Intermarriage and Assimilation: The Beginning or the End?

Abstract

Introduction Many critics believe that the extinction of the American Indian will come noth through extermination but through assimilation. The efforts of the dominant white society to defeat the native peoples of the Americas began when Christopher Columbus and the other New World colonists first set their eyes on the so-called savages. Beginning with outright acts of brutality and later developing into United States governmental policy, the dominant society continues to oppress Native Americans. Unfortunately, white society has made assimilation almost, if not completely, inevitable. Early treaties exchanged land which was rightfully owned by the Native Americans for white education. Policies such as forced reservation living only made matters worse. Once they placed native people on reservations, the government found it easier to control a compact population group. Along with reservation life, the government prohibited traditional native practices because anything which differed from their European customs was deemed pagan. In essence, dominant society attempted to rob the Indians of their cultural identity. The government also denied the reservation adequate health care and other basic necessities for survival. Long after the atrocities committed against the native people during colonization, the United States and the U.S. government developed. From the time of this nation's founding, a system of institutionalized racism has also developed. Although too many aspects of this racism unfortunately still exist, most intellectuals and proponents of white supremacy have realized that assimilation, and not violence, may lead to the disappearance of the American Indian. History