Native Multiculture

Lack of support and recognition for Native American identity
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From the period the initial colonies were developed in America, the relationship between white settlers and the Native American Indians started as respected friends but turned into hated enemies (Wilkinson, 2005). Americans were in competition with the American Indians for resources and lands throughout 1800s. Americans considered Indians as barbaric and uncivilized. However, most Americans valued Indians and appreciated their contributions to the American culture and history. Americans wished that with time the Native American Indians could be peacefully assimilated into American society. Religious organizations and churches sent missionaries to convert the Indians to join Christianity. The federal government promoted efforts to ensure that the Native Americans were civilized thus supporting the efforts that churches and colonies undertook (Kymlicka, 2007). The congress, during 1793, allocated $20,000 to offer vocational, farming, and literacy support to Native Americans. Americans recognized Indian tribes as distinct nations of people having the right of owning their land which could only be acquired from them through treaties. However, this was not the case as Americans later disrespected Indians and even took lands belonged to the Indians. The study looks through a multicultural lens the lack of assistance and recognition for the Native American identity and due to such disrespect American Indians fought the challenges as other minorities in the world.
Because of continued demands of commerce, settlement, and expansion, treaties formed with positive intention were viewed as unsustainable after a few years. Indians felt that Americans betrayed them, and often reacted with fighting when lands promised to them was eventually taken away. The Indians majorly focused on ensuring their tribal identity was maintained while they lived in the new directives. Most territories located in the east of the Mississippi river by 1830 had become states. During this time, President Andrew Jackson was dedicated to economic development and settlement in the states. Kymlicka (2007) says that the government’s intention to achieve these goals put it in conflict with American Indians who lived in areas around Mississippi. The real dispute between the Indians and the government was the land that Indians held through legal treaties (Wilkinson, 2005). Due to the need of creating more opportunities in the settled regions, white pioneers worked hard to buy new lands that the Indians owned while the states in which Indian territories were located wanted such lands to be used for collecting revenues although they had no direct authority to do that.
Though, Native Americans were real indigenous people of America, they became one of several minorities. They began pursuing their civil rights movement the time when Europeans started arriving in t...