Native Americans: The Indian Removal Act

Europeans had different ideologies than indigenous peoples when it came to land in terms of who could own the land. As a result of European entitlement, they assumed that the land was available to be taken. The process of removing indigenous people from their land began, and the settlers were justifying it by suggesting that is was not necessarily “stealing” land, but rather it was “saving” the land from being misused by the savages that lived there previously (Sahlins 19). Mindsets such as these finalized the traumatic process of Native American invisibility as they were forced out of their land and their homes.

To be a Native American, one is not just born into the ethnicity, but it is the sacredness of the culture, language, religion, and land that makes a person a true Native American, and without these things, there are no Indigenous people. Developing a culture is human nature, and for Native Americans, their culture revolves around the land, and to take that away is to take away who they are. The land may not physically be a part of Native Americans, but without their sacred land, there is a missing part of them. The building of telescopes on Mt. Graham is one example of how the sacred Native land is being taken over. Just like how a wheel is a part of a chariot, the sacred land is part of a Native American, and without it, Native Americans are not whole. Their culture is seen as inferior to white culture because of the Racial Contract, and is why their land is treated with disrespect. Native Americans’ sacred lands needs to be treated with respect and protected because without it, they are no longer Native Americans, they are a group of people without a culture to be a part of.

The subject of paying some sort of reparations to Native Americans is a hot topic, and views range from the popular Fox News commentator Glen Beck who is very against reparations to the University of Colorado former Professor, Ward Churchill who is for reparations. President Obama himself has also put of his input on the topic with speeches both during the Presidential campaign and after his Inauguration. This paper seeks to present both sides of the argument and conclude with my own views of this issue.

From its birth, America was a place of inequality and privilege. Since Columbus 's arrival and up until present day, Native American tribes have been victim of white men 's persecution and tyranny. This was first expressed in the 1800’s, when Native Americans were driven off their land and forced to embark on the Trail of Tears, and again during the Western American- Indian War where white Americans massacred millions of Native Americans in hatred. Today, much of the Indian Territory that was once a refuge for Native Americans has since been taken over by white men, and the major tribes that once called these reservations home are all but gone. These events show the discrimination and oppression the Native Americans faced. They were, and continue to be, pushed onto reservations,

The removal of various members of Native American tribes from their indigenous lands to that which was east of the Mississippi was a widely debated topic in the early portion of the 19th century. Morally, proponents of this action cited the fact that these Native Americans were "savages" (Jackson) with no rights to their land; legally, they were expected to adhere to the rights of the states and the federal government of the U.S. Those who were against Indian removal believed that legally they were entitled to their land because of their lengthy history in occupying it, and that morally their rights as people substantiated their claims to the land. A review of both arguments reflects the fact that the latter position is the most convincing.

The land was the Cherokee's, to begin with before the whites came to America. The United States had no right to force the Cherokee to move. In the Cherokee letter, they stated about the land that, "It is our father's gift. It is the land of our origin and the land of our intellectual birth." When the whites came to America the land already belonged to the Cherokee. Their fathers had given it to them as children and they took care of it. The Cherokee fathers had died on their land. The Cherokee should not have to move to the west away from their homeland. The land was theirs, to begin with. Therefore, the United States should not have taken away their land.

“The U.S. government’s policies towards Native Americans in the second half of the nineteenth century were influenced by the desire to expand westward into territories occupied by these Native American tribes”(Victoria magazine). The U.S. Government just wanted land and they didn't realize that they are hurting the Native Americans. In fact, by the 1850’s nearly all Native American tribes, roughly 360,000 in number, lived to the west of the Mississippi River. In other words, the U.S. government was so hungery for land they didn't realize what they have done. They basically took away the land of where 360,000 Native Americans lived. The settlement of lands west of the Mississppi from Native Americans was not justified at all because after this

Place yourself in their shoes and the “fair exchange of land” does not seem so pleasing. The trail of tears is a dark place in Native American history. The Indians were forced to march by foot and many perished on the journeys. It is likely that if you were to read an American text book that mentioned the trail of tears, the chapter would most likely not be long or in depth about how truly horrible the event was. But what if you were to read a Native American text book? The chapter would be more in depth than the plain American text book. More revealing of how Jackson’s act to remove these people from their homes really affected their lives. The Indians had a different perspective than the privileged whites in that time period. Only the minorities got removed from their homes, the reason for it was so that white Americans could expand and move into their old

After the Europeans came to Northern America, they forced the people already here into “reservations” and took away most of their human rights (Hotakainen 10). Our government is the reason Native Americans are suffering in these rough conditions today. It is only makes sense for the country to fix its own mistakes, right? Yet, it isn’t quite that simple. Saying we should reap what was previously sewn is like saying modern day whites should pay for what old slave owners did to blacks.

From the onset of Europe 's exploration to the new world, the Native Americans have had the land that they once called their own stolen from them. As history continued to play out, the Indians could never escape the stigma that they were wild savages. This is no more evident than with the Indian Removal acts of the early nineteenth century in which many Indians were sent to their death on the Trail of Tears. Then came the age of reservations which began just before the Civil War, placing Indian Tribes onto land that they were assigned. This is where they have remained for many years because at the time it was just easier to put them aside. Even though the history between the two has been rough their relationship evolved overtime. The United States have become an important ally for the tribes even they were the ones who put them on the reservations in the first place. The United States government should do more to help Indian casinos, domestic violence cases, and poverty and land disputes because of the sovereign nation’s troubles with these issues.

The United States government should give the Native American back their land.The natives were not bothering the people so why should they take their land. The government should give back their land because their ancestors grew the land for the Natives. The natives having their own land they were able to live how they wanted and the way they were taught from their ancestors. My reason they should get back their land is because of their ancestors, the natives were their first and they deserve their land.

The lands that were given to the Shoshones are being inhabited by non-natives and the small reserves of land that they can occupy are monitored by government officials and are subjected to shifting regulations. Non-natives are actively seeking to build on these sacred lands, in violation of the Treaty of Ruby Valley and a total disrespect of the Shoshone culture and belief systems. It seems as though the contributions that Native Americans have made to American history have been overlooked. It appears that into modern day, Americans believe that actually it’s them who are native to this country. It looks as if the Native Americans are being denied basic American rights. The Shoshones, however, are fighting judicially to ensure that they are not robbed of their liberties.

And now, the government just wants to give them money so the natives could stop complaining and think they would have nothing else to worry about. I believe the Indians should get their land back because it would bring back peace and no worries for Americans. If the Indians get their land back they won’t have to complain anymore, they would be able to leave the harsh environmental reservations and back to their homeland. It won’t be a struggle to survive since they’ll have the

How would you feel if you were kicked out of your own land? you wouldn’t like it right. Well that is what happened to the Native Americans when they got kicked out of their land by U.S government on may 28th 1830. I am on the side of giving them their land back to the Native Tribes if they want to fix the racial discrimination. An investor visited their land where they only had been living on 7,000 a year. To American Indians this land we have stolen from them means more and it is not just land to them. The Native Americans were here first and we are the ones who took their land and placed them somewhere they do not want to be. Some might argue that we should return the land stolen from the Native Americans as a step towards ending racial discrimination against Native Americans. This may

This is the world in which we live: a world in which the white man robs us of tradition and deprives us of the lands that have sheltered our generation, our fathers’ generations, and our ancestors’ generations. What harm have we done to deserve this? We merely desire to reside on our lands, vast expanses of beautifully rugged terrain, in peace. And why must this simple right ever come into question? Yet question it they do. Flouncing on our land, a group of white men have declared to us that everything we know is about to change. Without permission or concern for us, they began a process of expropriating our land from us. They announced to us, these people who invaded our land, that our lands belong to them; henceforth we are to be moved to new land, inadequate land, land they call “reservations.” Do they not realize that these lands that we live upon hold bonds, sacred and treasured, with us, the caretakers of this terrain?