What makes you American? What makes you Canadian? Are you from here or are you an Immigrant? These questions can sometimes be tough and cause separation between people.
Let’s dive into these topics a little deeper.
Long before these lands had no borders and was occupied by an estimated 10-100 million Native Americans living on the land we call North and South America.
1492 is a year that the world has taken as the year America was discovered even though Lief Erikson came Around A.D. 1000. Since then, hundreds of millions of people migrated this way and colonized the land.
This influx of immigrants coming in, resulted in 8 out 10 Native Americans dying from diseases brought from overseas. The way of life changed drastically as the white settlers claimed land for ownership and drove out Natives from tribal territories.
The people were seen and depicted as savages with no religion and in the eyes of the settlers, they were a people that needed saving.
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Saving Through Christianity
Missionaries came to America on the ships that were bringing immigrants to the new land with the mission to save the Indian.
The new people who were colonizing the lands wanted to make the Native American people more like them. Some tribes didn’t resist christianity and assimilated to the new religion.
When you take a look at the religion, it is easy to see the hypocrisy that the people would see of the religion.
There were unspeakable things that had happen to introduce the Native American people to Christianity that the effects still show today.
Immigrants in Canada and USA
In the 1800s land territories were really starting to be established. The Countries needed to make room for Immigrants to come and farm the land, to look for Gold, and to build railways to connect the lands.
There was mass advertisements to attract immigrants to the new world and they were practically giving away the land and many times without any consultation to the Native American People.
Fighting to Keep Our Way of Life
Many of the tribes started to die and in some cases, even became extinct because of the arrival of settlers.
Some of the reasons for such loss of the Indigenous people is because of:
- Land Loss
- Starvation
- Buffalo Decline
- Warfare
- Disease
- Mistreatment
The Indigenous people of this land had their own way of life prior to the the arrival of settlers and immigrants.
There was a vast trade system, a diversity of languages, laws, education system, leadership roles, and more. The people were very spiritual and knew that everything has a spirit.
Now a lot of science are starting to catch up and realize that the Earth itself is a living organism and does have the ability to heal itself.
Depending on which land base the Indigenous people lived would greatly determine their way of life.
If you lived by the waters you lived off the resources of the waters. If you lived on the plains, you would be a hunter/gatherer. If you lived in an area with great agriculture, you would live the way of farming.
When settlers came in and started to invade and conquer lands it totally changed the way of life for the people living on the land.
The Native Americans were forced to take up Treaties and put on Reservations and most of the time it was land allotted that had little to no value.
School such as Residential Schools and Boarding Schools were set up to kill the Indian inside of the children and become more like white people.
Pass systems were created so that the Indigenous people could not leave their reservations, ceremonies were banned, languages were banned, gathering were banned, leaving you without your Identity of who you are.
Fighting Back
There were many of the Native Americans who could not stand this forceful act of changing a whole race of people into another way of living.
The Pueblo people fought back and pushed the Spanish people out of what is present day Sante Fe, New Mexico. Crazy Horse battled with the Lakota’s in the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Big Bears Following rose up against the Canadian government to fight back in the Northwest Rebellion.
Russell Means with the American Indian Movement fought for his people in the same spot of the first Wounded Knee Massacre.
Through this time Indigenous people started dying and disappearing.
The Native American people were outnumbered, out gunned, and the control of the land had pushed Native American to it’s weakest.
The Indian Act and The Indian Reorganization Act has controlled Native American people till this day.
The settlers and immigrants started profiting and living lavishly on this land using all the resources available while the Native American people suffered.
The Side Effects of Arrival of Settlers to Native American People
Why are Native American People Poor?
A lot of times you get immigrants who don’t get why Native American people are suffering and are not succeeding such as other immigrants who came to this land and are prospering.
John Stossell created a video with the mindset of Capitalism and made the argument of why Native Americans are poor and struggling when they get all this help from the Government?
The sad truth is there are a lot of immigrants and settlers with this mindset and still have the mindset that Natives are lazy, drunks, savages, and a whole list of negative stereotypes.
You have to understand the history to learn why it is what it is.
Before any arrival of Immigrants the Native American people were RICH and didn’t have to worry about these diseases that are here now, didn’t have to worry about food, didn’t have to worry about a place to sleep, didn’t have to worry about money.
The people didn’t have this idea of overconsumption and had a great respect for the lands.
Early Days of Farming and Agriculture
When the Native American people in Canada were forced on reservations, part of the Treaties was the implementation of agriculture.
The people were hunter/gatherers and had to learn a new way of life.
When the Indigenous people did farm, they were restrictions that put a serious ceilings on how Native American people could profit and find their way within the economies of the nations.
The Canadian Government implemented the “Peasant” Farming Policy which limited Native American farming and the ability to create profits.
The people were not allowed to sell grains, the lands got reduced, and forced to go into root crops and not wheat crops.
From the beginning Governments have shaped the way of living so that they are able to take all the resources of this land and profit, while limiting the Native American people to prosper.
Along with taking their way to prosper, they attempted to take their Identity, their language, their way of life.
The settlers used the land and resources to extract Trillions of dollars on land that originally belonged to Native Americans.
Imagine if they came onto land you owned and found a Gold Mine and took it for their own and sold it and got wealthy……then asked why you are not doing good?
Native American Success
One thing that all Native American people share is this – Resilience.
With all the rules and regulations on reservations, the Native American people have used their sovereign right to their advantage.
One of those ways is within the gaming industry.
Many Native American tribes have journeyed into the gaming industry and created prosperity for their people and have shared that wealth with other nations.
Others have gone into create tobacco empires and profitable wineries and tourism just to name a few ventures.
Today now the Native American Tribes throughout create revenues in the hundreds of Billions for the economy.
Cultural Identity and Traditions
It can sometimes be difficult for other races to understand Native American people if you are looking in from the outside.
You may see poverty or a homeless Native American person on the streets of your city and get an idea of the people as a whole.
Truth is our way of life can sometimes clash with the idea of what is Canada and America.
Riches and Wealth in terms of money has never been a driving factor for the tribes in early days of America and Canada. What we wanted though was to not lose our way of life, our traditions, culture, and language.
We didn’t want our people to starve and go sick.
Through years of assimilation, colonization, racism, and everything that could be thrown at Native American people……we are still here.
Today we are revitalizing languages, taking control of our own education, attending Powwows, singing our songs, attending ceremonies and more.
We are healing.
Finding Our Place in This World
Native American people did not have to fight in the Wars that Canada and America had with other Countries.
But Native American people had the highest per capita in World Wars compared to any other groups. Some places as high as 70% of their tribe stepped up to fight.
The People continue to stand up for the same countries that put them through so much trauma and abuse.
Addictions have set in and is killing Native American people.
The trauma of broken families due to Residential Schools and Boarding Schools. The trauma of losing your identity and not knowing your culture. The list of traumas can go on and on.
Tribes come together through ceremonies such as Powwows, Sun Dances, Bird Dances, Smoke Dances, and more.
Message to Immigrants
I know we can’t speak for all Native Americans.
One message I think may be important is for those who occupy this land now to learn about who came before them.
Learn about the Native Americans who occupied the land you are in right now and what they went through so you could now enjoy that land.
Learn about the histories of the Native American people.
In canada there is a reported 1,673,785 Million Native Americans. In 2019 300,000 Immigrants were welcomed to Canada in just 2019 alone. That is 18% of the entire Native American Population.
The Immigrant roots in Americas is just around 400 years…that is how far the roots go for Immigrants on this land…while Native Americans roots go to time immemorial.
