Native American Project

Native American Project By Jenni Forsyth

My name is Rick (Flightless eagle) and I am a full blooded Native American. I have been raised by a loving tribe but have spent my days hungry, fear full, and worried about the future of my tribe because of the neglect given to us by the U.S. There are many ways we have been mistreated and as a result we have to fight back causing conflict between the two sides. We have had our homes invaded, promises broken, and live everyday in fear of the U.S. and their power. Please consider these solutions that I have come up with. We deserve to raise our families in the same peace that you get to raise your own.

Problems

Territory and borders- Our territory is being invaded because we have something that you want. Rich soil, gold, and buffalo for miles. Therefore we are being pushed into reservations so you can live in the place that we made home.

Broken Promises made by the U.S. Government- We established treaties, you made promises that you decided you didn't have to keep. You took our horses and promised us more, but gave us less. You promised us land, but kept taking it away. You promised us food, yet we watched out children die in our arms from hunger.(Red Cloud)

Fear of violence- You guys scare us! We are terrified of what you can do and what you have already done. Starving us, taking things from us (our horses, land etc), and slowly killing us off(Red Cloud). But your scared of us for protecting ourselves, and our families. You show up with the expectation of our tribe trying to attack you, yet it has never happened.

Attempted Solutions

To try to fix the reoccurring territory problem we agreed on the Dawes act. It laid out an agreement on land for both sides. That plan didn't work because you (the U.S.) kept invading our territory and relocating us for our resources.

To try to fix the Broken Promises, you did what was best for the U.S.. We were "encouraged" to go on to reservations. Since we were starved with no way of providing for ourselves eventually we didn't really have a choice. We were promised things in order for basic survival and you couldn't even give us that. You promised land, and our was taken away because of the rich soil. You promised us food and only gave us enough to keep us alive, and at times not even that much. This plan worked in favor of you guys, but not us.

The fear of violence was something that never really got resolved. The reservations made it worse for us. Or life style was the same we just felt more trapped than before. It wasn't a problem that really tried to get solved. We were swept under the rug and forgotten about.

Possible Solutions

How can we fix our territory problems? Well we make an agreement (not like the one we already tried to do because obviously that didn't work) on who gets what space and if one of us crosses it there are consequences on both sides. We will put up a strong form of protection if we have to with people, weapons, and even fences if necessary. If you aren't welcomed on to either side, don't go. Really, this was our land first, not yours, you welcomed yourself to our homes, not the other way around.

You saw our agreements as breakable, almost as if we signed a blank document and you got to make the rules. This problem can be the easiest to fix, but only if you learn to respect it. Do you guys break the rules agreed upon within the constitution? No, because that is how your country runs smoothly. Imagine if your people decided to stop following those rules. Complete and utter chaos would breakout. These agreements are how our people can live in peace together. Hundreds of people could still be alive (both Native and non-native) if what we signed for in theses documents actually happened.

We can fix this fear of violence by not using force to get what you want. If you want to come talk to us, you don't need to bring a bunch of men with a bunch of guns. That just puts fear in us, leading us to fight back. There is a difference between protecting yourself, and protecting your "Big Bad American" image as a whole. The U.S. is still seen as strong even if they don't bring their whole weapons warehouse when they come to bring us food. We aren't trying to hurt/kill you. If we wanted to, we would have already done so. Remember... it was our land first. We just want peace.

Works Cited

"Red Cloud's Speech after Wounded Knee." CommonLit. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

Sorry I couldn't find the red cloud speech you had us read, so i just found the same speech on a different website.

Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by BLMOregon - "Lower Deschutes Wild and Scenic River -- Sandy Beach" • bimbatoe - "wigwam tepee tipi" • Archives New Zealand - "International Archives Day (Treaty of Waitangi)" • Moyan_Brenn - "War" • cogdogblog - "Down The Street" • stux - "certificate document probative value"