EARLY

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EARLY ENCOUNTERS Economic Political Cultural Ecol
ogical
Zoltan Grossman Geography/ Native American
Studies The Evergreen State College Olympia,
Washington
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Studying Native History/Geography

• Not only about racial conflict, but the
  colonization of nations
• Not only about the U.S. government, but the
  origins of the United States
• Not only about federal/state policies, but the
  land base where they occur
• Not only looks at political/economic, but at
  European cultural underpinnings

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No Indiansbefore 1492
There goes the neighborhood
Diversity in Tribes/bands Languages Governments
Cultures Spiritual beliefs Resource use Land
control
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Pros Cons of Terms
Aboriginal First Nations 4th World
American Indian or Indian Native American or
Native Tribal Indigenous Nation names
Amerindian Autochthonous
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Native Americans

• Racial category?
• (so-called minority)
• Ethno-cultural groups
• Economic status
• Groups with a land base
• Autonomous nations

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NATION
Ethnic group with a common

• Language
• Identity / customs
• History
• Territory

Treaties recognized tribes as nations
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Nations have a common

• Past in a homeland
• Present identification
• Future viability

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STATE
A legal / political entity with

• Authority / power to govern
• Outside recognition
• Defined territory / boundaries
• A few Native nations have more land
• or population than some UN member states

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Tribal Diversity
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CulturalAreas
Arctic Subarctic Northwest Coast Plateau Great
Basin California Plains Southwest Southeast Northe
ast
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Language and Economy
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Doctrine of Discovery
America defined as Terra Nullis (Empty
Land) Native subjects of one Crown
(sovereign) Native title taken through purchase
or war Native retains rights of occupancy, land
use
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Precedents forthe Other
Crusades against Muslims
Roman wars against Barbarians
Burning of Pagans (Witches)
Expulsion of Moors (Arabs) Jews from Spain,
1492
English colonization of Welsh, Scots, Irish
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Why Europe?

• Early technical innovations
• Armor, gunnery from
• wars among many small states
• Shipbuilding and navigation
• Evangelical zeal
• Crusades in Middle East
• Missionaries in Americas
• Law of Diminishing Returns
• Drive for gold/money reached
• limits at home new resources
• - Land divided by inheritance
• - Settlement as social safety valve

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Early Contact (1492-1600)
Economic Coastal settlements
Dependency on Natives Political Military
conflict, genocide Cultural Missionnary
conversions Ecological Spread of disease
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Spanish Colonization
Economic Gold, silver Indian
labor Political Military conquest Cultural
Conversion Ecological Plantation
farms
Columbus ordered Indian hands chopped off if they
did not deliver enough gold tax
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Spanish America
Mexico/Southwest, Florida, Caribbean, W. South
America
Spanish land grants
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Spanish repression of Indios

• Hunted with dogs
• to near-extinction
• on Hispaniola
• Burned resisters
• Enslaved survivors
• Yet intermarriage
• resulted in mestizos

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Spanish debate

• Indians Heathens
• best as slaves
• (Sepulveda)
• Indians can be
• converted
• (Las Casas)

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French Colonization
Economic Cooperation for fur trade, Deals with
middlemen Cultural Conversion by black
robes Political Cohabitation (resulting in
mixed-race Métis) Ecological Exploration (China
Passage) Fur Trade
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New France
Quebec, Great Lakes, Louisiana
French long lots, based on river frontage
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Quebec, Great Lakes , Louisiana
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European view of Noble Savage Native Americans
innocent children of nature (Rousseau)Communal
ideas influenced European political thought
Parallel with earlier myth of Wild Man
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European doctrine of Higher Land Use
America as sparsely Inhabited virgin
wilderness (wild) Agriculture (sedentary)
higher than hunting/ gathering
(nomadic) Justification for taking unused land
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Columbian Exchange
NEW Corn Tomato Beans Potato Peanut Vanilla Choc
olate
OLD Cattle Pigs Horses Sugar Tea Coffee
Old World ahead in animal domestication
Brought disease transportation to Americas
New World ahead in crops Brought greater
nutrition population to Europe Africa
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New World as virgin soil for
germs biological expansion of Europe Native
lack of natural resistance to Old World
(domestic animal) diseases Early Euro.
fishermen brought disease, worsened with
introduction of pigs
Ecological Imperialism (Crosby)
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Population of North America (1491)

• Larger, richer and more populous
• than Europe (Wilson)
• Range from 1.2 million (Mooney)
• to 18 million (Dobyns) and above
• Depopulation from huge early
• epidemics in Native cities, villages
• Historical implications of debate over
• unoccupied empty land

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Smallpox Measles Flu Plague Typhus Cholera Chick
en pox Malaria
Disease Epidemics
Europeans contained own epidemics, but not among
American Indians
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Social economic devastation End of the
world Urbanized tribes hit worst (1539 vs.
1682 in Southeast) Europeans see as Gods
Will Many Natives react by converting
Effects of Disease
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Demographic Crash in North America Main reason
disease. Also famine and war / genocide.Different
regions had different reductions (65-95).
Estimates range to millions more in 1492
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Fur Trade
Merchants created Euro. market for American
fur Native market for Euro. manufactured
goods -Beads, guns, alcohol, metal pots,
cloth Euro. dependency on Native labor Native
dependency on Euro. goods.
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Russian Fur TradeAleut sealers in Alaska
California
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Fur Trade Era (1600s-1700s)
Economic Interior trading posts, mutual
dependency Political Alliances vs. European
rivals Encouragement of intertribal
rivalries
Cultural Natives adopt material culture
seasonal cycles disrupted Ecological Human
disease spreads, animals depleted
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Middle Ground (Richard White)
Fur Trade in Great Lakes region transformed both
sides Native culture influenced French, English
too Métis as middle men Euro.-American
slowly gained dominance, esp. as animals
disappeared
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Stimulation of intertribal wars
Refugees from Iroquois Wars, European
settlement Pushed west in domino effect Wars
more intense over control of fur trade
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Horse Gun Frontier Spanish brought horses from
Mexico French brought guns from
Quebec Overlapped by 1750 in Northern Plains
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European/settlerimagery of Indiansas evil threat
Parallels with earlier Euro. views of pagans/
witches/ Satan in the forest
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Civilizing the Primitive Savage

• English Latin Meaning
• Civilize Civilis Citify make a citizen
• Primitive Primitivus First of its kind
• Savage Salvaticus Of the forest

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Indians and Africans
Native slaves could run away or resist many died
from disease Africans imported instead some
joined with Indians A few Southeast Indians
owned or captured slaves
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Divide Conquer
British recognize Native sovereignty But divide
tribes from each other Divide tribes internal
factions Americans, Canadians inherit strategy
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Early wars Native nations initially
dominant Crown wants trade Settlers want
land Interests converge diverge
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Appalachian barrierto settlement

• British set Proclamation
• Line 1763, in response
• to Pontiac Revolt
• Colonists resented
• Line, leading to 1776

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American Colonization
Economic Land for settlement Cultural Conversio
n but racism Turn Indians into
farmers Political Conquest, treaties, removal,
reservation Ecological Agriculture, timber,
mines
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Settler Colonialism

• Not just for resources, but for land
• Settle poor as social safety valve
• Settlers set up to fight indigenous peoples

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Settler Colonialism Elsewhere
Whites in Southern Africa
Chinese in Tibet
Protestants in Northern Ireland
Israelis in West Bank
Russians in Siberia
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Iroquois contributions

• Political cooperation
• Met with Franklin to shape
• Albany Plan, 1754
• Grand Council model for
• later Continental Congress
• Economic cooperation
• Lewis Henry Morgan (Anthro)
• studied classless society
• Marx Engels read as
• primitive socialism

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Promise of 1787 Northwest Ordinance not kept

• The utmost good faith shall
• always be observed towards
• the Indians their land and
• property shall never be taken
• from them without their
• consent and in the property,
• rights, and liberty, they never
• shall be invaded or disturbed,
• unless in just and lawful wars
• authorized by Congress

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Brief Unity inTecumseh War

• Unified tribes to
• fight vs. Americans
• with British, 1812
• Allied with Prophet
• to spread word
• Shawnee leader
• killed in 1813
• unity never regained

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Changes in the Land (Cronon)
Disease emptied landscape gave false
impression of wilderness Grazing transformed
plant life Animals damaged Native crops New
crops, timbering changed land and patterns of
ownership
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Changes in Hunting
Bounding of landscape restricts hunting/gathering
territories Fur Trade wars enforced
sedentary villages, competition for fur
areas Mobile seasonal harvesting cycles and
flexible hunting territories end When furs ran
out, only commodity left for survival was
land
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Changes in Forestry
Deforestation to clear farmland, provide fuel and
fencing Dried soil, increased erosion/siltation,
changed tree species and soils Faster snowmelt,
floods in spring, reduced flows later in
year Fire suppression closed up open areas
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Pristine Myth

• Western view of American nature untouched by
  humans
• But Native Peoples managed landscape
• Native uses of fire to shape land

Settlers cut forest, but also created forests
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Uses of Fire

• Hunting tactic
• Created edge conditions for game
• Enrich soil for agriculture
• Open up landscape
• Instrument of warfare

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Native Land Losses
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1620
1850
1990
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Bison/NativeParallelsNative land lossBison
range lossStrategy to control land,using
railroadsNo buffalo left onreservations by 1890
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Dependency on Rations
Beef Issue on Pine Ridge Reservation to replace
Lakotas buffalo meat
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Patternsof Colonization
Soldiers sent to pacify Loss of
sovereignty. Missionaries sent to Christianize
Loss of culture Settlers sent to capitalize
Loss of land
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Binary ViewBlack-white view of Natives as not
fully human

• Native as bad
• Dangerous savage evil threat
• Native as good
• Noble savage close to nature
• Native bad, but can be saved
• Conversion assimilation
• Pendulum swings of federal
• Indian policy, public attitudes

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