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Alicia Rusthoven

Cooper, Whipple

AP Language, AP US History

12 May, 2018

How have dominant cultures affected the self-determination of Natives through history?

A common American value, self-determination, has been fought for by our country to be

gifted to people across the world; the right to decide the way of life and opportunity in a

community empowers the people with its democracy and will. However, through pride the

history of this value has been idealized. Where now Americans give aid to those fighting for

self-determination, the past shows their history of preventing it. Since their meeting, dominant

cultures have been oppressing Native Americans and compromising their natural rights,

continuance of culture, and personal enterprise, ultimately scarring their self-determination.

When colonists first came to America, their communities were pressured to establish

their relations with the Native Americans. Countries like England and France had initially

practiced mostly healthy relations with these tribes (Comparing). Spain had a predisposition that

the tribes were to either be converted or killed due to their primitive tendencies. Eventually, all

these countries experienced trouble with the people of America through land, religion, and labor

disputes. Either the newcomers would want the Natives to become slaves and adopt a new

religion, or they would want to push them west to give more territory to their colonies. This led to

laws that would force the Natives into some position they did not choose for the benefit of the

foreigner. Over time, The US Government has tried to make amends to the mistakes they made

in the past and protect the already broken cultures.

Natural rights are the belief that every person can preserve their life through the

protection of life, liberty, and property. Incidents like the Indian Removal act have been
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detrimental to these rights, forcing the Natives from their homes to move to reservations that

lack the resources and spirituality of their homelands (AMSCO). In addition to losing their

property, the US Government has prevented them from arguing their rights with cases such as

Cherokee v Georgia, in which the tribe was not recognized as a nation, so they lacked the right

to sue the federal government and lost the land of Georgia to American statehood (Cherokee).

Before the United States had a recognizable government with the power to inflict its power, the

colonies still acted as a unified body against Native’s control of their own lives. Once the

colonies got lazy with their work and needed more laboring hands, the mass use of Native

Americans as slaves was adopted. This direct violation of civil liberty was matched with the

opposition of the first nation people; having known freedom, they were quick to retaliate,

triggering the switch to indentured servants and eventually the African slave trade (Social). The

neglect of the natural rights that started with events like these are what first injured the

self-determination of the Native Americans. Without the access to their own land and futures,

the Natives were unable to determine for themselves their lifestyles.

Coinciding with the natural rights of the people, their culture was also kept from them.

The colonizers tried to convert the indigenous people to their religion and way of life, qualifying it

as civilizing them. As time went on, The US became conscious of their contribution to the

degradation of culture and attempted to encourage the culture of these people. Unfortunately,

the presentation of natives in media has not followed suit and either misinterpreted or

appropriated their culture. The popular musical Peter Pan has recently run into trouble after it

was called out for supporting stereotypes in its Ugg-A-Wugg song. The song featured a fake

language that mimicked Native Americans in a way that made them more primitive, and the play

itself sexualized Tiger Lily and made the men belligerent savages (Salon). This appropriation, or

the misuse of a minority culture without knowledge or permission, loosens the definition of that
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culture to a point that it no longer shares its original meaning (Cultural). Without their culture, an

individual can be exposed to the world without a sense of identity, purpose, or belonging.

Deciding who or what to be can be difficult without this basis of understanding for the

surrounding world.

Personal enterprise is the strength of will a person has to aspire and work for personal

goals. An important development to this quality is education. Sherman Alexie, a First Nation

citizen, is an active promoter of education and excellence for Native Americans; the historical

treatment of these people have led them to lack the same motivation found by other ethnicities

within the school setting (Superman). Because he knows they do have the assets to do well, he

emphasizes the importance of learning to truly live. His actions on this issue show how many

youth this problem affects in reality. Perhaps the scariest evidence for the lack of personal

enterprise, I felt firsthand. While in the To’Hajiilee Community School, in a conversation with one

of the students, it was mentioned that often the students don’t try in school, causing the

teachers to for the most part, give up (Conversation). Knowing that this feeling still persists was

a wake up call in the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma. The stereotypes and low

expectations weighed down the confidence and curiosity of the kids, leaving them with lower

personal goals and a smaller hope for their ability to grow in the future. Without self confidence

and accountability, an oppressed person cannot accurately grow to their full potential and

decide or themselves the quality of their life ahead.

Dominant cultures have compromised the self-determination of Native Americans by

taking away their land, culture, and sense of confidence, stealing from natives the right to

establishing their own destiny and place in the world. All the actions against these people have

been passed down through intergenerational trauma, magnified each age as more incidences

occur. Without action, the self-determination of this group will continue to be repressed.