Native American history

This article talks a lot about the history of Native Americans. When the pilgrims first came to America, the Native Americans helped them learn how to live in their new environment. The Indians were able to teach them how to grow crops in the new weather, so that the pilgrims were able to survive. But through the interaction with the pilgrims, the Indians got some of the illnesses that people were carrying. This causes many of the Native Americans to die, because their immune systems were not able to fight off the diseases. Throughout history things have gotten worse for Native Americans. Indians have been forcibly moved around by the white Americans when they wanted to expand their country, and were used to get supplies for the white portion of the country. But when the Indians fought back against the Americans, they were ultimately defeated. I think that this is sad to know that all Americans did was take from the Indians, who in the beginning were the reason that Americans are here today. Indians helped the pilgrims to survive in their country; with out them, there would not be a white population in America today. Later on things started to improve. Native Americans gained their citizenship in 1924. But just because they gained their citizenship, does not mean that they were treated equally. Just like the African American population, Native Americans had to protest and fight for more equal treatment. Now Native Americans have laws that protect their rights, and try to improve the living conditions on the reservations. But still there are many restrictions on their lives, and when living on a reservation they live in poverty. There is still room for improvement in Native Americans’ lives.
The one thing that really stood out to men in this article was when it said, “Some Native Americans continue to object to the use of Indian images as mascots for sports teams”. This seems strand to me that Native Americans would be offended that these images are mascots. I would understand if they were giving Native Americans a bad image, by doing inappropriate things, or poking fun at the culture. But all a mascot does is representing the school. This is not causing any harm, and I don think that it is changing people’s perception of Native Americans. The article also said that some people did not want Indian bones to be placed in museums; “some Americans believe that such artifacts can contribute to general anthropological and sociological knowledge, others feel that such scrutiny shows a lack of respect for early Native American societies.” I don’t understand how having artifacts placed in a museum would be a bad thing. If anything I would consider it an honor to have my people’s culture in a museum, so that others have the opportunity to learn.

"Native Americans in U.S. history." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .