FINAL RESEARCH HIST

The European Effect:

How European Culture Impacted the Indigenous People of America

College

Hist 1301

Professor

October 2022

Not long after the “discovery” of the Bahamas, which eventually became known as the “West Indies” by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the lives and culture of indigenous people in the western hemisphere was greatly impacted. This impact would not only change the course of history for these native people, but it would also influence the world and history as we know it. It is well known that with the Spanish explorers also came diseases that the indigenous people had yet been exposed to. Therefore, their immune system was ill prepared to deal with the widespread outbreak across the inhabited islands. Though the slave trade did exist, and many natives were worked to death in the fields and mines by their Spanish overseers, smallpox was the more destructive force to sweep across these people. The disease had even spread with indirect contact to Europeans as the natives trading with each other. Within a half a century most of the indigenous tribes had been nearly wiped out by disease. So much so that when the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, they found it desolate as all its people had passed from the disease.

North America, which became known as “the new world” was first contacted by Europeans in the 1500’s. Up until this time Archeologists believe that “American Indians may have been on the North American continent for fifty thousand years.”[footnoteRef:1] The theory is that the first Americans gradually migrated on foot across the Bering Land Bridge and in boats from Asia over thousands of years, eventually spreading out across the continent. By the time the Europeans made first contact, many tribes had adapted to various environments such as deserts, prairies, and forests. Towns were built and trading routes were established allowing for trade between tribes over great distances. [1: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 2]

[footnoteRef:2] [2: Ortelius, “New World Map 1587.”, North Carolina Maps]

The North American natives were also decimated by diseases such as smallpox, chicken pox, influenza, and measles, all unintentionally introduced by the Europeans. Around 1585, English explorer Thomas Harriot noted his observations of effects disease had on small coastal villages in North Carolina. Upon seeing Harriot wrote “Within a few days after our departure from every such [Indian] town, the people began to die very fast, and many in short space; in some towns about twenty, in some forty, in some sixty, & in one six score [6 x 20 = 120], which in truth was very many in respect of their numbers. . . . The disease was also so strange that they neither knew what it was nor how to cure it.”[footnoteRef:3] The impact of this on the native people still reverberates to this day as it is believed by experts that ninety percent of the native population may have died from diseases introduced by the Europeans. According to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, current Native American population is “6.79 million, which is about 2.09% of the entire population.”[footnoteRef:4] [3: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 5] [4: World Population Review, “Native American Population 2022”, Para 3]

Though the toll on the population was massive, the introductions of Europeans and their wares meant new opportunities for trade, and an advancement in technology for the natives that would greatly increase their quality of life. The natives began to trade animal hides for metal tools such as hoes, knives, axes, and guns. With the natives being accomplished hunters, the addition of these tools became a way to quickly gather more hides and pelts to trade for goods. The natives became so dependent on these European items for everyday tasks that “The desire to get European goods changed ancient trading patterns.”[footnoteRef:5] Though not all the trades were for the better. The introduction of rum to the natives was problematic and caused issues for some tribes and in many instances alcoholism. [5: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 8]

[footnoteRef:6] [6: Hillers, “On a Trading Expedition.”]

Europeans found that some Native American tribes were willing to trade natives captured in tribal wars for tools and weapons. This led to a slavery trade that saw captured natives being sold to European settlers for free labor. This caused more wars to break out between tribes which lead to tribes being destroyed as well as many fleeing to avoid the slave trade. Native tribes across the continent were affected as far as the Southwest. It is interesting to note that “before 1700 in the Carolinas, one-fourth of all enslaved people were American Indian men, women, and children.”[footnoteRef:7] [7: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 9]

There was a lot of changes to the native way of life in a short span of time, comparatively to the thousands of years uncontacted opposed to drastic changes to population, technology, and culture in mere decades after European influence. Through all the difficulties and hardships faced over centuries, the descendants of these “First Americans” are still here today and working hard to preserve the native culture and keep the spirit of its people alive. Currently in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska, The U.S. government recognizes “574 Tribal entities recognized by and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) by virtue of their status as Indian Tribes.”[footnoteRef:8] [8: Bureau of Indian Affairs, “Indian Entities Recognized...”, Summary]

The impact from events that took place during the colonial period can still be seen and felt to this day. Being in Dallas, Texas, one only need look a little over an hour drive north to see a structure that is a result of actions from the colonial times and just beyond. The Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, Oklahoma is allowed to operate because it is on Native American reservation land and therefore gambling I legal. This is due to tribal sovereignty which means “The U.S. Constitution recognizes Indian tribes as distinct governments and they have, with a few exceptions, the same powers as federal and state governments to regulate their internal affairs.”[footnoteRef:9] This “self-governance” allows tribes to do with their land as they please free from oversight by the United States government, to an extent. There have been court cases cited such as Worcester v. Georgia (1832) which reaffirmed “tribes do not lose their sovereign powers by becoming subject to the power of the United States. It also maintained that only Congress has overriding power over Indian affairs and that state laws do not apply in Indian Country.”[footnoteRef:10] [9: NCSL. “An Issue of Sovereignty.”, Para 1] [10: NCSL. “An Issue of Sovereignty.”, Para 4]

The reason this needs mentioning is this is possible due to a decision made in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson in signing “The Indian Removal Act”. This act gave Jackson authority to make “treaties” with native tribes and ultimately forced them out with the promise of new land in the west. These lands became “reservations” for the native tribes. Jackson was a fierce proponent for the removal or in some cases the eradication of the native tribes as he is quoted saying natives have “neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire for improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear.”[footnoteRef:11] With the thousands of natives that were pushed west throughout the 1830s, the further expansion west continued which caused conflicts between native tribes and white Americans. The U.S. governments expansion west caused history to repeat itself and saw previously dispersed tribes once again isolated even more within the land. In 1851 the Indian Appropriations Act forced natives onto smaller plots of land which created the first reservations. The government was to support these tribes with food and supplies but often fell short of their promises. To further the cause of indoctrinating native children into the culture of white America, Indian boarding schools were created in the 1860s through the start of the 20th century. These schools took children from their parents, forced American culture and clothing on the children, pushed Christianity on them and prohibited the speaking of their native language. These actions had detrimental effects on tribes and can be seen today as most tribal languages have died out with very few speakers of native languages. [11: Elliott, “How American Indian Reservations Came to Be.”, Para 3]

Despite the attempts to eradicate the native culture and its people, there are many tribes across the country that are doing their best to care for their people by providing federally funded services such as health care, dental care, vision, and affordable housing on reservation land. Many tribes that are still around and established as federally recognized tribes also work to keep the native culture alive through art festivals, tribal ceremonies celebrating special dates as well as offer classes to learn about native heritage and even learn the language. One of these ceremonies is called the Fariseos (Pharisees), a Yaqui (Southwest United States) tribe tradition, where people create masks out of animal hides and where costumes with shells that rattle and often have wooden swords in hand. These masks and costumes are a representation of evil characters from the Passion of the Christ of Catholic beliefs. This is a ceremony that comes from the period of indoctrination of the native people as many tribes did not reject Christian beliefs and chose to integrate these beliefs with their own. The Fariseos where their masks for forty days as they travel through different pueblos to atone for their sins. This all takes place during lint and culminates to a ceremonial march of the Fariseos to the church where they will burn their masks and costumes symbolizing the sinner coming back to God.

[footnoteRef:12] [12: Alamy, “Pascua Yaqui Tribe Hi-Res Stock” ]

This is one of many tribal traditions that are kept alive by various tribes across the country. The goal of some to destroy the Native people failed and through a strong sense of community and the determination to keep their Native ancestors spirits and traditions alive, we see thriving tribal nations across America. Often the native culture is dismissed and relegated to casinos and pop-overs, but there is so much more to be taken away as these people are warriors that withstood an enslaught to wipe them from the earth and through sheer will and grit they raged “against the dying of the light” and refused to “go gentle into that good night.”[footnoteRef:13] [13: Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” Para 1]

Bibliography

Kincheloe, John W. “American Indians at European Contact.” NCpedia. Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History, January 1, 2007. https://www.ncpedia.org/history/early/contact.

World Population Review. “Native American Population 2022.” Native American population 2022. World Population Review, n.d. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/native-american-population.

Hillers, John K. “On a Trading Expedition.” Home. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006676509/, January 1, 1873. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006676509/.

Ortelius, Abraham. “‘New World Map’ 1587.” North Carolina Maps. Outer Banks History Center, n.d. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ncmaps/id/1103.

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. “Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.” Federal Register :: Request Access. National Archives and Records Administration, January 29, 2021. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/29/2021-01606/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of.

Elliott, Sarah K. “How American Indian Reservations Came to Be.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, May 25, 2016. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2015/5/25/how-american-indian-reservations-came-be.

NCSL. “An Issue of Sovereignty.” An issue of sovereignty. National Conference of State Legislatures, January 1, 2013. https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/an-issue-of-sovereignty.aspx#:~:text=Tribal%20sovereignty%20refers%20to%20the,to%20regulate%20their%20internal%20affairs.

Limited, Alamy. “Pascua Yaqui Tribe Hi-Res Stock Photography and Images.” Alamy stock photos, n.d. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/pascua-yaqui-tribe.html.

Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas - Poems | Academy of American Poets.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. https://poets.org/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night.

The European Effect:

How European Culture Impacted the Indigenous People of America

College

Hist 1301

Professor

October 2022

Not long after the “discovery” of the Bahamas, which eventually became known as the “West Indies” by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the lives and culture of indigenous people in the western hemisphere was greatly impacted. This impact would not only change the course of history for these native people, but it would also influence the world and history as we know it. It is well known that with the Spanish explorers also came diseases that the indigenous people had yet been exposed to. Therefore, their immune system was ill prepared to deal with the widespread outbreak across the inhabited islands. Though the slave trade did exist, and many natives were worked to death in the fields and mines by their Spanish overseers, smallpox was the more destructive force to sweep across these people. The disease had even spread with indirect contact to Europeans as the natives trading with each other. Within a half a century most of the indigenous tribes had been nearly wiped out by disease. So much so that when the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, they found it desolate as all its people had passed from the disease.

North America, which became known as “the new world” was first contacted by Europeans in the 1500’s. Up until this time Archeologists believe that “American Indians may have been on the North American continent for fifty thousand years.”[footnoteRef:1] The theory is that the first Americans gradually migrated on foot across the Bering Land Bridge and in boats from Asia over thousands of years, eventually spreading out across the continent. By the time the Europeans made first contact, many tribes had adapted to various environments such as deserts, prairies, and forests. Towns were built and trading routes were established allowing for trade between tribes over great distances. [1: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 2]

[footnoteRef:2] [2: Ortelius, “New World Map 1587.”, North Carolina Maps]

The North American natives were also decimated by diseases such as smallpox, chicken pox, influenza, and measles, all unintentionally introduced by the Europeans. Around 1585, English explorer Thomas Harriot noted his observations of effects disease had on small coastal villages in North Carolina. Upon seeing Harriot wrote “Within a few days after our departure from every such [Indian] town, the people began to die very fast, and many in short space; in some towns about twenty, in some forty, in some sixty, & in one six score [6 x 20 = 120], which in truth was very many in respect of their numbers. . . . The disease was also so strange that they neither knew what it was nor how to cure it.”[footnoteRef:3] The impact of this on the native people still reverberates to this day as it is believed by experts that ninety percent of the native population may have died from diseases introduced by the Europeans. According to information from the U.S. Census Bureau, current Native American population is “6.79 million, which is about 2.09% of the entire population.”[footnoteRef:4] [3: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 5] [4: World Population Review, “Native American Population 2022”, Para 3]

Though the toll on the population was massive, the introductions of Europeans and their wares meant new opportunities for trade, and an advancement in technology for the natives that would greatly increase their quality of life. The natives began to trade animal hides for metal tools such as hoes, knives, axes, and guns. With the natives being accomplished hunters, the addition of these tools became a way to quickly gather more hides and pelts to trade for goods. The natives became so dependent on these European items for everyday tasks that “The desire to get European goods changed ancient trading patterns.”[footnoteRef:5] Though not all the trades were for the better. The introduction of rum to the natives was problematic and caused issues for some tribes and in many instances alcoholism. [5: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 8]

[footnoteRef:6] [6: Hillers, “On a Trading Expedition.”]

Europeans found that some Native American tribes were willing to trade natives captured in tribal wars for tools and weapons. This led to a slavery trade that saw captured natives being sold to European settlers for free labor. This caused more wars to break out between tribes which lead to tribes being destroyed as well as many fleeing to avoid the slave trade. Native tribes across the continent were affected as far as the Southwest. It is interesting to note that “before 1700 in the Carolinas, one-fourth of all enslaved people were American Indian men, women, and children.”[footnoteRef:7] [7: Kincheloe, “American Indians at European Contact”, Para 9]

There was a lot of changes to the native way of life in a short span of time, comparatively to the thousands of years uncontacted opposed to drastic changes to population, technology, and culture in mere decades after European influence. Through all the difficulties and hardships faced over centuries, the descendants of these “First Americans” are still here today and working hard to preserve the native culture and keep the spirit of its people alive. Currently in the contiguous 48 states and Alaska, The U.S. government recognizes “574 Tribal entities recognized by and eligible for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) by virtue of their status as Indian Tribes.”[footnoteRef:8] [8: Bureau of Indian Affairs, “Indian Entities Recognized...”, Summary]

The impact from events that took place during the colonial period can still be seen and felt to this day. Being in Dallas, Texas, one only need look a little over an hour drive north to see a structure that is a result of actions from the colonial times and just beyond. The Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, Oklahoma is allowed to operate because it is on Native American reservation land and therefore gambling I legal. This is due to tribal sovereignty which means “The U.S. Constitution recognizes Indian tribes as distinct governments and they have, with a few exceptions, the same powers as federal and state governments to regulate their internal affairs.”[footnoteRef:9] This “self-governance” allows tribes to do with their land as they please free from oversight by the United States government, to an extent. There have been court cases cited such as Worcester v. Georgia (1832) which reaffirmed “tribes do not lose their sovereign powers by becoming subject to the power of the United States. It also maintained that only Congress has overriding power over Indian affairs and that state laws do not apply in Indian Country.”[footnoteRef:10] [9: NCSL. “An Issue of Sovereignty.”, Para 1] [10: NCSL. “An Issue of Sovereignty.”, Para 4]

The reason this needs mentioning is this is possible due to a decision made in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson in signing “The Indian Removal Act”. This act gave Jackson authority to make “treaties” with native tribes and ultimately forced them out with the promise of new land in the west. These lands became “reservations” for the native tribes. Jackson was a fierce proponent for the removal or in some cases the eradication of the native tribes as he is quoted saying natives have “neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire for improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear.”[footnoteRef:11] With the thousands of natives that were pushed west throughout the 1830s, the further expansion west continued which caused conflicts between native tribes and white Americans. The U.S. governments expansion west caused history to repeat itself and saw previously dispersed tribes once again isolated even more within the land. In 1851 the Indian Appropriations Act forced natives onto smaller plots of land which created the first reservations. The government was to support these tribes with food and supplies but often fell short of their promises. To further the cause of indoctrinating native children into the culture of white America, Indian boarding schools were created in the 1860s through the start of the 20th century. These schools took children from their parents, forced American culture and clothing on the children, pushed Christianity on them and prohibited the speaking of their native language. These actions had detrimental effects on tribes and can be seen today as most tribal languages have died out with very few speakers of native languages. [11: Elliott, “How American Indian Reservations Came to Be.”, Para 3]

Despite the attempts to eradicate the native culture and its people, there are many tribes across the country that are doing their best to care for their people by providing federally funded services such as health care, dental care, vision, and affordable housing on reservation land. Many tribes that are still around and established as federally recognized tribes also work to keep the native culture alive through art festivals, tribal ceremonies celebrating special dates as well as offer classes to learn about native heritage and even learn the language. One of these ceremonies is called the Fariseos (Pharisees), a Yaqui (Southwest United States) tribe tradition, where people create masks out of animal hides and where costumes with shells that rattle and often have wooden swords in hand. These masks and costumes are a representation of evil characters from the Passion of the Christ of Catholic beliefs. This is a ceremony that comes from the period of indoctrination of the native people as many tribes did not reject Christian beliefs and chose to integrate these beliefs with their own. The Fariseos where their masks for forty days as they travel through different pueblos to atone for their sins. This all takes place during lint and culminates to a ceremonial march of the Fariseos to the church where they will burn their masks and costumes symbolizing the sinner coming back to God.

[footnoteRef:12] [12: Alamy, “Pascua Yaqui Tribe Hi-Res Stock” ]

This is one of many tribal traditions that are kept alive by various tribes across the country. The goal of some to destroy the Native people failed and through a strong sense of community and the determination to keep their Native ancestors spirits and traditions alive, we see thriving tribal nations across America. Often the native culture is dismissed and relegated to casinos and pop-overs, but there is so much more to be taken away as these people are warriors that withstood an enslaught to wipe them from the earth and through sheer will and grit they raged “against the dying of the light” and refused to “go gentle into that good night.”[footnoteRef:13] [13: Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” Para 1]

Bibliography

Kincheloe, John W. “American Indians at European Contact.” NCpedia. Tar Heel Junior Historian, NC Museum of History, January 1, 2007. https://www.ncpedia.org/history/early/contact.

World Population Review. “Native American Population 2022.” Native American population 2022. World Population Review, n.d. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/native-american-population.

Hillers, John K. “On a Trading Expedition.” Home. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006676509/, January 1, 1873. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006676509/.

Ortelius, Abraham. “‘New World Map’ 1587.” North Carolina Maps. Outer Banks History Center, n.d. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ncmaps/id/1103.

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior. “Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible to Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.” Federal Register :: Request Access. National Archives and Records Administration, January 29, 2021. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/29/2021-01606/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of.

Elliott, Sarah K. “How American Indian Reservations Came to Be.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, May 25, 2016. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2015/5/25/how-american-indian-reservations-came-be.

NCSL. “An Issue of Sovereignty.” An issue of sovereignty. National Conference of State Legislatures, January 1, 2013. https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/an-issue-of-sovereignty.aspx#:~:text=Tribal%20sovereignty%20refers%20to%20the,to%20regulate%20their%20internal%20affairs.

Limited, Alamy. “Pascua Yaqui Tribe Hi-Res Stock Photography and Images.” Alamy stock photos, n.d. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/pascua-yaqui-tribe.html.

Thomas, Dylan. “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas - Poems | Academy of American Poets.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. https://poets.org/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night.