The Westner Frontier
By Mercede McIntyre
Native Americans
There was a point in history were Native Americans had a huge culture change, because of the westward expansion. Their values as a Native Americans were disregarded due to wanting to enlarge the country. The Americans pushed them aside like they were nothing.
The Americans thought it would be a good idea to move the Native Americans to reservations, so that they could live like whites and get gold at the Black Hills. What they did not think of is how this was going to change the Native Americans life and culture. They first made them move off the lands so the Americans could find gold. Which wasn't that bad at first because they soon settled in a different part of the land. But then the Native Americans started to see that there wasn't as much buffalo soon they find out that the whites are killing the buffalo to make room to find gold. This was major problem because they moved with the buffalo to kill the buffalo for meat, clothing, tepees and basically everything. Now that the buffalo are slowly going they have lost their main food source. Later on the Native Americans signed a contract saying they will move on the reservation and work, farm and have their children go to school. When they get to the reservation its is very different and culture breaking.The first thing they got was a shirt and pants, and seeds, this how they start their new life. The children have go to school and change their names to a white names which degrades their culture, because they worked for those names and now they are just throwing that out the door by changing it. The dirt these reservations are on are not made to farm, which is one thing the Americans promised the Native Americans. The Native Americans could not hunt for there food, they had to farm or there was a corral with bulls that they could go and kill. The Americans were basically making there hunting a joke by making them hunt in a corral. The Native Americans did not make all the money they we supposed and this did not make them very happy. This whole reservation experience made a sizable bruise in their culture.
In this point in history the Americans did not care about the care or culture of the Native Americans. They pushed them to the side like they were nothing and took their lands like no one even live there. Made them turn into something they were not, how would you like it someone took away who you are and your home?
Citations
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