Native American Acculturation or Resistance

The Indians had two choices when grappling with the issue of western migration: acculturate or resist. Looking back on history, examples can be seen where both strategies worked, and there are also counterexamples for each. For the Indians, acculturation would bring a peaceful transition from Indian culture to American culture.

However, if the Indians decided resistance would be effective then a more violent future would hold true. Based on the effectiveness of Cherokee acculturation and the failure of different Indian tribes in their attempts to resist, acculturation proved to be a more effective method in grappling with western migration.

The Cherokees best demonstrate the ideal example of how acculturation could work. By welcoming the agents from the U.S. and allowing them to teach and explain American ideals to them, they were able to be successful in the American economy. George Washington in 1796 started a civilization program to help acculturate the Indians. The Cherokee Indians accepted and welcomed these reforms.

The U.S. government wanted Native Americans to give up hunting for farming. As farmers, Native Americans would not need their excess land to hunt any longer and that land could be sold to immigrants and other U.S. citizens. This was the nature of the Dawes Plan. The Indians were to be compensated for the land they lost. The Cherokees agreed to the plan and were allowed to keep there land and become farmers. Because the Cherokees were willing to change their culture to become farmers, they were allowed to keep the land they needed. Many of the Cherokees believed that in order to avoid being forced to move to reservations, they had to acculturate to what the U.S. thought to be best.

By 1809, after the Cherokees had fully acculturated, it could be seen that acculturation was a successful strategy. Livestock could be found on the farm owned by the Indians. Spinning wheels were worked by the women, but they still held their roles as farmers and child tenders. The men, although no longer hunters, still maintained their competitive spirit. Now instead of focusing on hunting the buffalo, they focused on trade and economic growth.

Any individual Indian could acculturate into American society. By putting down the bow and arrow and picking up a plow any Indian could become more American. It is not possible for one Indian to resist in this way. Acculturation would allow for Indians to keep some of their land, keep their lives, and keep certain aspects of their culture. The Native Americans were given rights. They had the right to own land and the right to own slaves. They did not have equal opportunity to be as successful as a white American, but Native Americans were not completely out of the economic race for success. Acculturation was not successful in letting the Native Americans keep all their land or keep every aspect of their culture, but it did allow them to live prosperous lives based on American ideals.

The Indian tribes that chose to resist, the Creeks, Shawnees, and Delawares to name a few, were unsuccessful in keeping their lives, land, and culture. When battling the Americans, Indians only had one major win, Little Bighorn. Basically every other battle the Native Americans fought was lost. Looking back on these statistics