Indian Strategies of Native Americans

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Main Text
Conclusion

Introduction

In early nineteenth century, the Europeans invaded Native Americans with the aim of civilizing the Indian people. This movement posed a serious negative impact to the indigenous people due to the mounting pressure that was being exerted on them by the European missionaries. This marked the evolvement of different strategies that were used by the Indians to counterattack the expansion of the American territories (Dowd, 16-18). This American movement was basically referred to as the Civilization Mission and it sought to make good citizens out of the Indians. However, the mechanisms used were not encouraging to the Indians. They used coercion and deception to accomplish their mission, and for this reason, several strategies were established against them (Dowd, 139-142).

Main Text

First, the dense population of indigenous people was a major obstacle to the spread of American civilization and the Indians took this as an advantage to them to counterattack the movement. However, this did not work well and the most important strategy that was employed was in the form of “prophetic nativism” which involved prophecies of hope made by the Indian people and some against the white people (Dowd, 144). In the years 1795 and 1815, there arose some individual prophets and few groups of Indians who claimed to have a supernatural power and inspiration from God. They challenged the Indian leaders who called for Europeans to be incorporated in their political and cultural structures. Being united in a shared ritual demanded for power and turning to the spirits, the prophets openly sought support against the leaders who in their tribes had given out part of their land to the Europeans. For this reason the prophetic groups of Shawnees, Delaware and Creeks parted with those who had accommodated them and formed a union whose role was to counter the expansion of the Europeans, an effort that came hand in hand with the war that took place in 1812 (Dowd, 181 ). The nineteenth century teachings from some of the Indian prophets were negative prophecies made against the Indian citizens. For example; the vision of a Delaware woman who warned that “If the Big House Ceremony were not celebrated with care, a whirlwind would soon wipe out the people completely and the Indians to the West of Ottawas would all fall off and die”. However, the fear induced by such threats was offset by the hope that came with prophetic promises made by other prophets. The Indian tribes who were united in the fight against the Americans believed that the power which belonged to the war-club Dance, Ottawas and the Chippewas would lead to the destruction of all the white men in America. Another prophecy was made by the Tenskwatawa who indicated that “American would not be in danger if the land overturns but this would happen if only they leave the prophetic land in a peaceful way”.

Another strategy in which Indians resisted American expansion was by forming Pan Indian Movement which was led by Tenskwatawa’s brother Tecumseh who spoke against the Fort Wayne cession a (treaty) and the Indian leaders who supported it. The Pan Indian movement made a great impact in resisting the American expansion. Anti-Christian teaching was also a strategy used by the Indians. They argued that the Europeans were the ones who killed their savior and there is no way they could follow the teachings of the Americans, and more so they had different origins in relation to the faith of the Europeans and that of the Indians.

Conclusion

The Pan Indian Movement led by Tecumseh was one of the most successful strategies employed by Indians. This was because the movement was based on the mutual understanding that Indians originated from the same creation and there was need for them to unite in fighting against the Europeans (Dowd, 193-194). Another reason for success was that Tecumseh was regarded as a warrior and a renowned traveler who possessed organizational skills in uniting the people for a common purpose. On the contrary, the prophetic nativism did not succeed because of the fact that some of the prophets such as the Tenskwatawa were only harsh to their fellow Indians and compromised with the European people. This made them to lose their disciples who could help them in fighting the American expansion.

Click Here To Order Now!

Indian Strategies of Native Americans

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)