Native Americans and Incorporation: Patterns and Problems

Abstract

Contact between Native Americans and Europeans first began in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Since then, societies dominated by transplanted Europeans have had complex effects on Native American groups, sometimes tyng to displace or annihilate them, more often trylng to include them in one way or another (with varying results), into their respective states. These processes and their results have been highly variable. Native groups that were once major threats to European invaders have all but disappeared, while other groups that were once on the verge of annihilation are now among the most prosperous of contemporary tribes. Still others have managed to survive and preserve much of their cultures. How might the myriad patterns of interaction be analyzed? One solution is to employ a frame of reference that facilitates comparisons of these processes across time and space, and yet respects the unique characteristics of each case. This paper suggests one such possible frame of reference. It is important to note at the beginning that what follows is not definitive and complete, but suggestive and inchoate. Nevertheless, the examples presented illustrate the utility of this approach for re-analyzing familiar events, for suggesting new research questions, and for indicating directions for further theoretical development. How