Native Americans

Little boy picture

In today’s society, discrimination against certain groups of people are very common. In this essay I will be writing about Native Americans. They have faced countless amounts of hardships over the years and they deserve to keep their land to themselves. The carelessness from some government officials, everyday people and even the president towards Native American people and their land is unmatched and should be fixed.

The identity of Native Americans is very scattered and is most of the time based on movies and stories. When you hear the term ‘Native Americans’ being used you might think of the wild west with battles of cowboys and savages or you might think of the pilgrims and how the indians helped them with their quest of starting new lives. Whatever you happen to think of is your understanding of the name. That is where all these tales and movies give people a misunderstanding of Americans natives. All the different tribes in the U.S. have many things in common and one of the most profound is that they would describe themselves as people of honor and respect. I personally have no experience with Native Americans accept reading and watching movies about them. 

Map picture

The Native American community is very diverse, but could be better. According to the NCAI, there are 573 federally recognized Indian Nations in the U.S. They are 229 tribes in alaska alone with the remaining 344 tribes spread out among 35 different states. The Native Americans currently have a population of approximately 5.2 million people which has been decreasing since  around the late 1400’s when there was an estimated 112 million people. Each individual tribe are nation is unique and different from the other. They have their own traditions and certain things that they do as a whole.

Native Americans have always been a relatively peaceful when dealing with hardships. All the way back when the first settlers arrived and started taking land from them and murdering them for no reason at all. Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal act 1830, forced thousands of Native Americans out of their homes. In 1874 gold was discovered in south Dakota which lead to a massive rush or settlers into indian territory, ignoring all treaties. The Native Americans have had it hard all these years and now, people are still ignoring treaties. They need justice and preservation of their land, culture and people.

Indian and White settler picture

The carelessness from some government officials, everyday people and even the president towards Native American people and their land is unmatched and should be fixed. The identity of Native Americans is very scattered and is most of the time based on movies and stories. The Native American community is very diverse, but could be better. Native Americans have always been a relatively peaceful when dealing with hardships. People need to realize that we live in a diverse world, surrounded by different cultures and ethnicities.