native american indians

The history of native American indians is fascinating for many reasons-the the evolution of thought and understanding about the History of  native Americans and the white European civilizationation is actually inspiring for how it shows the progress -the awareness-of how and in what ways the natice american civization was systematically destroyed-We all know about the broken promises- the treaties that were ignored- the land they were deprived of-the countless ways in which they were exploited and abused-but we also know that there were atrocities committed on both sides-and that the wars that began in the 17th century lasted to the end of the 19th and notably continued in to the early 20th century-Wounded Knee tells a story all who studgy this history that almost nothing else can-But the ways in which the kind hearted,progressive,and enlightened white people deided to help the native americans is the most interesting story of all-that they tried to help at all is something to consider-given the fact that so few did for so long-but the way so many of them chose to help- by forcing the native americans to speak,dress,and behave like White people-is probably the most damaging thing over time-that native americans were also expected to adopt the white civilizations beliefs and values goes along with what i am saying-and it is now clear that the indian civilization was superior in many ways and especially with regard to their beliefs and customs-regarding the stewardship of the earth-the lack of an emphasis on material values-and their abiding devotion to family life and their more evolved notions of how to raise children-nontheless-there was really no other choice but to assimilate them in to white civilization at the time-it had to be done given the circumstances-but how it was done-that could have changed had there been greater understanding at that time-it is also important to note that the reformers-the people who started schools- who intervened with the governemnt on the Indians behalf-the people who did learn their languages and showed respect for their culture-dserve high praise for doing so-and in many ways were way ahead of their time-Sitting Bull once said that with the white man MATERIALISM IS A DISEASE-he was right in many ways and it would be interesting to see what he thinks of the unregulated and wreckless greed that has led to our current economic woes-there is still much to learn about this history-and to learn from Native American culture-and lets not forget that when History is re-examined for injustice-discrimination-inequality-the native Americans always seem to come last-I hope our current administration will consider the plight of the remaining native americans on the reservations and make a priority of addressing their needs.