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Margaret Apperson

Cooper/Whipple

AP English P.4/APUSH P.7

May 24, 2017

Junior Year at a Native Glance

Even at a global stance, junior year is notorious for its heavy workload. The late nights,

early mornings, busy schedules, and strenuous homework make the year almost comparable to

hell. Although the past nine months have held some of the most rigorous and challenging

experiences of my life, the outcome has already proven to be beneficial. During my core classes

this year, particularly AP U.S. History and AP English, we focused on the early American Indian

and white American relationships. Covering nearly five centuries of history, we analyzed

documents, studied various literature pieces, discussed diverse cultural values, explored the

causes and effects of a myriad of historical events, and completed many other activities,

investigations, and lectures, all to gain an even better understanding of our past and its potential

effects on our future. The significant focus of this years teachings was on Native Americans and

their influence on our own American identity. Through the lessons over the past year and my

recent research, I have successfully discovered the answer to my overarching question: How

does the assimilation of Native Americans take away from their self-identification and culture?

My answer is simple: the lives of the Native population have changed tremendously over the

many centuries since assimilation began. Geographically, culturally, and fundamentally, the

assimilation of American Indians -- beginning as early as the 17th century -- has deeply affected

the Natives self-identification and culture.

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Beginning with the very first European colonists and -- unfortunately -- still continuing

today, the Native population has suffered severe geographical loss to white Americans. As a part

of our summer assignment for AP U.S. History, we were assigned to color-code the Native

American Cultures Map with the different characteristics of the pre-colonized North America.

Through labelling both the general locations of many key Native American tribes and whether

they hunted, fished, farmed, or hunted and gathered, we began the year with a basic, yet essential

foundation for our Native American-based curriculum. This particular map provided a glimpse

of what American Indian life was like, not only prior to assimilation, but even before the

European explorations to the Americas. Similar to this task, we also completed the American

Indian Cultural Groups mini-project, which provided further information about the locations

and geographical features of various Native American tribes. In completing this assignment, we

were split into groups and assigned a specific region -- in my case, the Great Plains. Through our

exploration of our assigned regions, we were able to gain a better understanding of the Native

perspective and life prior to the European settlement, similar to the information received from

the previously mentioned map. Once we became practically experts on the Native American life

and culture, pre-colonization, we eventually jumped to the late 15th and early 16th century

period. When learning about the Columbian Exchange during AP U.S. History, we completed

one particular worksheet in which we were tasked with researching the impacts of the Columbian

Exchange on both the Eastern and Western hemispheres during the 15th century. This worksheet

taught us about the various effects the European colonists had on the Native population, such as

the introduction of gunpowder, new diseases, tools, crops, etc. Similar to these few examples,

this particular exercise introduced a new concept to us: the idea that this unfamiliar European
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presence into the Americas created a new, long lasting culture and overall climate within the

region. Through our research, we found that as a difficult relationship grew between the colonists

and the Native Americans, the term "assimilation" was defined as certain colonists, particularly

priests, attempted to transition the Native population out of their culture and into their own. As

students, we quickly found that this newly defined term would be a significant pattern for the

next few centuries, and the effects are still apparent today. In early second semester, we were

assigned an Inquiry Based Learning project, where we were asked to develop an informative

product relating to the general focus of Native American life and identity. Our first step was to

develop an open-ended question that required extensive research and knowledge about our

chosen topic and an acknowledgement of many diverse perspectives. After conducting research

through the internet and various library databases, we formed our question, "Why does

privatizing Native American land take away from their self-determination and culture?" and then

decided on an audience to present our lesson to: 7th graders at Gorzycki Middle School. This

project was definitely one that I will never forget because we were given the opportunity to take

our research of the various petitions and protests regarding simple Native American rights and

the construction of the pipelines that will stretch hundreds of miles across the nation --

threatening the Native land and water supply -- and teach a classroom full of 12-year-olds.

Through various worksheets, presentations, and other hands-on activities, I found that the impact

of assimilation on American Indians was a tremendous territorial issue because the tribes were

continuously pushed out of their home land into either unknown, unwanted territory, or onto a

reservation.
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A similar effect that the act of assimilation has inflicted upon the lives of Native

Americans is is on the culture, particularly their religion. Many of the European colonists,

especially the Spanish, considered the only way to civilize the savage Natives was to convert

them to Christianity. Early this year during English class, we watched "The Mission" and

completed a viewing guide with questions regarding the film. This movie offers a slightly

alternate viewpoint of the constantly changing relationship between the Native people and white

settlers, exploring the lives of the Natives living in the Jesuit missionaries in South America

during the 18th century. The Mission also provides a deeper explanation of the various

religious and exploring groups who were involved in the assimilation of the Native population. A

similar assignment that taught us about the culture change that assimilation caused was our first

first Long Essay Question in APUSH. The prompt asked us to evaluate the ways in which

cultural interactions, cooperation, competition, and/or conflict between American Indians and

European colonists shaped relationships in New Spain and New England between the years 1500

and 1700. In preparing for this particular essay, we were required to complete extensive research

about how certain relationships and bonds were formed between the Native people and the early

European colonists. In my specific essay, I compared the violent and merciless relationship

between the American Indians and the New Spain and New England colonists and how their

relations influenced the social, economic, and political developments. Within my essay, I

discussed the issues the Natives faced by the forceful actions of the Spanish ministers while

attempting to Christianize the American Indians.

Beginning hundreds of years ago, the effects of the assimilation of Native Americans by

white Americans can still be seen today. Geographically, culturally, and fundamentally, the
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assimilation of American Indians -- beginning as early as the 17th century -- has deeply affected

the Natives self-identification and culture.

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Work Cited

The Mission. Dir.Roland Joffe. Performances by Jermey. Irons, Robert Diniro. WarnerBrothers.

1986.