J. H. Sharp The War Boot Maker Analysis

Colin Calloway carries out a captivating explanation to inform his audience that neither the Colonists of the New World nor the Native Americans were considered "monolithic." Instead, they were much more nuanced in their understanding of the multifaceted attributes of the cultural associations in the Colonial United States. Calloway surveys this intriguing story with illustrative and detailed ways that offer a pertinent starting point for any individual wanting to know more about how the European people and Native Americans cooperated or interacted with one another in America 's first years.

The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

The fascination with Native Americans has been a constant with outsiders since explorers first “discovered” the New World. The biggest surge in this fascination came in the mid-19th century when the Indian Wars were starting to come to an end and the belief that Native Americans were disappearing, walking into the sunset never to be seen again. This led to an increase in the collecting of anything Native American, from artifacts to stories to portraits. The inevitable outcome of this was that Native Americans, who were never considered very highly to begin with, where now moved into a category of scientific interest to be study. This scientific interest in Native Americans is what many museums and other institutions based their collections and exhibits on and is one of the issues that many Native Americans have with how both their people and their culture were, and to some extent still are, represented in these places.

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

The American desire to culturally assimilate Native American people into establishing American customs went down in history during the 1700s. Famous author Zitkala-Sa, tells her brave experience of Americanization as a child through a series of stories in “Impressions of an Indian Childhood.” Zitkala-Sa, described her journey into an American missionary where they cleansed her of her identity. In “Impressions of an Indian Childhood,” Zitkala-Sa uses imagery in order to convey the cruel nature of early American cultural transformation among Indian individuals.

Kieran Tuouy`s sculpture, Thank you to the Choctaw, gave a sense of hope for the Irish. This sculpture was a gift for the Choctaw for raising $800 for the Irish in result of the famine and travel. Even though it is not a lot of money, this sculpture signifies the collective empowerment of different groups to persevere during oppressive times. Takaki points out other collaborations have happened in the past when he says “ Shared class exploitation often led workers to struggle together. In 1870, Chinese immigrant laborers were transported to Massachusetts as scabs to break an Irish immigrant; in response, the Irish tried to organize a Chinese lodge of the Knights of St. Crispin, and Irish labor union” (13). Before going to this exhibit, I only thought minorities would ban together for political purposes. Yet after seeing this artwork, I appreciated and understood that collectivism and integration can be represented through artistic works as well. Looking at this sculpture helped me to relate to these facts and events, and made me appreciate art as not only a talent, but also a way of making allies or a political gesture, in this case, from the

     In Conclusion the author, Leslie Silko, displays the poverty and hopelessness that the Native Americans faced because of the white man. The Author elaborates this feeling of hopelessness in the Indians myth explaining the origin of the white man. As a result

In his painting, he portrays the American frontier and the contrast between American and Native American society. The Eastern territory that has been touched by American peoples is portrayed as light and fertile, demonstrating America’s conception of its expansion as enlightening the native peoples, whose little remaining territory is dark and strewn with ominous clouds. The Americans leading the frontier are laying the foundation for such modern means of transportation as railroads, carriages and telegraph wires that provide stark contrast to the Native Americans, portrayed as running on the backs of seemingly untamed animals and carrying swords and spears. This imagery of technological advancements extending into the West suggests that Americans felt morally obligated not only to extend their territory from coast to coast but also to help civilize the savage and outdated ways of the native peoples. In the top right corner of the painting, from which the sunlight

Native Americans were experiencing cultural changes during the westward expansion and artists wanted to document this process of change and preserve the culture by creating portraits of Native Americans. These portraits visualize the unity between Europeans and Indians, the struggle and hardship the Indians endured, and the future outlook for the Indians in America. Some portraits of Indians were portrayed in a peaceful and powerful manner, such as the paintings by Charles Bird King. Portraits also showed the fate of the Native Americans in the west that can be seen in paintings by George Catlin and by John Wesley Jarvis. These portraits were used as symbolism for peace, unity, and the fate of Native Americans in America.

Talking Back to Civilization , edited by Frederick E. Hoxie, is a compilation of excerpts from speeches, articles, and texts written by various American Indian authors and scholars from the 1890s to the 1920s. As a whole, the pieces provide a rough testimony of the American Indian during a period when conflict over land and resources, cultural stereotypes, and national policies caused tensions between Native American Indians and Euro-American reformers. This paper will attempt to sum up the plight of the American Indian during this period in American history.

The “discovery” of America was one that introduced a colonial discourse in Europe, which would shape the relationship between the Europeans of the Old World and the indigenous people of the New World. Exoticism, anxiety, and absurd speculation would fuel the European knowledge of the Americas during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The drawing titled America by Jan Van der Straet, is a classic example of how Europeans used outlandish notions about indigenous Americans to distance themselves from these natives and thus, establish European superiority. Ultimately, Jan van der Straet’s image supports and justifies European colonialism by depicting the indigenous people as savage, primordial and in need of the paternal guidance of the

In this painting by George Catlin titled “Assinneboine Chief before and after Civilization” it shows a very proud Assinneboine Chief standing straight and proud. His clothing expresses his Indian culture as he is dressed in leggings and shirt made of mountain goat skin, and finished with a pictured robe of buffalo hide over his right shoulder. Moccasins covered his feet and his tribal headdress decorated his head allowing his long hair to blend with the feathers of his headdress. In his left hand is his long pipe which he would smoke with those with whom he would want to make peace. The background which is painted in a lighter hue then

spiritual and respectful of the land upon which they lived. They were skilled in the ways