Page 197 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

FRON I E R PL C A E : G E N D E R MATTERS
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tremendous thrashing . . and f o rced into subjection."96 A Mormon set­
.
tler in Salt Lake City urged a similar approach to Utah Indians. He
explained that he had "lost all of the good f e eling I ever had f o r them
and that was not much." His bellicosity was absolute: "last winter we
killed one tribe off and will have to kill a few more before we can make
them behave. That is the way to convert them to the Mormon f a ith."97
Clearly, white men's primary tone in this sample was acrimonious
and hostile. Although men who migrated with a commitment to aiding
American Indians maintained it, those who started out with vague
thinking or deep-seated prejudices usually f o und their pessimistic
expectations confirmed. Only a f e w men converted their cynicism into
empathetic views of American Indians. This pattern deviates sharply
f r om the white women considered here, the majority of whom demon­
strated positive changes in their reactions toward Indians.
Unarguably, men and women differed in roles and f u nctions in rela­
tion to Indians, which provided opportunity to change or not change
their attitudes toward Indians. While men usually remained rigid and
inflexible in their views, women often altered their ideas regarding
American Indians. Neither side, however, was very knowledgeable about
Indians or took into account how white migration affected Indian stan­
dards of living, morality, and aggressiveness. They simply assumed that
whatever Indians were resulted f r o m their character rather than white
deeds.

-- White W o men's and Men's Interactions

with American Indians --

Given these differences between white men and women, it is under­
standable that they also differed in their relationships with Native
Americans. By necessity, white women concentrated upon f a mily and
domestic concerns, values, and other related matters, whereas men
f o cused on fighting, hunting, and conflict. As a consequence, men
thought of Indians as f o es, whereas women f a r more often referred to
them as guides, assistants, purveyors of provisions, and even fr iends.