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Sam Tagle
AGS
Reflection
5/22/17
The arrival of Europeans in the Americas changed the lives of Native Americans forever.
While there was both immediate positive and negative effects of European contact, it overall
worsened the lives of the Natives. The AGS Juniors were able to see first-hand what Native
Americans are like, and how they live on reservations, and the way history has led up to the
current situation of Native lives on reservations during the AGS Southwest trip. On this trip, we
were able to visit a reservation area, speak with Native Americans about their culture, and begin
to develop a better understanding of Native American life today. Non-Native interaction with
Native Americans throughout history has led to generally poorer quality of life for Native
Americans, and this is the result of a history of violence, stereotyping and racism, and a lack of
Relations between Native Americans and non-Natives today have significantly been
influenced by events over the course of history. Upon arrival of the Europeans to the Americas,
different countries developed different relationships with the Native peoples. The English
colonies, who eventually conquered the majority of North America, overall had a violent
relationship with the Native Americans. Disputes over claims to land were the main cause of the
problem, and the USs idea of Manifest Destiny only seemed to make matters worse. Treaties
and promises were made between the US and Native tribes but the US failed to keep these
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promises, leading to the Dakota War. What also lead to the war was the forced assimilation of
Natives into American culture, as well as the rejection of Native religion (Dakota). A group of
other students and I analyzed documents during this war as a part of our Dakota War Project.
What resulted from this war was the moving of Native Americans onto reservations, which is
where lots of Native Americans live today. On reservations then and now, there is an evident
lack of funds, medical supplies, and basic necessities on reservations, and this is because of the
violence and war between Natives and American settlers. My group came to the conclusion that
during the Dakota War, the Native Americans were reasonably violent towards the settlers
because they were trying to defend their culture (Dakota). This history of violence caused a
decrease in the quality of lives of Native Americans. Had Natives never had land conflicts with
the Americans, they could have prospered and lived life the way they traditionally do. Being
placed on reservations caused a decrease in the practice of Native cultures as well, where after
Natives were moved onto reservations they struggled to maintain their traditions. This combined
with the lack of resources, ultimately caused Natives to live a poorer life.
Stereotyping and racism also continue to greatly affect the lives of Natives today. Native
American stereotypes create a lack of understanding for the Native people, their culture, and how
they actually live today. My group and I found in our IBL project that elementary schools fail to
teach much about Native Americans, which leads to a blurred perspective of what Native
Americans actually are and how they live. More specifically, this leads to stereotypes and leads
to a lack of proper knowledge about Natives and why and how they live on reservations (IBL).
This poor understanding causes the situation of poor living on reservations to go almost
unnoticed. This is also a reason why Native Americans have a lower quality of life on
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reservations, because people dont recognize that there is an issue at hand. We also saw how
stereotypes and racism are expressed toward Native Americans in the movie Smoke Signals,
where two Native American characters, Victor and Thomas, are depicted as having long-black,
braided hair and having lots of spiritual connections to nature and everything around them,
especially Thomas. In the movie, the two characters are on a bus, and two white men take their
seats (Eyre). When Victor and Thomas ask for their seat back, the men make a racist remark and
tell them to find another place to sit (Eyre). Natives arent accepted in society due to this racism
and stereotyping, which leads to them not being able to find the same opportunities as
non-Natives. This racism and stereotypical view has been developed throughout history, for
example, through the American Indian Movement, where Natives sought equal human rights but
were instead were rejected and faced with racism. The lack of understanding and acceptance of
Native culture leads to a lower quality of life for Native Americans because they arent given a
fair opportunity to participate in American Society, and therefore cant experience similar
liberties as Americans.
Another reason that Native life is poorer than the average American is because the
average person doesnt know that Natives are living under a low quality of life, and they dont
have a basic understanding of who Native Americans are today. As part of my IBL project, my
group and I took action by going to Oak Hill Elementary School to teach a first grade class about
Native Americans, and change their stereotypical perspectives of them. With our limited time,
we read them a story while they drew pictures of Natives Americans to go along with the story,
and then we briefly explained the lives of Native Americans on reservations today. Hopefully
this act changes their perception of what Native Americans really are and hopefully inspires
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them to continue to educate themselves and others about reservations in the future.The way that
Native Americans have assimilated to American culture now has also caused a decrease in their
quality of life, but more specifically their traditional life. On the New Mexico trip I had the
chance to speak with a Pueblo Native, named Josh, about his culture while on a raft moving
along the Rio Grande river. He explained to my group that his peoples culture is diminishing,
and more specifically, his Native language was getting lost (River Trip). We also got to listen to
a Navajo woman speak to us about her culture and traditional life while we ate dinner at a
restaurant. She explained that the culture and language are fading, and they are going to a
conference with tribe leaders to a conference to discuss how to revive the culture, and Natives
from Australia were invited because they had managed to revive their traditional culture and
language (Dinner Presentation). The average person doesnt understand that this is a current
issue or crisis in the world of Native Americans, so the average person grows ignorant of the
lives of Native Americans. It is because of this that the life of Native Americans are poor,
because people wont help resolve this issue and improve the living of Natives on reservations
Native Americans live in a low quality of life on reservations due to a history of violence,
stereotypes and racism, and because people dont actually know that Natives live in poor
conditions. While the history of violence, revolution, and rebellion can not be amended or
reservations, and the governments policies toward Natives in order to begin seeking
Work Cited
Smith, Paul Chaat, and Robert Allen Warrior. Like a Hurricane: the Indian Movement from