American Civilization Research Essay

by Iren Plastinina

Why has the Cherokee Indian Nation survived in stronger shape than most other Native American tribes in the United States?  Compare it with another tribe still existent in the USA.  What lessons can be learned from the history of these tribes with regard to indigenous peoples in the world today – for example, in  Russia?

Introduction

The Cherokee Indian Nation has survived in stronger shape than most Native American tribes, as for example the Apache Nation.  Why and how did this happen?  What lessons can be learned from the history of these two tribes with regard to indigenous peoples in Russia?  In this paper, I will try to answer these questions as thoroughly as possible.  First I will give a short overview of the Cherokee and Apache history.  Secondly, compare the two tribes, finding similarities and differences.  Thirdly, write a brief history of the indigenous peoples in Russia.  Fourthly, give an explanation of what Genocide, Manifest Destiny, and Racism are, as these terms are significant for the events which took place.  Furthermore, exemplify, and show how these were used against the indigenous peoples in the countries mentioned above.  Fifthly, outline the parallels and diversities concerning indigenous people in the U.S. and Russia, and finally, in my conclusion, sum up and give an answer to whether anything can be learned from these tragic events?

Short History of the Cherokee Native American

Before the Europeans invaded the American continent in 1492, the Cherokees were spread throughout a large number of states in North America.  They had a society more democratic than any of the European countries the invaders originally came from.  The Cherokees were agricultural, but also hunters and gatherers, and mostly living in towns.  In the middle of the 1700s, clashes between the Cherokees and the white invaders increased.  In 1756, a band of starving Cherokees was slaughtered by British settlers in Virginia.  Retaliating Cherokees, spurred on by the French, raided white settlements, and in August 1760, the garrison of Fort Loudoun was overrun by them[1].  In July 1763, General Jeffrey Amherst wrote to vice commander, Colonel H. Bouquet, where he recommended that the Colonel should give the disobedient Indians, led by Chief Pontiac, blankets infected with smallpox[2].  Another problem that resulted in violence on both sides was white settlers, trespassing onto Cherokee land in the Southwest Territory of Carolina.  The Treaty of De Witt’s Corner (1777), the Hopewell (1785) and Holston (1791) Treaties tried to find a resolution but were not very successful.  In 1809, the government signed a treaty with the Osage Indians, who were sworn enemies of the Cherokees, in which they hoped to “convince” the Cherokees to move from their land in the Southwest Territory to the west of the Mississippi River[3].

       

The Presidents Washington and Jefferson’s views on and decisions concerning the American Indians

 

will broaden the understanding of the whites’ definition of the Native American Indians.  In 1779, 

George Washington instructed Major J. Sullivan to attack the Iroquois people, in which he stated that 

their land and homes must be completely destroyed and that Sullivan should not listen to the Indians if 

they pleaded for mercy until everything was totally shattered[4].  In 1783, Washington went further and 

compared Native American Indians to wolves, even if their exterior was different (the wolves and 

the Indians), they were still creatures that must be hunted down and killed.  His troops skinned the 

bodies of the Iroquois from the hip down to make boot tops or leggings[5].  In 1807, the “humanist” 

Thomas Jefferson instructed his War Department, that should any Indians refuse to accept the 

Americans stealing their lands, the Indian resistance must be met with “the hatchet”, and if his soldiers

were obstructed from using the “hatchet” against any Indian tribe, the soldiers were ordered to 

exterminate them all, or drive the Indians beyond the Mississippi to what later became known as the 

Indian Territory.  He also added that, in war, the Indians would kill a few whites, but then his

soldiers would eliminate every last one of them[6].  In 1812, he compared them to animals and told the 

white Americans that it was their duty to drive the underdeveloped Indians, like the animals they were, 

into the Stony Mountains.  A year later he added that the Americans must terminate the Indians, or 

force them to flee to places outside the white mans reach[7].   

Before 1800, the Cherokees were already becoming quite successful on their farms and in their businesses.  They also had their own alphabet of 86 syllables, created at the beginning of the century, by Sequoyah (1765-1843), a Cherokee with a white father (English), who also recorded their history.  That they were doing so well caused envy among the white population and was yet another reason for the forced removal that came later on.  The white society could not accept that a race that in their point of view, inferior to themselves, was more successful than many in the white settlements.  Furthermore, at the beginning of the 1800s, the whites discovered gold in Dahlonega, Georgia, and many speculators trespassed on Cherokee land hoping to find a fortune.  Because of the increasing pressure on the government to remove the Cherokees from their land, the U.S. government, led by President Andrew Jackson, signed the Indian Removal Act, in 1830.  This allowed the government to move all Indians who lived east of the Mississippi over to the west side of the river, to the Indian Territory.  Over 15.000 thousand Cherokees, but also Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw were forcibly taken from their homes.  Since they started relocating the Indians in the late fall and winter, the weather was cold and 4.000 Cherokees froze to death or died of hunger or diseases.  Many whites, among them constitutional experts and humanists disagreed with the forced removal of the Cherokees, and the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Marshall ruled against the U.S. government and the President and informed them that according to the Constitution the Indians had the legal right to remain on their homeland.  However, President Andrew Jackson chose to go ahead with the relocation of these Indian tribes[8]. 

It did not help the Cherokees, by whites considered to be one of the “Five Civilized Tribes”, that they within a short period of time adopted the white religion, clothing, educational system, and way of living.  By the time they were moved, they had created their own government that was more democratic than the whites, with schools, libraries, and also a newspaper in their own language.  However, a few Cherokees managed to avoid “The Trail of Tears”.  One hundred escaped the U.S. soldiers and remained in Georgia and neighboring states, living in isolated parts of the land.  There were also Cherokees living on individually owned land, the 200 Oconaluftee Cherokees, who lived on land owned by William Holland Thomas, a white man adopted by the Cherokees when he was a boy; and finally the 200 Cherokees from Nantahala, North Carolina, who helped the government capture the family of Tsali, an old Cherokee prophet, who gave up his life so his people might live, and was executed by the U.S. military.  These 200 Cherokees were allowed to stay and became The Western Band of the Cherokee Nation[9].

The survivors of “The Trail of Tears” settled on their new land in the Indian Territory, and began to rebuild their society.  In 1861 the Civil War started, and the Cherokees were forced to take sides, fighting in both armies, along with many other tribes.  In the years, following the end of the war (1865), their land decreased.  White settlers began to settle in the Indian Territory and, in 1907; it became a part of the state of Oklahoma[10].  Since then, the Cherokees, like all Native American Indian tribes, have been victims of racial and religious discrimination, inadequate opportunities to a good education, additional land theft, and much more.  Still, the majority of them have a better life than most other tribes, mainly caused by the fact that they had a writing language which kept their language alive; their history was kept intact and written down by themselves in their own language, and last but not least their ability to adapt.  Today they are the largest group of indigenous people in the United States.  On their tribal land, one can find casinos, recreation facilities for tourists, hotels, and many other activities. This gives them a good income which benefits the Cherokee communities in many ways.

A short history of the Apache Native Americans

Apache is a name for culturally related Native American bands, where the main groups are Western 

Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Jicarilla, Lipan, and Plains Apache.  The seventh is the Navajo, 

however, today this group is not a part of the collective term Apache.  Nevertheless, this tribe is closely 

related by language.  The name Apache has also been used on nonrelated tribes, like the Apache 

Yavapai and Apache Yuma.  The related Apache groups call themselves N’ de, Dînë, Tinde, or 

Inde, which means “people”.  There are many similarities in their customs and language, but even 

more unique characteristics. 

The language, which linguistically is related to Athabaskan, also called Apachean[11], is also spoken by Native Americans in Alaska and western Canada[12].  Anthropologists and historians believe the Apaches (including the Navajos) originated from this part of the American continent; that they all were one people originally[13].  These major groups also have many sub-groups with their own dialects and culture.  From history, one knows that these bands often stood against one another, and could not be considered as one unit.  They also lived very different lives.  For example, many Western Apaches were holding cattle and lived on farms.  The Chiricahua, on the other hand, were nomadic hunters and gatherers and extremely skilled warriors and strategists.

   

Other Indian communities often feared and hated the Apache, because they frequently raided them 

and took what they wanted, including slaves; for example, the name Apache is a Zuni word for enemy.  

Today, one finds the Apache reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

From the mid-1800s to the end, they also suffered their “trails of tears”.  Some bands, like the 

Chiricahua was forced to move several times.  Because of criminal activities by the reservation 

authorities and broken treaties and promises, there were many Apache outbreaks from the 

reservations[14].  Apache chiefs, like Nana, Mangas Coloradas, Geronimo, Victorio, Cochise, Chato, 

Loco, Chihuahua, and Cochise’s son Nachez, played “cat and mouse” with the Mexican and U.S. 

Cavalry for several years because of this.  The war with the Apaches ended in 1886 when Geronimo 

and Nachez surrendered to general Miles in Skeleton Canyon[15].  This war would have lasted much 

longer without the Apache scouts, who helped the general track, Geronimo.  The whites showed their 

Indian helpers how much they “appreciated” their help when they were sent to prison with Geronimo 

after the war ended.  The scouts were members of the White Mountain Apache band, which is a sub-

group to the Western Apache.  The White Mountain Apache band was, as one of the few, able to keep a 

part of their original land.  

After being sent to reservations, many Apaches died from influenza, Small Pox, and Tuberculosis.  They had no protection from these “white diseases”.  In 1887, under President Grover Cleveland (the only President elected twice, the 20^th and 22^nd), the U.S. Government approved the General Allotment Act, also called the Dawes Act, where tribal land was parceled into 160 acres per Indian and the rest sold to white settlers at a very reasonable price.  The plan behind the Allotment Act was to make the Apaches, along with most other Native American tribes, into an agricultural people and thereby destroy the tribal communities, religion, language, and culture.  Many Apaches turned out to be quite successful farmers so the Government’s plan worked very well in the beginning.  However, when the farms began giving a good income, they were moved again[16].  

During the twentieth century, the Apache Native Americans have regained much of their pride in their origin.  Over the years, an increasing number of Apaches have returned to their old religion and customs, and on the reservations, the tribal law is forced.  Nevertheless, much of their history and traditions are lost.  Many of the Apache children, and also children from many other Native American tribes, do not speak their native language.  Nor do they know much of their own history.  However, several of the Apache reservations, like the Cherokees, earn good money from their casinos, which benefit the tribes in many ways, like health services and schools, where their children learn their language, history, and culture.  In addition, some of the reservations have created museums and recreation facilities.  This also gives work to the population on the reservations.  Yet, many people on the reservation have social and psychological problems, such as alcoholism, hopelessness, apathy, unemployment, and domestic violence.  In addition, the UN rapport The State of Indigenous Peoples in the World informs that the Native American Indians have the highest percentage of suicide in the United States[17].  

Similarities and differences

The Cherokees and the Apaches have much common history, not because the two indigenous groups 

had similar lives, but because they both belong to the first nations in the US and shared many of the 

same experiences concerning the white immigrants, who settled on their lands.  The struggle both 

indigenous groups have with the U.S. government concerning the right to their ancestral lands is also 

something they have in common[18] [19].  However, while the Cherokees very fast adopted the white 

way of living, the Apaches fought long and hard to avoid this. 

I did not find any records of Cherokee children being forcibly removed from their parents to white boarding schools or to white families, but of course, this may have happened.  The quick adoption of the white’s religion and customs was perhaps what saved them from this experience.  However, the Apache children and children from many other tribes were shipped out by the hundreds.  At these boarding schools everything familiar to the children, like hair, clothing, language, religion, and traditions, were banned.  Anyone who disobeyed would be severely punished.  For example at Pratt’s Carlisle Indian School, which existed till 1918, the motto was: “Kill the Indian in him and save the man”[20].  They were taught that their families and tribes, the Indian Nation, were “evil”, “savages”, and “heathenish”[21].  These children, after years in boarding schools, found themselves between the white and the Indian world, not good enough for the white world and, since most of the children had forgotten their Indian lives, unable to understand the Indian.  As a result, a whole generation of Native American Indians, with a few exceptions, was unable to pass their Indian traditions on to their children.  The children, who were sent away, had their lives completely destroyed.

The Apaches were treated more brutal than any other tribe.  The Cherokees had their “Trail of Tears”, 

but the Apaches had many.  They also resisted the white way of living longer than any other.  Like 

most tribes, they tried to hold on to their religion, traditions, and their social structure on the 

reservations, but often this was banned[22].  Their medicine men or shamans, because of their 

knowledge of the tribes' history, medicine, religion, and traditions, and therefore were the most 

important persons in the tribes were executed, sent to prison, or forcibly removed to other reservations 

where they knew no one.  On the reservation, all Native American Indians were at the mercy of corrupt 

authorities, who stole their land, food, and money.  When members of the tribe were ill, in many cases, 

they did not receive treatment or medicine.  The white invaders almost succeeded in the destruction of 

what can be called the Indian way of life[23].  

In 1924, under President, Calvin Coolidge, every Native American Indian received American citizenship, whether they wanted it or not[24].  In 1934, with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the situation for the American Indians was improving.  The President put a stop to the Allotment Act, supported the reorganization of tribal governments on the reservations, and that the Indians had and used their own constitution[25].  Nevertheless, up through the 1900s, the different Indian bands fought many battles, this time through the legal system.  They won some but lost most.  These cases were mostly concerned with their lands. 

In the 1960s, together with people from all races and classes in the US, the Indians too joined the protest marches in the Civil Rights Movement, which achieved several of its goals, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; this also benefited the Native American Indians.  Furthermore, in the 1960s, under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, there was a social change in the United States.  Johnson was especially dedicated and the primary initiator of some of the most progressive social legislation in the history of the United States, and personally led the fight for the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960 and was also one of the initiators of the social welfare programs from the same time period.  The fact is that Johnson’s primary goal, as a politician and later President of the United States, was to build a more fair and open America, which he called the Great Society[26]. 

A Brief History of Indigenous Peoples in Russia

In Russia there are 40 indigenous groups of people registered, living in the North, Siberia, and the Far East.  The population was about 180 000 in 2000.  Most tribes in Russia were nomadic hunters and gatherers, many still are because they live in remote areas of Russia.  Under the Russian Emperor (later the Tsar), they were colonized, but he also made clear that he wanted preservation of the indigenous way of life.  The Saami population, nevertheless, was the first to notice that they were under Russian ruling in the 1200s, when they were forced to pay taxes to the state of Novgorod.  In 1637, Russian authorities formed the Department of Siberia, which ruled the non-Russians in this area, and all indigenous peoples of the region had to pay taxes.  At times, the indigenous peoples fought the authorities, for the reasons that their taxes were getting too high, and that they were victims of abusive behavior from the immigrating Russians.  This was followed up by the Tsar, who stated that “levy collections should be mild and the economy and living conditions of the indigenous populations should not be damaged”[27].  However, if an indigenous nation tried to free itself from Russia, the Russian military was ordered to exterminate the entire nation[28].  The Annual clan of Chuvan was eliminated for this reason.  In the 17^th century the Samoyeds, Tungus, and other groups also had to pay fur taxes.  From 1700 till 1750, other indigenous groups, like the Itelmens and Koryaks, found themselves a part of the rapidly growing Russian Empire.  Just after, the Kuril Islands were annexed to Russia, with a population of Eskimos and Ainus[29]. 

  

The revolution of October 1917 changed the attitude regarding the indigenous peoples.  Lenin and his government practiced non-interference in their traditional ways of living.  However, when the Soviet Union entered the Stalin period in the late 1920s, it all changed.  Now the nomadic tribes should be forced to integrate the Soviet society.  Villages were relocated, and their lives were strictly regulated.  In the Stalin period, several indigenous peoples in Russia were damaged so badly that one can say they no longer exist.  The crisis in Russia in the 1980s and 1990s left the Russians in severe circumstances and the indigenous peoples in an even worse situation and their population’s growth rate decreased more than 2 times.  For some groups, this number was much higher, and 10 nations are near extinction.  At the beginning of 2000, under Putin, the unemployment rate among the aboriginal people was up to 80% in some areas. 

Caused by more awareness of their aboriginal background, several associations of indigenous peoples were started in the late 1980s, and today many groups have regained much of their former traditional lives.  Regrettably, there is no agency or department in Russian administration, who deals specifically with the indigenous population.  There are over 20 committees, departments, and ministries that deal with these issues.  In addition, the indigenous population is victims of ignorance, corruption, bureaucracy, and increasing racial discrimination.  Their lands have been sold in auctions and in tenders, resulting in evictions from their lands[30].

The law concerning Small Indigenous Peoples Traditional Rights to use natural resources in areas in Siberia, Northern Russia, and the Far East has been valid since 2001, but not a single territory has been established.  The discovery of oil and gas is much to blame for this.  Another problem is the healthcare service, which is getting more urbanized.  In Russia where there might be from 100 to 500 kilometers between villages, this is especially serious for women and children.  Schools in villages are being closed, which means that indigenous children have to live far away from home when they are attending school[31].

Genocide, Manifest Destiny, and Racism

As a contrasting point, one can look at the dissimilar motives for coming to America.  In 1492, the Spanish “Conquistadores” came because they had heard about the cities of gold and the wealth of the people living there, and the Genocide of the indigenous population on the American continent started.  Gradually, the Spanish moved north, all the way up to California and Virginia.  Along the way they kept on “pacifying and christening” the Native Americans, which really meant plundering, killing and enslaving them.  The Spanish conquerors were looking for gold and other treasures, and they used whatever means they found necessary in the search, disregarding that this meant murdering and torturing whole groups of indigenous peoples[32].  When the Spanish started settling, they needed slaves to work on their plantations and in their mines.  The indigenous peoples who ended up working for the Spanish were treated in the most inhuman and brutal way[33].

The white settlers, however, had different motives for coming to North America, to what we today call the United States.  Some were victims of religious, racial, or political prosecutions; others were victims of overpopulation, famines, and starvation, and many were adventurers.  The reasons for leaving their homes and families were many, but they all wanted a new start in a country where they could be free from their troubled past, to live the life they wanted.  In the beginning, when the number of immigrants was not so high, the relation between the Native American Indians and the white settlers was good, but as Europe became more troubled, more people came to the United States, and consequently, the white society needed more land.  The need for more land was followed by envy and greed, especially when there was discovered gold on Cherokee land at the beginning of the 1800s.  This initiated the Genocide of the indigenous peoples of North America.  One realizes that many of the causes of why the white settlers abandoned their homes in Europe and came to the US also were present in their treatment of the indigenous people, meaning the victims of the European countries’ troubles had become the antagonists and the provokers[34]. 

Another reason for bringing the term genocide into this essay is that, although all Native American Indians were victims of it, the Cherokees, because of their rapid adoption of the white customs and religion, survived more as a whole people, with most of their history and traditions intact, while the Apaches were shattered, almost destroyed.  Much was lost of their history and traditions, caused by the deaths of the old people who knew, and the young being sent off to boarding schools, later coming home, not knowing anything about their tribal history, traditions, and language, except the negative images the white had taught them.

Our common history tells us that, there has been Genocide at all times or efforts to change peoples into a more acceptable version of the ruling group in a given country.  From the Assyrian Empire to Genghis Khan, Genocide has been a part of people’s lives and many ethnic groups have been erased.  Even in the Bible, in the Old Testament, one can find descriptions of Genocide, where the Amalekites and Midianites were eliminated.  The last one’s known to us were the Genocides in Rwanda and old Yugoslavia.  The most “famous” Genocide in history was the extermination of the Jews in World War II, by Nazi-Germany[35]. 

One can clearly see several similarities in the treatment of Native American Indians and Jews.  On one hand, there were Jews who in desperation and despair cooperated with the Germans, hoping to save their families and themselves, and also the ones who went quietly to the extermination camps.  Why did they not fight?  Probably because they themselves could not believe what was happening to them.  On the other hand, there were the Jews in the Ghetto of Warsaw, in the spring of 1943, where most of them had previously been transported to, for example, Majdanek or Auschwitz (concentration camps in Poland), where they were gassed to death.  The remaining few decided to fight the Germans, with no hope of victory, just a more dignified death[36].

 As an illustration of abusive actions against a people in order to change their traditional way of life would be the Norwegian treatment of the Sámi, Kven (a person of Finnish stock), and Lappish peoples, where they used forced integration and violence in their effort to make them more acceptable.  In the 1850s, Norway started a more conscious use of culture and school politics to make these peoples more Norwegian.  From the 1880s the teachers were instructed that all teaching must be in Norwegian.  In the 1920s, a strange alliance became visible between the Church and the Military, which resulted in that the Bishop of Hålogaland and the Chief of the general staff, in secret, made sure that Sámi, Kven, and Lappish people got free subscriptions of Norwegian magazines, like Hjemmet, Allers, and Illustrert  Familieblad.  The purpose of this was, of course, to make the Norwegian language and culture more familiar to these peoples.  Those who set this up claimed that it worked better than expected[37].  After World War II, the three peoples mentioned above started their fight for their language, traditions, and way of life.  Subsequent to the fall of Nazi Germany it also became impossible for the Norwegian government to uphold the ruthless assimilation politics they had used so far, because of the similarities to racism[38].

All nations and groups of people in the world have always thought of themselves to be the most significant and others to be inferior, like the Native American tribes, from Apache, Sioux, and Cherokee to the Cheyenne, Flatheads, and Inuit, where the tribal names, in their own language mean “the people” or “we the people”. 

From the time Columbus came to the Americas in 1492 and up to the end of the 19^th century, the Indian population was victims of genocide[39].  In pre-Columbian time, the indigenous peoples of America were considered to be about 10 million.  At the beginning of the 1900s, there were less than 250.000 left in the United States.  Early in the 1990s, several historians meant the pre-Columbian number of Indians throughout the American continent to be much higher, probably closer to 50 million.  David Stannard and others believed it to be 100 million[40].  In any case, it is the largest genocide in history.

When the USA was expanding its borders, the term Manifest Destiny was used.  This expression was employed by White Americans in the 19^th century, who believed that God wanted them to conquer all of North America for the millions of immigrants who had come and were still coming to the United States.  They said it was their “Manifest Destiny” to do so[41].  Racism was most definitely a part of this, believing the white race was superior to other races, and therefore had the right to conquer, murder, enslave, and whatever else they desired to do.  Manifest Destiny has not only been used by the White Americans.  Other peoples in different parts of the world have used it as well, but with other expressions for it.  For example the German term “lebensraum”.  Racial segregation has also been practiced, not in these two countries alone, but all over the world, where there has been living more than one race.  

Parallels and diversities concerning the indigenous population in the USA and Russia

In the United States, many American Indians are still fighting for recognition, like the indigenous peoples of Russia.  Moreover, the Indian tribes in the USA and the counterpart in Russia, together with all aboriginal peoples in the world, have problems with racism, but while racism in the US against Indian tribes has been reduced in the last decades, it is growing in Russia.  The struggle for their lands is another battle all indigenous groups in the world have in common.  The population growth of indigenous people in the U.S. is growing, from less than 250 000 to 2 million today.  In Russia, several groups are close to extinction, and they are facing many of the same problems as indigenous groups in the USA, like the social and psychological troubles.  Furthermore, they have corruption, which is vast in Russia, in all parts of society.  They also must deal with the fact that they do not have a department or ministry that is working with indigenous affairs.  The result being they are sent from one department to another, and Russian bureaucracy is the most intricate system in the world.  The situation is, however, not all negative.  Locally and worldwide they are organizing, helping, and supporting each other when circumstances have need of it.  The United Nations have special programs to aid them in their struggle for justice, and there are several private organizations whose only agenda is to help and fight for the indigenous peoples in the world[42].

Conclusion

In Russia, the indigenous peoples have not been victims of Genocide with the exception of the Annual people mentioned earlier.  They fought their battle for the right reason, freedom, but were overpowered by the occupying Russian Army, and exterminated.  Naturally, there were other incidents of abusive behavior against indigenous peoples before 1917, but this was dealt with by the Tsar since he wanted to preserve their way of life.  Lenin had the same view as the Tsar concerning the indigenous peoples and left them alone.  However, when entering the Stalin period, there was a forced integration, which resulted in indigenous peoples losing their language, tradition, and history; the consequences were that they were incorporated into the Russian population.  Becoming a Russian is not the end of the world, but they should have been given the possibility of choice, which was not an option in Stalin’s Soviet Union.  The Russian people did what they were told, if not they would end up dead or in a Gulag (concentration camp).

As for the Native American Indians, if they had adopted the white way of life, like the Cherokees, they would most likely have survived in better shape than they historically did, perhaps with their language, traditions, and history intact, or would they?  They may have, as many indigenous peoples in Russia, and for that matter, many other places in the world, incorporated into the American population and still lost their traditional living, together with language and history.  Aboriginal peoples all over the world today are fighting similar fights for the right to live on their ancestral lands and in a traditional way.  In many cases, the reasons for not acting on the behalf of the indigenous peoples are that gold, oil, gas, and other valuable minerals have been found on their lands.  Some fights these peoples win, but the overall picture is that they are losing ground. 

I believe the Cherokees as well as the Apaches very early understood what a full war with the white Americans would result in, total destruction of their people.  The Cherokees wanted to save their people from this fate and decided to adapt, while the Apaches, like the Annual people of Russia, decided to fight to the death for the life they knew and loved, rather than live the rest of their lives on reservations under white ruling.  One is tempted to compare the to tribes to events in World War II, where some people decided to cooperate with Nazi-Germany, not because they shared their views, but because they wanted to survive, however, most of them were still sent to concentration camps, after they had done what was expected of them, while others fought, regardless of the fact that they were outnumbered and most likely would die on the battlefield.

I am not certain there is much of a lesson to learn from the history of these two tribes, except maybe the willingness to change and adapt, because this is a matter of choice, where one tribe preferred adoption to survive, the other preferred war, since they felt not being able to survive an adoption.  One can argue that the Cherokees survived with most of their history, language, and traditions intact, whereas the Apaches were not willing to change.  On the other hand, the Apaches had good reasons for not doing so, since they knew they would be miserable, locked up on a reservation, unable to live the free, traditional life they were used to, and therefore suffered severely because of their choice.  In reality, the Apaches fought this war for the same reasons the Cherokees decided not to fight, namely the survival of their traditional life, history, language, and people.  It is in every person or group’s nature to believe that he/she or it is special.  This is part of the force that keeps him/her the group going.  The force is also a guiding light when he/she/the group makes important choices in life and what is right for one person or group is not necessarily right for another.

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...

---

[1] Tom Anderson.  eds.  Chronicle of America. ( Dorling Kindersley, London.

   Limited.  1997).  P. 114.     

[2] Ibid.  P. 119.

[3] Ibid.  P. 271.

[4] David E.  Stannard.  American Holocaust.  (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992) pp. 118-121.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid.

[8] Tom Anderson.  op.cit. p. 308.

[9] Alvin M. Josephy Jr.  500 Nations: An Illustrated History of North American Indians.  (Hutchinson/Pimlico.

    London.  1995).  Pp. 324-333.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Wikipedia.  Apache 15.1 (2010), 10 February 2010

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache

[12] Ibid.

[13] Helge Ingstad. Verker i samling.  Apache-indianerne. Vol. 3 (Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag ASA, 1999)

    Pp. 13, 15, 20, 101-104

[14] Alvin M. Josephy Jr.  op.cit.  Pp. 419-429

[15] Tom Anderson.  op.cit. p. 472.

[16] Helge Ingstad.  op.cit. pp. 81-82.

[17] United Nations.  State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.  15 January (2010).  Retrieved 10 February 2010.

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

[18] Tom Anderson.  op.cit. p. 475.

[19] Ibid. p. 485

[20] Alvin M. Josephy. Jr., op.cit.  p. 433

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid, pp. 418-431.

[23] Tom Anderson. op.cit. p. 535.

[24] John Bowman.  The History of the American Presidency.  (North Dighton, MA, USA, 2001).  Pp.  124-25.

[25] Ibid.  Pp.  128-37.

[26] Ibid.  Pp. 160-65.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Galina Diatchkova.  The Canadian Journal of Native Studies XXI.  Indigenous Peoples of Russia and Political

    History.  2(2001).  Pp. 217-233.

[29] Ibid.

[30] United Nations.  Op.cit.   

[31] Ibid.

[32] David Stannard. op.cit. Pp. 67-98

[33] Ibid.  pp. 118-121

[34] Ibid.

[35] Henning Poulsen, dr. philos.  Aschehougs Verdenshistorie: Fra Krig til Krig 1914-1945. Vol. 13 (Aschehoug

         & Co, Oslo, 2001) pp. 214-230

[36] Ibid.

[37] Terje Emblem, et. als.  Norge 2: Norgeshistorie etter 1850,   (J. Cappelens Forlag, Oslo. 1997). pp. 141-143

[38] Ibid. pp. 261-263

[39] Wikipedia.  Genocides in history.  14.2 (2010), 19 February 2010

http://en.wiipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history 

[40] Wikipedia. Population history of American indigenous peoples 14.2 (2010), 18 February 2010 

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_of_American_indigenous_peoples

[41]Tom Anderson.  op.cit.., p. 322.

[42] United Nations.  Op.cit.