Page 231 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

F R O N T I E R PLACE: C O L O N I ALISM TRI UMPHANT

to places like the White's Manual Labor Institute at W a b ash, Indiana,
where they experienced programs designed to "civilize" and assimilate
what school officials referred to as "savages." Around the turn of the
twentieth century, Zitkala sa began to give speeches and to write arti­
cles and books asking f o r racial harmony and American citizenship fo r
Indians; some white women supported her, whereas others did not. 54
Because Indians, especially Indian women, were still thought inferior,
their writings were not widely read by whites. Moreover, around the
turn of the twentieth century, theories of racial determinism, stating that
Indians were incapable of "progress," made assimilation seem hopeless. 55
One woman of the early twentieth century who thought peaceful
coexistence possible was the transplanted New Mexican, Mary Austin,
who loved southwestern landscapes and believed they could be redemp­
tive f o r women. Austin also showed concern f o r Indians, at times even
claiming she was one. She argued that a combination of public health
programs, education, and dedicated officials would be a "starter" fo r a
new policy. 5 6 Austin also thought that whites could learn much from
Indians. In articles and books, especially The Land of Little Rain (1903),
Austin pointed out that Native Americans treated the Southwest with
gentleness, which she regarded a f a r better perspective than Anglo men's
concept of land as an exploitable resource. 57

-- Colonialism in Force --

White women fo und it virtually impossible to show the kindhearted­
ness that they extended to Indians to additional groups of "others" along
westward trails and in settlements.This occurred,in part, because women
continued to operate on a race-based consciousness.They defined them­
selves and Indians on the basis of race, giving high value to themselves
and little to Indians. Racial prejudice short-circuited the process of
growth on both sides.
Moreover, women changed only attitudes and not institutions. At
the same time that white women became "nicer" to Indians, they con­
tinued to inflict on Indians white f o rms and beliefs. In a sense, women

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