Changes

:Parts of Oregon, Washington, N. Idaho, W. Montana, and SW Canada: [[Nez Perce]].

:Parts of Oregon, Washington, N. Idaho, W. Montana, and SW Canada: [[Nez Perce]].

== Today ==

==Historical role of disease, war and social issues on Indian populations==

 

 

 

 

==Role of disease, war and social issues on Indian populations==

===Deaths by disease===

===Deaths by disease===

Indian populations suffered substantial losses over time, mainly due to disease and warfare. As author Guenter Lewy reports, great disparities exists in estimates of native American Indian populations before the arrival of Europeans, from around 1.2 million to 12 million, with assertions being given of inflation or deflation of numbers. However, it is generally accepted that that only 250,000 native Americans were alive in the territory of the United States at the end of the 19th century. The major cause of the reduction of population is understood by many scholars to be ''virgin-soil epidemic'', that of death through the the spread of highly contagious diseases to which the Natives had no immunity. The principal pathogen was smallpox, the effects of which also killed by hunger by reducing the food gatherers. Other killers included measles, influenza, whooping cough, diphtheria, typhus, bubonic plague, cholera, and scarlet fever. It is estimated that between 75 to 90 percent of all Indian deaths resulted from such killers. While there is evidence that some Europeans promoted this decimation, and certain liberal historians  are given to ideological-driven charges, specific accounts of such are in dispute, but poor medical understanding, as well as poor conditions and later forced relocations, such as that of  Cherokee resettlement 1838, certainly fostered it. However, the largest loss of life occurred well before such forced relocation, and sometimes after only little contact with European traders from Europe.

Indian populations suffered substantial losses over time, mainly due to disease and warfare. As author Guenter Lewy reports, great disparities exists in estimates of native American Indian populations before the arrival of Europeans, from around 1.2 million to 12 million, with assertions being given of inflation or deflation of numbers. However, it is generally accepted that that only 250,000 native Americans were alive in the territory of the United States at the end of the 19th century. The major cause of the reduction of population is understood by many scholars to be ''virgin-soil epidemic'', that of death through the the spread of highly contagious diseases to which the Natives had no immunity. The principal pathogen was smallpox, the effects of which also killed by hunger by reducing the food gatherers. Other killers included measles, influenza, whooping cough, diphtheria, typhus, bubonic plague, cholera, and scarlet fever. It is estimated that between 75 to 90 percent of all Indian deaths resulted from such killers. While there is evidence that some Europeans promoted this decimation, and certain liberal historians  are given to ideological-driven charges, specific accounts of such are in dispute, but poor medical understanding, as well as poor conditions and later forced relocations, such as that of  Cherokee resettlement 1838, certainly fostered it. However, the largest loss of life occurred well before such forced relocation, and sometimes after only little contact with European traders from Europe.

===Death by war===

====Death by war====

Although [[Puritans]] first regarded  the Natives as potential friends and converts, and relations for some time were amicable. However, later developments would result in the Puritan seeing the Indians as hostile.  The murder of several colonists in late 1636 by the feared (by colonists and other Indians alike) Pequot tribe, resulted in increased alarm and hostilities. Torture of prisoners was a routine practice for most Indian tribes, and the Pequots in particular had  a reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness, and openly flayed the skin of one of their captors alive, and cut off his fingers and toes, while roasting another. Indians also engaged in cannibalism, eating certain body parts of their enemies. While the colonists sometimes engaged in torture in order to gain information, and the means of war on both sides could be brutal, the typical cruelty of warring Indians resulted in a fear and a determination to subdue them.

Although [[Puritans]] first regarded  the Natives as potential friends and converts, and relations for some time were amicable. However, later developments would result in the Puritan seeing the Indians as hostile.  The murder of several colonists in late 1636 by the feared (by colonists and other Indians alike) Pequot tribe, resulted in increased alarm and hostilities. Torture of prisoners was a routine practice for most Indian tribes, and the Pequots in particular had  a reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness, and openly flayed the skin of one of their captors alive, and cut off his fingers and toes, while roasting another. Indians also engaged in cannibalism, eating certain body parts of their enemies. While the colonists sometimes engaged in torture in order to gain information, and the means of war on both sides could be brutal, the typical cruelty of warring Indians resulted in a fear and a determination to subdue them.

For a more through and balanced account of wars between the Indians and settlers, the reader is directed to the main source for the above, [http://hnn.us/articles/7302.html ''Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide?''], by Guenter Lewy.

For a more through and balanced account of wars between the Indians and settlers, the reader is directed to the main source for the above, [http://hnn.us/articles/7302.html ''Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide?''], by Guenter Lewy.

==Deaths by internecine conflicts==  

====Deaths by internecine conflicts====  

In addition to decimation by war with  European groups (in contrast to those who worked to covert Indians to faith in Christ), armed conflict and ritual violence between Indians themselves are of considerable antiquity in North America. In ''North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence'', it is evidenced that in contrast to revisionist history that tribal warfare was more like football games, recent findings provide more evidence that from antiquity Indians fought each other, that internecine "warfare was ubiquitous; every major culture area of native North America reviewed herein has produced archaeological, ethnohistorical, osteological, or ethnographic evidence of armed conflict and ritual violence." This could involve the taking of human trophies being encouraged before contact with Europeans, and  hostilities that at least among some areas resulted in "the massacre and mutilation of men, women, and children."  

In addition to decimation by war with  European groups (in contrast to those who worked to covert Indians to faith in Christ), armed conflict and ritual violence between Indians themselves are of considerable antiquity in North America. In ''North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence'', it is evidenced that in contrast to revisionist history that tribal warfare was more like football games, recent findings provide more evidence that from antiquity Indians fought each other, that internecine "warfare was ubiquitous; every major culture area of native North America reviewed herein has produced archaeological, ethnohistorical, osteological, or ethnographic evidence of armed conflict and ritual violence." This could involve the taking of human trophies being encouraged before contact with Europeans, and  hostilities that at least among some areas resulted in "the massacre and mutilation of men, women, and children."  

While the effects of wars by European against Indians are not to be minimized, trade with Europeans could reduce  traditional forms of intergroup conflict during the early contact period. However, as unjust warring is the usually the result of lust (Ja, 4:2)  tribal warfare also could shift from "raiding each other based on revenge, and a desire to acquire prestige goods and status, to an extremely violent pattern of engagements arising from unequal access to foreign trade goods and the quest for war booty, revenge killings, status intensification, and slaves", as it did among Northwest Coast Indians.<ref>[http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/catalogs/dlg_show_excerpt.php?id=1872&title=North+American+Indigenous+Warfare+and+Ritual+Violence&subtitle=&author=Edited+by+Richard+J.+Chacon%3B+Rub%E9n+G.+Mendoza ''North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence'', summary]</ref>   

While the effects of wars by European against Indians are not to be minimized, trade with Europeans could reduce  traditional forms of intergroup conflict during the early contact period. However, as unjust warring is the usually the result of lust (Ja, 4:2)  tribal warfare also could shift from "raiding each other based on revenge, and a desire to acquire prestige goods and status, to an extremely violent pattern of engagements arising from unequal access to foreign trade goods and the quest for war booty, revenge killings, status intensification, and slaves", as it did among Northwest Coast Indians.<ref>[http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/catalogs/dlg_show_excerpt.php?id=1872&title=North+American+Indigenous+Warfare+and+Ritual+Violence&subtitle=&author=Edited+by+Richard+J.+Chacon%3B+Rub%E9n+G.+Mendoza ''North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence'', summary]</ref>   

==Problems of resettlement==  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

==Problems of resettlement==

   

   

Later, after the American Indian Peoples were rounded up onto reservations, the sudden dependence on the government created situations that are often associated with welfare situations.  Both because of biology (Indian people like many Asian people do not break down alcohol the same way Europeans do) and the lack of being a "bread winner" that men throughout history find critical to identity as head of the family, alcohol and drug abuse became very common both among reservation and urban Indians, as is the case today.<ref>12% of Indian deaths are related to alcohol, several times the national average. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Aug28/0,4670,IndianDeathsAlcohol,00.html</ref> A strong rise in child and spousal abuse occurred after the "welfare state" like existence for the men came into being.  Without the need to provide for the family, depression sets in, and is a common problem on the reservation.

Later, after the American Indian Peoples were rounded up onto reservations, the sudden dependence on the government created situations that are often associated with welfare situations.  Both because of biology (Indian people like many Asian people do not break down alcohol the same way Europeans do) and the lack of being a "bread winner" that men throughout history find critical to identity as head of the family, alcohol and drug abuse became very common both among reservation and urban Indians, as is the case today.<ref>12% of Indian deaths are related to alcohol, several times the national average. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Aug28/0,4670,IndianDeathsAlcohol,00.html</ref> A strong rise in child and spousal abuse occurred after the "welfare state" like existence for the men came into being.  Without the need to provide for the family, depression sets in, and is a common problem on the reservation.

Indian People have many problems to solve, but new social services, generally run and funded by the tribes themselves, along with new recognition of Indian People's contributions to society are ways that tribes and individuals are trying to change things.

Indian People have many problems to solve, but new social services, generally run and funded by the tribes themselves, along with new recognition of Indian People's contributions to society are ways that tribes and individuals are trying to change things.

In 1663 Eliot, with help from Christian Indians, completed the first Bible printed in America, a [[Bible]] written in the Massachusett-Natick Indian language, which was a difficult task, as this language was completely oral.

==Indian tribes today==

Other praying Indian Towns also were established, including Ponkapoag (Stoughton, MA) and Nashoba (Littleton, MA), and by 1675, it is estimated that 20 percent of the Native Indians in New England lived in praying Towns.

Today, many Indian tribes are seeing a resurgence, such as in [[California]], through laws that give them special privileges in allowing [[gambling]] in the form of slot machines and other gaming, through outreach programs to reunite urban Indians with both their reservation families and other urban tribal members; programs set up both by the tribe themselves (often with assistance of state and local governments) to teach their languages and open schools that focus on a tribal way of life.  Most tribes have been granted some limited power in self governance as well, significantly in the area of the sentencing of tribal members in various criminal and civil issues.  Special tax breaks have helped Indian people and Indian reservations become more self-sufficient.  Some states have even revisited the definition of 'reservation' based on the Dawes Act which originally provided for substantially more "reservation" land if the Indian people would buy it as individual land, and either market it or farm it (the intent was to help Indian Peoples integrate into the American social and economic systems).  So for instance in [[Wisconsin]], Indian reservation land can include buying real estate in [[Milwaukee]] - far from the physical location of the tribes themselves.

However, it was in the winter of 1675 that an intense trial in the wilderness began. The colonists, being largely distrustful of the Praying Indians, and being fearful that they might join "[[King Phillip]]" (Metacom), the mighty Wampanoag Indian Chief in an ongoing war, they removed the approximately 200 Natick Praying Indians to Deer Island at midnight on October 30. The Indians made no opposition, and were left unprotected on the frigid Island, being forbidden to light fires, hunt game, build shelters, and so suffered from hunger and little clothing, though they may have been able to dig clams and fish. A month later this crime was multiplied as the praying Indian Villages of Ponkapoag and Nashoba were sent to suffer interment on the Island, which lasted until into 1676.  An attempt by the now elderly Eliot going by boat to bring supplies to the Natives is said to have ended when the boat was capsized by some angry colonists.  Most of the 500 Indians died of cold and starvation, while some of the Praying Indians worked as spies for the colonists and fought for them.

Self governance is a huge issue, with each of the over 300 recognized tribes having different rules and regulations placed on them by the Government.  As with every other political system in the world, Indian People disagree with each other about many issues from how to spend government money to how "traditional" to become, to what religion should be the focal point of the tribe.   

After the death of King Phillip Pastor Eliot and Daniel Gookin secured the Indians release, personally removing the Indians from the Island and bearing the financial cost to do so. They returned to face the loss of homes and property, and means of survival. A remnant lived on however, as a testimony of enduring faith. 

Other issues remain between recognized Sovereign Nations and the US government including mineral right issues, natural resource husbandry and mediation, conflicts with government run museums (as well as a few private museums) over who has the right to various artifacts, what rights modern Indian peoples should and should not have when dealing with artifacts that are clearly earlier than the oldest known existence of any particular tribe (for example, who has rights to archaeological finds at Mesa Verde, which represents an extinct tribe, the Anisazii).

 

Deer Island today exists mainly as a sewage treatment plant, but with a park with an open walk which remembers the plight of the Natives that were once imprisoned there.<ref>[http://natickprayingindians.org/history.html Praying Indians of Natick and Ponkapoag]</ref> <ref>[http://www.helloboston.com/BookFiles/Pg_303-382.pdf  The Memorial History of Boston 1630-1880 Vol. I, p. 321]</ref><ref>Blackwell Reference Online; A Dictionary of American Reference; Purvis, Thomas L. 1997</ref>

== References ==

== References ==