Native Americans and Whites: 1600-1820

Prior to the 18th century, there was no national policy on Indians simply because the American nation had not yet come into existence. American Indians similarly did not possess a political or social unity with which to confront the various Europeans: ôTenaciously [the Indians] clung to their own way of life, although they lacked the numbers and disciplined organization to resist the intruders effectivelyö (Hagan, 1993, p. 2). The Indian tribes were far from homogeneous. Rather they were loosely formed bands and tribes, speaking nearly 300 languages and thousands of dialects. The most powerful Indian confederacy at the time was the Iroquois League, composed of the Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and Onondaga. A sixth nation, the Tuscarora, joined the confederacy in 1722 when

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ions that the federal government had made in granting land treaties to the Indians. Native Americans were virtually powerless to stem the tide of invading white squatters, who enjoyed the tacit approval of the federal government. Understandably, Indians reacted to the white invasion of their territory with violent resistance. By nature, the males of some tribes were warriors. Indians raided white settlements and mutilated the bodies of the slain. This activity struck terror in the hearts of Eastern residents who read lurid newspaper accounts of the massacres. By the early 1800s, whites feared that a full-blown Indian war was imminent. The United States cavalry encountered initial difficulties in stemming the tide of Indian violence. Indian familiarity with the terrain allowed them ample opportunities to elude capture. Indian tribes were extremely mobile and could break camp at a momentÆs notice. Complicating matters was the fact that the average white settler could not identify perpetrators of criminal activity within an Indian tribe because attacks on settlements occurred too swiftly. The marauding Indians presented a dilemma to federal bureaucrats who found themselves under unrelenting pressure from Western c
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Native Americans, Supreme Court, Understandably Indians, Native American, Justice Marshall, American Indians, Thomas Jefferson, North America, Oklahoma Kiowas, Mississippi River, native americans, land claims, land tenure, kaplan 1985, indian tribes, federal government, native american, estate land claims, oral history, history pp, albuquerque nm university, indian oral, hoover eds indian, indian oral history, eds indian oral,
Approximate Word count = 2322
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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