To put this situation in perspective, it might be well to consider the history of the Indian in North America. In the beginning, before the white man came, there were red men in that part of the world now known as the United States. How the Indian arrived in America is the subject of discussion among experts. They came more than 20,000 years ago, and by the year 1492 A.D., they had established some patterns of society. However, I would start just before Cortez arrived in the early 1500s. There were no horses. There were plenty of buffalo and prairie dogs and other game. There were hunters and farmers. One group of Indians would raid another group for food or slaves or territory. All of this hunting, farming and fighting was done on foot and without a great deal of killing.
Those of the Northeastern woods, known as the Five Nations, had established dominion over an area running from Maine to Kansas to South Carolina. The Indians of the Plains had each carved out their own territories, which they maintained by fighting each other. The people of New Mexico and Arizona had two cultures, one nomadic and one farming. The farmers established towns and cities and were subject to raids by the nomads.
Then came the horses. The whole picture changed. The Plains Indians became one of the finest light cavalry groups the world had ever seen. Distances took on new meaning. That which had been sufficient territory before the horse came now was insufficient. For the farmers, there were other, somewhat smaller changes. For them, too, the hunting grounds grew. They could go further from the pueblo and carry more game. They could use the horses to pull and transport more than a man could. The lives of all the Indians were radically changed by the arrival of the horse.
Then the Spanish came from the South and, with their four-legged war-beasts and fire-sticks, took control of the country. Then other white men came in force from the East and they were bigger and stronger, they had better fire-sticks, and there were more of them. In the course of two or three hundred years, these men swept across the North American continent, engulfing the native population. And they took control.
Now that the situation had settled down and the white man was in control, "law" came to the country. The buffalo were gone, there was no room to move around and the total control of the land was no longer in the hands of the Indians. Now the changes came thick and fast. Problems could not be solved gradually and by the Indian alone.
In spite of all the bad things which were done in the course of this movement, the white man treated the conquered Indians better than any conquering people had treated the conquered in the past. Reservations were established and at least some attempt was made to feed, clothe, house and educate the Indian.
One large problem was integration. Many people, who had some control in Washington, felt that the Indian should be forced to join the white society. In this context, the United States had behaved rather badly. Indians were prohibited from performing any of their dances, or religious ceremonies. Boarding schools were established for the children and the children were taken to these schools by force. At these schools, only English was permitted. Thus, when the child returned home, he could not talk with his family. All of this was done on the basis that it was the best thing for the Indian. It was the theory that the Indians should join the white world, and that retaining their ceremonies and languages would only serve to delay the time Indians could enjoy the good life.
Others thought quite differently. Their idea was that the Indian himself should decide if he wanted his way of life or if he wished to join the white man's way, or, indeed, if he wished to live a sort of compromise between the two. In this group, quite naturally, there were extremists who wished to build a big fence around the Indians so they could live as they did before the white man came. Gradually, the rules against religious freedom for the Indians were relaxed, the rules for the children were changed and common sense began to make its appearance. This is not to say that everything was wonderful, but things were infinitely better. This change received a great impetus in the 1920s and 1930s. Pop had a little to do with that, along with many others. The main person, of course, was the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier.
As is understandable, this difference of opinion was not confined to the white man. The Indians had their heated discussions. Now came the great controversy -- should we join the white man or preserve the old ways? Even more traumatic was the question, can we preserve the old ways? There were those who felt strongly that the old ways were to be maintained just as they had been for centuries with no change at all. There were those who believed that all Indians should abandon entirely the old ways and join the white man's society completely. And then there were the ones in the middle, and the confused. The white man's conveniences were very attractive to some, and to others, they were evil things which would destroy the Indian's relationship with the world around him.
This conflict of old and new took place over and over and is still with us. The problem can be set forth as I have done here, but to really get to the heart of the matter, I would tell you four stories which do a better job than any great philosophical treatise could ever do.
Examples of "The Indian Problem"
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