Differences Between European And Native American Culture

Racial prejudices have been a part of European culture since the Roman Empire. It seems that no matter the era or location, the lighter skinned race has always take precedence over the darker skinned race. Native Americans, or the red skins as they were once called, were no exception to this racism. They were taken as slaves, tortured, and treated as if they were inhuman. This prejudge raged on for centuries in several forms. Sometimes the tribes would have their land stripped from them; sometimes they would have their homes burned; sometimes Indians would go missing, never to be found again. Native American Standing Elk once said, “. . . Whatever the white people say to us, wherever I go, we all say yes to them—yes, yes, yes. Whenever we …show more content…
In fact, it would be much simpler to list the similarities than the differences between them. The Native American culture involves many ceremonies and rituals that Europeans are not accustomed to. Unlike the Catholic religion that is monotheistic, Native Americans worship numerous spirits that are represented through all aspects of nature, which is condemned all across nature (Dowd 3). Native American religions are a mixture of religions of all the surrounding tribes. They adapted and learned from one another, working mostly in harmony (not to say there was never tribe versus tribe battles)(Dowd 17). Unfortunately, the Europeans destroyed the Native American culture before they could learn anything from …show more content…
These relocations killed thousands of Indians and will forever be remembered. The most notorious of these relocations is the Trail of Tears, or “the trail where we cried” as Native Americans remember it (Thornton 114). The Trail of Tears refers to the relocation of the Cherokee Indians in the year 1838. An estimated 16,000 Cherokees were forced to pack their belongings and leave voluntarily or be forced to leave at gun point. This even is so significant because the whole reason behind it was that the white Americans refused to live in the same area as the Indians and vice versa because the Indians were trying to protect the little land the Europeans had not already destroyed on their quest for gold.
The laws supporting the legality of the Trial of Tears was called the Indian Removal Act. Before it was passed, both whites and Indians protested the act in different ways. The community was showing early signs of Indian-American integration showing that it was not necessary for the Indians to leave their land (Kidwell 1). The protests of the Indians were to be expected, but the protests of some Americans are what stand out. Not all Americans were unwilling to accept the Native American culture, but those who were willing were shut down by the political figures of the