this was not the case. While the Americans felt it was better to live their way, most, if not all, Native American tribes felt as if they were fine with their lives and culture, and would be happy just proceeding along, not being

These schools forcefully broke up families, stripped kids of their culture, and sent them back, seemingly without an identity. They were given new names, new clothes, short hair, and many other different things, dividing them from their families. These institutions were abusive, and caused great harm to the cultures of the indigenous tribes. Though the schools came with a promise that they would offer the Native American children a better future, this was simply not the case. Racism prevented any Indian, no matter how assimilated, from being truly accepted and equal in the eyes of the American population. In the end, assimilation was had more than just one motive. Assimilation would develop into the breaking up of tribes, and the American government would benefit greatly by taking the land that had previously been granted as reservation space. In addition to the destruction of tribal culture and identity, the institutions were used to control less cooperative peoples. These institutions had nearly nothing to do with the things and ideas they were advertised to be completely invested in. They simply held the role of controlling tribes and stripping away culture from the children, ripping families apart and