Mixed Races in the Great Basin - Term Paper Example

Ethnic Contact of Americans in Great Basin INTRODUCTION: The Great Basin of the early 1980s comprised of mixed races of African Americans, Whites and Indians. Their social relationship reflected a strong bond as well as mutual understanding among them. The Great Basin is rich in terms of mother nature having showered her with several gifts such as high mountains, beautiful lakes, vast stretched of plains and deep canyons. Since it has all necessary resources for vegetation, it proves to be the ideal spot for the cultivation of various crops. Vegetation in this area is carried out by dividing the land into many parts according to its soil. The Mountain ranges are cultivated with Sagebrush grasslands, whereas at higher elevations Juniper and Pinyon have been planted, and the forest areas are filled with huge oak trees. These resources are fresh and are yet to be utilized. The first Europeans to enter and get settled in the Great Basin were the nomadic Indians. These resources were used by them and flourishing uder the circumstances, their own culture. PRECONTACT: The book “First Civilizations of the North” by Davidson says, “Stories told about the past have power over both the present and the future. Until recently, most students were taught that American history began several centuries ago—with the “discovery” of America by Columbus, or with the English colonization of Jamestown and Plymouth. History books ignored or trivialized the continent’s precontact history. But the reminders of that hidden past are everywhere. Scattered across the United States are thousands of ancient archaeological sites and hundreds of examples of monumental architecture, still imposing even after centuries of erosion, looting, and destruction”(Davidson, 1993, p.4) Before the Americans settled in the Great Basin, it comprised of indigenous population who came in search to fulfil physical requirements such as the different natural resources as well as mental requirements such as new perspective into various aspects of life. The Paleo-Indian Period: This period prevailed for a long lapse of time and the people who existed during this period came to be known as the Paleo Indians, who were known for their dynamic and fully enthusiastic approach towards life. They did not follow the hunting pattern of the native Clovis people, rather they adhered to the dietary pattern. The Archaic Period: This period was the dry period during which land as well as other natural resources dried up, and people began to depend on dry nuts and seeds as their source of food. Hunting and gaming were the chief occupations. During the late Archaic Period, some of the Americans started settling in the Great Basin area as the climate became cool and wet during that time. Settlement: Some groups lived in exceptionally rich, lake-side or marshy environments and dwelled in larger and more sedentary camps for most part of the year, enjoying more complex social organization. Where conditions allowed, winter encampments were often created by including several family units where large semi-subterranean houses were maintained. When late spring arrived, the group tended to disperse into smaller groups as well as family units, which would move through their marked territory hunting and collecting. Summer houses are mainly made of wood break or lightly built dome-shaped structures made of brush. During the winter season, people would get united under the camps and live together for a limited period of time. On the other hand, there were also small families, constantly on the move, living off seasonal foods at widely separated locations, and only in exceptionally good times would they settle for any length of period with other similarly constituted family units. Political Organization: Most of the groups in the Great Basin region were divided into micro bands. During certain times of the year, people would gather together and form macro bands. The formation of micro band or macro band depended on certain factors. The band consisted of a head called Degwani. Degwani, which means talker, would deal with the disputes of the families, possess all details about the families and maintain the plant and animal resources. Since he was the chief spokesperson he was responsible for all the families in that particular area. Socio-Political Organization: The basic economic and socio-political unit formed the nuclear family. Relationship was traced through both the mother's and father's side, but descent was found through the father's side. The typical household or micro band is comprised of the following members: mother, father, several younger children, older unmarried children, grandparents, and perhaps an unmarried aunt, uncle, or cousin. Thus, creating a source of understanding between all the members of the family is vitally important, especially when it has socially isolated itself from other similarly structured units. The availability of abundant resources within closely spaced micro environments could support greater population densities to carry out certain activities, such as the fall pinyon pine harvest or fall as well as winter communal pronghorn antelope hunts. Rabbits and hares were also often hunted communally by members of a macro band. It was during such times these members exchanged a great deal of information regarding the locations of promising pine nuts, fishing, and hunting. Potential marriage partners met and elders related to the younger generation by collective wisdom and mythology of the group. Labor was divided along the lines of sex and age. Men were involved in hunting, while women and children developed small games while out gathering food. Women and children also helped men during their hunts for rabbits, pronghorn antelope and also insects. Women were responsible for preparing food and they assumed the job of suppliers for most plant foods, collecting seeds, roots and insects. Men and children assisted during the pinyon harvest. All these elements reveal that even before the discovery of America, there existed human life in different parts of the world which were unknown. Before Columbus discovered the original America, this area had been socially and politically organised by different races, who spread the ideas of their own culture and civilization over that region. Only a few survived the tough the competition whereas the rest died during the battles, and yet again others moved to different parts of the world unable to survive the game of life. People of the Great Basin also used floral resources for the construction of shelters, mats, clothing, and baskets. They, in a way, exploited the plant-life due to the construction of baskets .Basket making used to be one of the most famous industry in the Great Basin region. People in each region of the Great Basin created different types of basket and hence each tribe has their own style of basket making. They also follow different types of coiling and twining methods such as close simple twining, close diagonal twining, and open simple twining. CONTACT: The Course of Interaction between the Native Americans and the Euro Americans clearly depict the difference between the two races. The invasion of a number of Europeans and Americans into the Great Basin area forced the Indians in that area to modify their culture. They were forced to change their culture due to competition between other races. The White people started exerting pressure on the indigenous tribes. This period was called the reservation period. During the reservation period, the Whites appeared to be dominating and used the lands belonging to the Natives. They also used their own ideas in politics to survive there. Due to the invasion of these Whites, the number of Indians living there became less in such areas. During the contact, there were many drawbacks for the American-Indians. The Land which they owned by tradition and thought that it thought to be rightfully theirs was occupied by new invaders. For instance, as mushrooms were more valuable, some of the local non Indian residents cultivated mushrooms and used southeast pickers instead of the local pickers to pick them. This was activity came to be termed as anti-immigrant. The same thing happened in case of other types of phones as well as cultivation and possession of land. Colonialism: During Colonialism, many policies and laws came into force, which safeguarded the people’s lands and belongings. English People employed the technique of sending their own people to settle on new lands and then conquering it during the time when the idea of living in a single place was unknown. They did not respect the Native Americans and the English settlers established authority the same way their lords had done, by putting up fences and planting gardens and making everything their own. The ways and techniques used by these people in conquering people of other continent and countries are important in understanding the way in which different countries behaved in the new world and the impact they had on the native population. In the beginning of 1800s, contact with Euro-Americans and their products such as material goods including weapons, horses and more resulted in an interruption and destruction to the old relationship between American Indians and plants of the Great Basin. Some diseases also started to spread among the Indians as they started to follow the new culture. The disturbance was rapid and severe, as hundreds and thousands of Euro-Americans entered the Great Basin region to begin agriculture, start new industries and to extract the valuable resources of the place. In the early twentieth century, these new Americans started to install new projects in the Great Basin region and having come across the unmanned mines, they started to use the mining techniques, which completely disturbed the ancient relationship between American Indians and plants of the Great Basin. These colonizing processes of the 1800s changed the ecology of the Great Basin. The seasonal marsh resources were trampled, drained, or consumed. Large areas were transferred into agricultural fields that produced foreign agricultural products. Mines and waste produced from them polluted the land and made it impossible for the native plants to grow. As a result of all these factors, the relationship between American Indians and plants of the Great Basin was negatively impacted. Unable to access traditional resources and areas, people started to maintain this relationship with the Great Basin region through religious policies and the rituals taught by their tribal elders. There are numerous Indian Removal treaties, which were signed among the colonist power, mainly to remove the Indians from the basin region. There were short and long wars that existed for certain periods of time. The Native Indians tried to capture their own soil and start to settle there, but it has been occupied by the more powerful tribes than them. At last they were given some of the replacements. There were some of the treaties signed and some of the laws that came into force. Some of them gave privileges to Indians on their land. They gave some amount for the Indians for owning their Lands. Though some of the laws and treaties were signed for the welfare of the Indians, some of them didn’t come into effect and some of the laws died without being executed. All these happened because the colonising force was so rude on the Native people. The native Indian’s were not given even the respect that they should be given. They were treated just like slaves. They were forced to get into the religion of the colonising power. Though there were some of the advantages of the colonising force, there were most of the demerits also. The Native Indian’s culture and lifestyle has been destroyed completely. At present the Native Indian’s had died along with their culture and way of life. No one will know about the Native Indian’s living in the region of Great Basin once before the discovering of America by Columbus, unless they go through deep into History. CONCLUSION: The colonising power came into force mainly for trade and spreading of religion. If Colonisation had not been there people would not have known America by name today. It would be some unknown forest area. All the riches of the land have been brought to light by the colonising power. Colonisation is the source of creativity and experiment and, while certainly not without pain, colonial encounters caused the dissolution of values on all sides, creating new ways of doing things in a material and social sense. A stress on creativity takes us away notions such as fatal impact, domination, resistance and periphery, emphasizing the fact that colonial cultures were created by all who participated in them, and everyone had agency and social effect with the colonizer and the colonized alike, which were radically changed due to experience. Reference List Davidson. (1993). The First Civilization in America. Boxtree Ltd. Print. Read More