Discuss Blackbird's Description Of White People: Church, Schools

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Discuss Blackbird’s description of white people and their institutions (the church, schools, government, etc.). How is he critical of them? How does he accept their dominion? How does he balance the unfortunate necessity cultural absorption or assimilation with resistance and insistence on maintaining tribal identity, culture, and language? What is lost, as Indian culture recedes? How does religion affect this? What is the role of disease? Is disease ever used as a weapon?
The Omaha Indians are a people with a rich and a proud culture. While in the Big Village from 1775 – 1819, the Omahas managed to create a name for themselves and to cement their place in the American history books. Their leaders were shrewd and helped them to increase in strength and stature to the point where they could project their power over their neighbors. However, what many people and many historians are often fascinated about is the rise of the first Omaha Chief known as Blackbird. Blackbird was one of the most tactical and visionary people and he is often credited to being one of the leaders who propelled the Omaha Indians to their current name. O’Shea (24) says that “there can be no doubt that the remarkable rise of Omaha power and influence was due in substantial part to the talent and ambition of this great chief.” Blackbird was not an ordinary chief and his actions will forever be immortalized. Few could match his wit and none of his counterparts could compare to his bravado and charisma. While assessing the Omaha Indians in greater depth, this article seeks to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the actions of Chief Blackbird and his role in helping the small Indian community survive the lurking dangers in the 18th century.
Blackbird was fond of the white people and this helps to explain why he would trade with them and toy with the rest. He gave the English privileges the other traders including the Spanish would never get. He was fascinated by their way of life including their institutions (schools, governments, and churches). Even though he was curious, he was always cautious and knew the English settlers were also cunning in their own ways. According to Jensen (75), Blackbird’s “last request was that he should be buried on a high bluff overlooking the Missouri, so that he could see the white people in their travels up and down the river, as he was very fond of them.” He did have a soft spot for them but was wary of their eventfulness.
Chief Blackbird knew that his people were limited in a lot of ways and therefore, he sought to befriend the Europeans. Blackbird according to Fontenelle (78, 1885), “was the first great chief known to white people…He held supreme command over his people. His words were law and obeyed as such.” No one dared to disobey Blackbird and the Omaha Indians believed in his leadership. While dealing with the Europeans, Blackbird showed a lot of wisdom in that he made sure he got what he wanted all the time. According to O'Shea (27, 1992), “Blackbird and Big Rabbit would force traders to exhibit all trade goods in their outfit, from which the chiefs took for their own “whatever is pleasing&rdq...