Page 230 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

C H APTER S I X

being at their best ifleft to their own ways, language, and culture. Instead,
they judged Indians negatively. For example, when ingenious Indians
resisted white efforts by taking fr om them only what they f o und useful
or meaningf u l, white women judged them as stubborn or arrogant.When
Indians had trouble learning English, white women blamed Indians
rather than the differences between Indian languages and English. 50 And
when Indians purposely disrupted such displays of white dominance as
military parades, inaugurations, and other public ceremonies, whites
called them irresponsible and childish. When Indians poached or bor­
rowed, which allowed them to recoup some of the profit of their labor,
whites termed them thieves and scalawags. Moreover, because whites had
so long vacillated between exterminating Indians physically by killing
buffalo, other game, and Indians themselves, or destroying Indians psy­
chologically by eradicating their language and culture, most white
women thought in hegemonic terms of assimilation rather than Indian
cultural identity . After all, colonization embedded itself in the W e st by
replacing things Indian with things white. The one exception was the
Indian as a tourist attraction. 51 The white culture that won dominance
and power controlled the symbols, representations, and expressive arts
that comprised western cultureY Those who objected to assimilation,
including white teachers in Indian schools, were discouraged or
silenced. 53 Even if white women had accepted Indians' cultural auton­
omy, it is doubtful that they, being so thoroughly steeped in colonialism,
could have countenanced a separate society existing alongside their own.
Believing that Indians were inferior, white women had one answer-to
destroy all that Indians held dear.
Clearly, a significant number of white women discussed, advocated,
or implemented solutions to difficulties that erupted as emigrants and
settlers displaced native populations throughout the W e st. Because they
were sympathetic with Indians, they believed that they could have a pos­
itive effect on them. They devoted their time and energy to a consider­
ation of the issues, and sometimes invested lifetimes in trying to improve
the situation. Concepts of f e male morality drove these women onward.
In spite of their empathy, few white women asked Indians what they
thought about the matter. They continued to send such children as
Gertrude Bonnin, a a nkton Sioux woman who called herself Zitkala sa,
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