Native Americans: Separate and Unequal Native American Isolation Native Americans have continued to represent a marginalized ethnic minority in the United States, despite repeated efforts at assimilation. No one argues publicly anymore that Native Americans are inferior to Whites, but the taint of racism seems to remain embedded in public policy decisions concerning this demographic. Accordingly, Native Americans have attempted to insulate themselves from the influence of what can only be described

" Thus, as the British gained ground in America, their need for support from the native peoples grew less important, and the parties' relationship began to erode. The natives had land the British wanted, and began to seriously fight back when their territory was threatened, due in part to the firearms they gained from trading with the British. The relationship continued to erode past the 1700s, and became more contentious as

Although they reacted with sorrow, they also attempted to preserve their culture. For example, some even ground the bones of their ancestors and sewed them into their clothing (Watson 1999). A similar story of Native American's peaceful reactions that were exploited by force is the history of Chief Joseph. This early recruit to Christianity was the chief mediator of peace between whites and his tribe, the Nez Perce, but when

Native American DNA Social and cultural definitions of relatedness are more consistent with the traditional notions of tribal membership; however, the U.S. government has long imposed its needs on tribal traditions (p. 55-61). The Dawes Act of 1887 effectively dispossessed Native Americans of communal land holdings by conferring land allotments to Native American male heads of households. Persons believed to be full-blood Native Americans were given an allotment, but it was

While this right applied to American settlers, who engaged in a variety of religions, from Puritanism to Deism, and spoke freely about them in publications and public forums. Native Americans, on the other hand, were denied their freedom of religion. American settlers saw Native American religions as uncivilized, so they encouraged missionaries to convert the tribes. Missionaries can be both beneficial and harmful to a culture. Some come excited

For the most part, the Revolutionary Era reinforced many of the roles women played in society. Native American women would continue to lose status as the country grew and they continued to be pushed from their native lands. African-American women would neither gain nor lose ground; they were still slaves with all the subjugation associated with their status. White women did not gain any material freedoms, such as owning property