3. Exclusion from the American Dream
Last week, we focused on ways women and members of the LGBTQ
community have historically been barred from the American Dream. This
week, we’ll look at two additional groups:
• Part 1, Native Americans
• Part 2, African Americans
Although we are looking at only these four groups, understand that there are
other groups that have faced or are facing exclusion or marginalization
today.
4. Exclusion from the American Dream
Native Americans, unlike the European settlers, did not have a written
system of language. They were oral cultures that relied on the spoken
word to preserve important information.
Features of an Oral Story Features of a Written Story
Performed in real time for an
audience; each performance is
unique.
Recorded once; each telling is
exactly the same.
The performer creates
additional meaning through
body language and speech
patterns, allowing the performer
to interpret the tale.
Written text is static; the reader
must create additional meaning
outside of the actual text.
5. Exclusion from the American Dream
When reading early Native American literature, it’s important to remember
that the Native American stories have actually been translated twice—once
from the original Native American language to English, and once from an
oral story to a written story. What challenges do you think those translations
present? Here are some things to think about:
• Translators could not put the literature into context because of a lack of
knowledge of the culture
• Translators used formal language
• The beauty and/or humor is sometimes lost because the translation is
too literal
• Translators injected their own beliefs into their translation
6. Exclusion from the American Dream
We all know that indigenous people lived in the Americas long before
Columbus arrived in 1492. Columbus called them “Indians” because he
thought he had arrived in the East Indies. The explorers and, later, settlers
had many conflicts with the Native Americans.
These conflicts are represented in
literature in many ways. The Narrative of
the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary
Rowlandson is one of the more famous
captivity narratives. Rowlandson was
captured by Native Americans in 1675
during what is known as King Philip’s War.
She was held for 11 weeks before being
ransomed. She wrote about her
experiences during captivity, including the
death of her young daughter. Her book
was popular and is considered to be one
of the first American best-sellers.
7. Exclusion from the American Dream
Conflict between the Native
Americans and the colonists over
land continued to be prevalent as
more and more Europeans came
to the colonies and established
settlements. To ease tensions,
King George III signed The
Proclamation of 1763. The order
prohibited any settlement west of
the Appalachian mountains,
essentially negating land grants
given to colonists following the
French and Indian War. This
angered many colonists who had
fought against the French.
In this map, the area designated
as “Indian Reserve” is the area in
the middle, shown in light pink.
8. Exclusion of the American Dream
After the Revolutionary War, the new American government needed to find a way to
regulate trade and interactions with the Native Americans.
In 1790, the first Indian Trade and Intercourse Act was passed. It gave interactions
between non-Native Americans and Native Americans federal control. It also
established legal boundaries of Native American land, subjected trade with Native
Americans to federal regulation, and classified crimes against Native Americans by
non-Native Americans as federal crimes. There would be additional acts signed in
1793, 1796, 1799, 1802, and 1834. These are collectively known as the
Nonintercourse Act.
As you can see in this
map, the area known
as “Indian Country”
significantly shifted
from 1763 to 1834.
9. Exclusion from the American Dream
In 1803, the United States acquired more than 800,000 square miles of
land west of the Mississippi through the Louisiana Purchase. The map
below shows the extent of the loss of land by the Native Americans.
10. Exclusion from the American Dream
In 1820, President Andrew
Jackson authorized the Indian
Removal Act. This authorized
the government to relocate
Native Americans from
existing state borders to
unsettled lands west of the
Mississippi.
In 1838-1839, a tribe of about
14,000 Cherokee Indians was
forced to move to what is now
Oklahoma. More than 5,000
of them died during this forced
journey, known as the Trail of
Tears.
11. Exclusion from the American Dream
Native Americans continued to be forced westward and then onto reservations,
and even then, the demand for land by the white Americans continued to grow.
Many felt that since the Native Americans were not using the land for farming or
for mining, it should be taken away from the Native Americans and given to
white Americans.
The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in South Dakota in the 1870s caused
increased conflict between the Sioux tribes and the US authorities. The Black
Hills were part of the land that belonged to the Sioux. When it became known
that the Black Hills were potentially rich with gold, the 7th Cavalry, led by
General George Custer, led an expedition. Small amounts of gold were
discovered, and the gold rush began.
Once again, land that was promised to the Native Americans was taken away,
and in 1876, the United States declared war on the Sioux and ordered them to
leave their land, which included the Black Hills.
12. Exclusion from the American Dream
Sitting Bull, one of the Sioux leaders, resisted the idea of signing treaties with
the whites and limiting Native American life to living on reservations. He
attracted a large number of followers, including members of the Sioux,
Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. In the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, the
Cheyenne and Sioux defeated General George Custer’s Seventh Cavalry in
what became known as Custer’s Last Stand.
This defeat served to confirm many white Americans’ belief that Native
Americans were wild and bloodthirsty, and the US government intensified its
efforts to remove Native Americans from their homeland. Nearly all the Sioux
and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations within the next five years.
Sitting Bull George Custer
13. Exclusion from the American Dream
The final conflict between federal troops and the Sioux came in 1890 at
Wounded Knee in South Dakota.
A group of the Sioux, called Ghost Dancers, believed that they had angered
the gods by abandoning their sacred rituals. The gods had, in turn, allowed
the white man to take over their land. The Ghost Dancers believed that if they
rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would restore their land and
destroy the non-believers.
In December of 1890, federal troops attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, whom
they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer. Sitting Bull was killed during
the attempted arrest.
A few weeks later, the 7th Cavalry surrounded the Sioux at Wounded Knee
and demanded that they surrender. Someone (it’s not clear which side) fired
a shot, which resulted in a brutal massacre of the Sioux. At least 150 Sioux
(many of them woman and children) were killed.
14. Exclusion from the American Dream
In 1887, President Grover Cleveland signed the Dawes Act into law. The
Dawes Act was intended to help Native Americans assimilate into white
society by:
• Allotting each Native American family a set amount of land for farming
• Educating young Native Americans at boarding schools to teach them the
white culture
Instead of successfully integrating Native Americans into white society, the
Dawes Act essentially cut Native American land ownership in half. The
infamous boarding schools tended to punish Native American students for
speaking their language or practicing their cultural traditions.
The Dawes Act was abolished in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt.
15. Exclusion from the American Dream
Native Americans were recognized as U.S. citizens in 1924, and there are currently
more than 500 tribes recognized by the federal government. Each tribe is
recognized as a nation; it is self-governing and self-determining.
You may be familiar with the typical stereotypes of Native Americans in film and
literature that include:
• The noble savage
• The wise elder
• The Indian princess
• The trusty sidekick
In addition, people quite often associate Native Americans with casinos,
alcoholism, and mascots for sports teams.
How else are Native Americans excluded from the American Dream? Should they
be expected to want the American Dream?
