Native Americans - Case Study Example

Native Americans: Before and After European Influence Today Native Americans are recognized as a sort of holdover from an earlier era in American history when there was not a structured national government and Europeans had not yet infiltrated the mainland. It is almost a secondary insight that this culture and these individuals were the first to grace the lands of this continent, and that there place here for hundreds if not thousands of years had been preserved through their owns laws and means of existence. One must take a second to consider that the Native American tribesman on this continent were not simply savages run amok in a continent of abundance, but a developed civilization and people that had developed laws, bonds, and forms of living that had functioned to support their tribes and people for a long amount of time. With European exploration and expansion into the new world came a variety of substantial changes that would forever alter the lives of these people. This essay considers these changes and what they meant for life before and after European expansion. While it would be a major generalization to state that there was a single type of life Native Americans enjoyed before European contact there are a number of thematic elements that one can identify as being indicative of their pre-Columbus lifestyle. When considering the lifestyles of these various cultures it is most effective to think in terms of groups of Native American societies residing throughout North America during this period. One of the major of such cultures was referred to as the Clovis Culture (Wilson 2000). This culture enjoyed big-gaming hunting throughout the Mid-western regions of what would become the United States and New Mexico. They fashioned many crude forms of tools and designed advanced weaponry in the form of spears and arrow points. Another major culture of the pre-Columbus era was the Paleoindian culture (Wilson 2000). This tribe occupied regions of the Great Plains and Great Lakes and much like the Clovis culture fashioned weaponry from natural surroundings as a means of procuring food through hunting the abundant forests and land areas that had remained untouched by European hunters. In these regards, some of the most prominent aspects of this era in their history was the abundance in foodstuffs and hunting material. These cultures were able to freely roam the countryside without significant worry or threat from outside nations. The expansive nature of the continent was such that while there were internal conflicts of Native American tribes, they was still no shortage of food or land; it was clear that this abundance was one of the central aspects of the pre-Columbus era in Native American culture. After the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century there was a marked shift in the cultural lives of Native Americans. While it would be superfluous to say that in large part the change did not benefit these tribes, at the beginning there was mixed types of interaction between Native Americans and Europeans. Perhaps the most seminal tale of this cultural mixing occurred during the Native American interactions with the Pilgrims where there was positive interaction and a sharing of knowledge and foodstuff with the newly arrived colonists. Still, for all the positive interaction that occurred, there was an abundantly larger amount of negative consequences. In large part the colonial influence carried with it warfare and genocide. Rather than attempting to meld and live peacefully within the Indian tribes the colonists choose to implement their significant military force and advanced technology to overtake the Indians land and resources. In addition to these factors, the Europeans carried with them foreign diseases that the Native Americans had yet to develop resistance to, resulting in widespread infection among the Indian populations. As is indicated, European influence greatly altered the lives of many Native Americans for the worse. While previously Native American tribes had enjoyed expansive lands and general prosperity through the ability to hunt and salvage foodstuff at will, with the arrival of the Europeans these trends were altered for the worse. Such negative trends continued well into the 17th and 18th centuries, as the United States government adopted a policy of Manifest Destiny that essentially challenged Native American claims to land and property throughout the entire Western United States. In such historical occurrences as the Trail of Tears, Indians were even forcefully removed from areas they had occupied for many years time. The introduction of Europeans resulted in the doom and demise of traditional Native American culture. Today contemporary Native American culture is greatly different from that of the pre-European eras. While there are still Indian reservations that include laws and culture removed from European civilization, it is only under decree from the United States’ government that these places even exist. In addition, some Indian groups have infiltrated American culture either as willful participants in society, or through government programs that grant tax benefits to these organizations in their businesses such as gambling casinos. Ultimately, the arrival of Europeans all but eradicated traditional Native American culture in the region that is now referred to as the United States. In conclusion, it’s clear that there was a significant divide between Native American culture before and after the arrival of Europeans. While pre-European society was far from ideal, with inter-wars occurring between opposing tribes, there was nonetheless a general air of prosperity and shared kinship among great amounts of Indian nation. The expansive nature of the continent lent itself to such modes of existence, perhaps not demanding the Native American tribes develop the forms of warfare and technology that occurred throughout Europe. After the arrival of Europeans warfare and disease took hold throughout Native American culture. It was these changes that resulted in the eventual demise of traditional Native American culture, as policies of Manifest Destiny resulted in the continued expansion of Europeans into the Western regions. Today contemporary Native American tribes and culture are only slightly reminiscent of their European past, being relegated to reservations and various and minority positions within the dominant American society. References Wilson, James. (2000). The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native Americans. Grove Press. Read More