How did government policy lead to conflict with Native Americans? What solutions might have been found to this conflict? Do you think today's...

The United States government and the Native Americans had a lot of conflict in the 1800s. There are reasons for this. The government as well as the American people viewed the Native Americans and their way of life as backward and undeveloped. They believed the Native Americans were holding back the progress and the growth of the country by following their customs and traditions. The government wanted to use the land of Native Americans to help our economy and country grow. The Native Americans believed the land was sacred and shouldn’t be used for purposes of development. There also was a misunderstanding about some of the cultural customs and practices of the Native Americans that led to white Americans to draw incorrect conclusions about the Native Americans. For example, white Americans viewed periods of silence as an example of ignorance. Native Americans viewed silence as taking the time to develop a thoughtful response to a question or statement.

Because of these conflicting views, the government developed policies that didn’t consider the needs of the Native Americans. These policies were developed to benefit the white man, not the Native Americans. These policies were not wanted or requested by the Native Americans. If the government and the Native Americans were willing to listen to and accept the concerns and needs of each other, policies could possibly have been developed that wouldn’t have been so harsh on the Native Americans. This would have required a shift of thinking on both sides, which would be hard to achieve.

It would be unreasonable to expect the government to make reparations to the Native Americans for the treaties that were broken. Our government throughout its history has, regretfully, mistreated different groups at various times. If Native Americans received reparations, other groups like African-Americans, women, and other groups of color could ask for reparations for not having equal rights and equal opportunities. Other countries could also do the same if they felt the government had mistreated them. It wouldn’t be reasonable to expect the United States to make reparations to every group that it had wronged in the past.