Where Are We Came From? – Native American –

Victim of Genocide

With an estimate population of six million people, Native Americans make up two per cent of the US population. A minority of US Native Americans live on Indian reservations. In Canada, they are known as First Nations and make up approximately three per cent of the Canadian population. The US states and several of the inhabited insular areas that are not part of the continental US also contain indigenous people in the US, including the Inuit, Yupik Eskimos, and Aleuts, are not usually counted as Native Americans nor are Native Hawaiians (also known as Kanaka Maoli and Kanaka ‘Oiwi) or other Pacific Islander American people.

Initial impact: The European colonization of American changed lives and cultures of Native Americans. In the 15th to 19th Century, their populations were ravaged by displacement, disease, warfare with Europeans, and enslavement. The first Native American groups encountered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the 250.000 to 100.000 Island Arawaks of Haiti Quisqueya, Cubanacan (Cuba) and Boriquen Puerto Rico, were enslaved. It is said that only 500 survived by the year 1550, and the groups was considered extinct before 1650. yet DNA studies show that the genetic contribution of the Taino to that region continues, and the mitochondrial DNA studies of the Taino are said to show relationship to the northern indigenous nations, such as Inuit (Eskimo) and other.
European also brought disease, against which the Native American had no immunity. Chicken pox and measles, though common and rarely fatal among European, often proved fatal to Native Americans, and more dangerous disease such as small pox were especially deadly to Native American populations. Some historians estimate that up to eight per cent of some Native populations may have died due to European diseases.

The American Revolutionary war: Frontier warfare during the American Revolution was particularly brutal, and numerous atrocities ware committed. The largest of these expeditions was the Sullivan Expedition on 1779, which destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages, in order to neutralize Iroquois raids in upstate New York. In the 19th Century, the incessant westward expansion of the US incrementally compelled large number of Native Americans to reluctantly resettle further west.
Reformers, in effort to ‘civilise’ Indian, adapted the practice of education native children in Indian Boarding Schools. These schools proved traumatic to Native American children who were forbidden to speak their native languages, were taught Christianity instead of their native religions and were forced to abandon their various Native American identities and adopt European – American culture. There are also many documented cases of sexual, physical and mental abuses which occurred at these schools.

Current status: These are 563 federally recognized tribal governments in the US. The US recognizes the right of these tribes to self-government and support their tribal sovereignty and self determination. Limitations on tribal power of self government include the same limitation applicable to states. According to 2003 US Census Bureau estimates, a little over one third of the 2.786.652 Native American in the US live in three states: California at 413.382, Arizona at 294.137 and Oklahoma at 279.559.
As of 2000, the largest tribes in the US by population were Cherokee, Navajo, Choctaw, Sioux, Chippewa, Apache, Lumbee, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Pueblo. In 2000, eight of 10 American with Native American ancestry were of mixed blood.
Then there are Tribal Nations that have been denied recognition such as the Muwekma Ohlone and the Miami tribe of Indiana. Many smaller eastern tribes have been trying to gain official recognition of their tribal status. The recognition confers some benefits, including the right to label arts and crafts as Native American and they can apply for grants that are specifically reserved for Native Americans.
To be established as a tribal group, members have to submit extensive genealogical proof of tribal descent, yet many Native American were denied their Native American heritage, because it would have deprived them to many rights. Gambling has become a leading industry. Casinos operated by many Native American governments generate revenue that some communities use as leverage to build diversified economies. However, most tribes feel that casinos destroy culture and do no participate in the gaming industry.



Sunday, Vijay Times – Bangalore. 02 July 2006