The Only Good Indian is a Dead Indian - Essay Example

The Americans found Indians to be the only hindrance to civilianization and had to do away with them. The century before U.S Army captain Richard Henry Pratt introduced the concept of “kill the Indian, save the man,” Americans used to actually kill Indians (Stoker, 8-27). Pratt preferred killing the Indian culture and heritage in an individual and assimilating him or her into the western culture as a good Indian. This concept is also portrayed in the way vampires gradually change others into vampires.

Vampires have the ability to assume diverse traits, depending on the targeted individuals, in order to show similarities while gradually changing them into vampires. In the long run, an entire race or community ends up being assimilated into vampirism. Therefore, in reference to the vampires’ concept, it was possible for Americans to assimilate the anti-Indian characters of a “Good Indian” without killing them (Stoker, 53-77). The government established over 100 federal schools to convert tens of thousands of Indian children.

Indian children were kidnapped or forcibly taken from their families, enrolled in these schools, and prohibited from talking or doing anything related to their culture. Doing this enabled Americans to implement the assimilation policy as well as deal with the Indian problem.