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Kurtis' Harmon Pizaper
When considering the relations between Native Americans and settlers in the early exploration of the west, it is important to take note that basically all of the history remaining is from the viewpoint of the settler and not the Natives. The most important downfall of this history is the labeling and stereotyping that the early settlers formed about the Native Americans. Early American settlers such as the Hudson Bay Company had a tendency to generalize Natives’ into categories that were inaccurate and mis -representative of the indigenous people. This early inaccurate representation of the Native people has continued to create an unjust common understanding of the indigenous people that continues on today. Through these misconceptions and European terminologies Natives’ have been categorized and filed away into reservations, and striped of their customs.
Before the early European settlers the indigenous people were free to roam the land that had been theirs since the beginning of their creation. A common misconception created from the early settlers described the Indigenous as being members of distinct tribes, but this is not true. Native Americans were from distinct areas and would describe themselves as being so and they would live in communities, but they were never permanently tied to one community or another. “In a history of the Marquesas, Greg Dening declares independence from the European colonizers who claimed the power o name the inhabitants of the South Pacific; he substitutes the indigenous people’s terms for naives and outsiders…There is no evidence, however, that indigenous peoples around Puget Sound had a single name for themselves until they or their offspring accepted the name “Indian.”(Harmon, 9) This term “Indian” that was given to the indigenous people by the colonizers has had a negative impact ever since. The indigenous people did not associate with categorizing themselves into permanent groups.
The term tribe has no historical validity as far as the indigenous people were concerned. “Words such as ‘Indian,’ ‘tribe,’ or even ‘Suquamish’ presupposes the existence of the very groups whose creation, transformation, dissolution, or redefinition I must document…Such labels have connotations of naturalness and permanence, and those are precisely the assumptions I want readers to set aside” (Harmon, 9) These terms were created for the sole purpose of separating the natives into manageable groups. The colonizers wanted a way to create relations with much smaller tribes so they could trade with one tribe, and wage war on another in order to take land. “Many of the outsiders who came after Vancouver tried, as he did, to ensure orderly relations with Indians by drawing lines of demarcation.”(Harmon, 11) The Europeans created these lines even though they were quite the opposite of what the indigenous peoples culture was. The Natives believed that forming relations with outsiders gave them power. “Native villagers of the early nineteenth century believed that contact with beings from a different realm, while dangerous, could be a source of individual power and thus a means to establish an estimable persona.” (Harmon, 11) Not only did the Natives want to leave their villages to trade with others from other villages, they considered it to give them power in the terms of social status.
The European settlers set the lines for the indigenous people and separated and segregated them because they knew that this would weaken the bonds between villages. The settlers themselves were outnumbered and they knew if the natives were united they would not be able to manage them. This was the starting ground for today’s reservations, and we today still separate the indigenous people for the very same reason, because it is easier to manage them this way.
Before the early European settlers the indigenous people were free to roam the land that had been theirs since the beginning of their creation. A common misconception created from the early settlers described the Indigenous as being members of distinct tribes, but this is not true. Native Americans were from distinct areas and would describe themselves as being so and they would live in communities, but they were never permanently tied to one community or another. “In a history of the Marquesas, Greg Dening declares independence from the European colonizers who claimed the power o name the inhabitants of the South Pacific; he substitutes the indigenous people’s terms for naives and outsiders…There is no evidence, however, that indigenous peoples around Puget Sound had a single name for themselves until they or their offspring accepted the name “Indian.”(Harmon, 9) This term “Indian” that was given to the indigenous people by the colonizers has had a negative impact ever since. The indigenous people did not associate with categorizing themselves into permanent groups.
The term tribe has no historical validity as far as the indigenous people were concerned. “Words such as ‘Indian,’ ‘tribe,’ or even ‘Suquamish’ presupposes the existence of the very groups whose creation, transformation, dissolution, or redefinition I must document…Such labels have connotations of naturalness and permanence, and those are precisely the assumptions I want readers to set aside” (Harmon, 9) These terms were created for the sole purpose of separating the natives into manageable groups. The colonizers wanted a way to create relations with much smaller tribes so they could trade with one tribe, and wage war on another in order to take land. “Many of the outsiders who came after Vancouver tried, as he did, to ensure orderly relations with Indians by drawing lines of demarcation.”(Harmon, 11) The Europeans created these lines even though they were quite the opposite of what the indigenous peoples culture was. The Natives believed that forming relations with outsiders gave them power. “Native villagers of the early nineteenth century believed that contact with beings from a different realm, while dangerous, could be a source of individual power and thus a means to establish an estimable persona.” (Harmon, 11) Not only did the Natives want to leave their villages to trade with others from other villages, they considered it to give them power in the terms of social status.
The European settlers set the lines for the indigenous people and separated and segregated them because they knew that this would weaken the bonds between villages. The settlers themselves were outnumbered and they knew if the natives were united they would not be able to manage them. This was the starting ground for today’s reservations, and we today still separate the indigenous people for the very same reason, because it is easier to manage them this way.
