History of Native Americans

By sherm369
  • Sep 27, 1492

    Christopher Columbus

    The arriving of Christopher Columbus is seen as heroic to most, but to those who take a minute to critically evaluate the ordeal are able to see how horrifically damaging this was to the Natives and how it sparked the start of many millenia of pain and persecution.

  • Small Pox Epidemic

    Native populations in New England were exposed to European diseases, (assumed smallpox) and were nearly wiped out by this mysterious epidemic. Between 1616 and 1619, the population of the Massachusett and other Algonquin tribes was reduced by as much as 90 percent during this time.

  • Native Americna Slavery

    Europeans didn’t just displace Native Americans—they enslaved them, and encouraged tribes to participate in the slave trade. Thousands of Indians were enslaved in Colonial New England, according to Margaret Ellen Newell. Alan Gallay writes that between 1670 and 1715, more Indians were exported into slavery through Charles Town (now Charleston, South Carolina) than Africans were imported. (Onion, 2016).

  • Indian Removal Act

    A law signed in by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, giving President Jackson authority to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. As you can imagine, most tribes resisted the forceful relocation demands.

  • Society of American Indians

    The Society was the first step in the direction of pan-Indian unity. This group was established and managed exclusively by American Indians, most of whom were well-known in non-Indian society and well-educated. Although members favored assimilation, they also lobbied for many reform issues, especially improved health care on reservations, citizenship, and a special court of claims for Indians.

  • ICWA

    The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law that seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families. Congress passed ICWA in 1978 in response to the alarmingly high number of Indian children being removed from their homes by both public and private agencies. The intent of Congress under ICWA was to "protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families"

  • Protest Against Pipeline

    I thought it was appropriate to include the most recent event in Native history. The uproar and protesting against oil pipelines interrupting their (sovereign) land. Native people as well as environmentalists are camping out directly at the proposed site stretching from North Dakota to Illinois in hopes to have their voices heard and to finally fight back against injustices placed on them by the United States government.