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Roots of Assimilation
Colonial Period to 1824
Jeffrey R Gudzune
Aug 16, 2009
From the Colonial Period, white settlers have made efforts to cultivate Indian tribes--a policy known as assimilation.
Read more: http://nativeamericanfirstnationshistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/roots_of_assimilation#ixzz0Qi8zEL4j
an excerpt:
Early Efforts
The bulk of what became America’s assimilation policy grew out of early efforts to “civilize” native tribes. Throughout his presidency, George Washington advocated a government run initiative that provided for the legal protection of Indian sovereignty while at the same time introducing economic opportunities (free trade and property ownership) that challenged traditional Indian values. Gradually, the idea of absorbing Indian tribes into American society became the dominant philosophy among advocates of a stricter policy towards these governments. If “civilized,” native tribes would be less likely to engage in hostile acts against settlers. The objective was to introduce American economic values into native communities and reconstruct them. Few stopped to think just how misguided and culturally biased this concept was.
Teaching the Tribes
To fulfill his vision of an integrated society, Washington sent government agents to live among tribes located west of the Ohio River. Operating in the years before the Office of Indian Trade, this program was the end result of a meeting of the minds between the President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox. Knox felt that continued animosity between the United States and Indian tribes would lead to the eventual destruction of native society. The gradual introduction of both American economic values and agricultural techniques, however, would prevent future bloodshed. Government agents not only supervised trade relations but were vested with the responsibility of teaching agricultural techniques to the tribes they lived among. This was to be the first step of what would be a long, and inevitably culturally devastating, policy of assimilation.
Read more: http://nativeamericanfirstnationshistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/roots_of_assimilation#ixzz0Qi9abjjj
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