Life at the reservations for Native Americans

Native Americans by the mid 1800s were forced by the government to move to reservations and obligate them to assimilate with the white people´s culture and customs. The white settlers also wanted to take Native American lands on the Great Plains or they will eventually die but it was difficult for Native Americans because it was their homw for many centuries. They were starving and suffering from food in their lands that they finally had no othyer choice but to surrender and move to the reservations.


When the Native Americans moved to the reservations, life became different. They had new customs and beliefs. Native Americans were no longer seemed as they are and they were all equal there. In the movie, Bury my heart at wounded knee. Chief Sitting Bull in the reservations was treated as a Normal native American and not a Chief with power. Most Native American children attended school and were called with white christian names they assigned to each one of them. This was also part of the assimilation process. They had to assimilate by cutting off their hair to look like them. Their religion was changed to christianity. In the movie, Charles Eastman was an inspiration for many Native American boys to assimilate with the white people. They had no liberty and had to follow and respect certain rules.


In the reservations, some problems they faced were mostly health concerns, food, respect, liberty, and many more. Native Americans became sick by diseases spreading through the reservationsbut there were not enough medications for everyone. The medications that were given were mostly cotoil wich is bad. Thats what happened in the movie with Charles Eastman because he was  a doctor that studied at Boston Medical School. Native Americans had lands that were divided with difficulties in growing crops and having certain amounts of food to eat. Most white people showed respect to Native Americans by welcoming them but it was told to avoid war and rivalry between the tribes because for them it was a land of peace.


Charles Eastmen, son of Chief Sitting Bull, was assimilated with the white people and he became a doctor that lived on the reservations for many years. He had also an affair and romance with Elaine Good Ale. Life for him was very good actually in my opinion. He had an office and a stabled house too. When the Native Americans came, he was very happy to see them but he had a hard time understanding his father and their sufferings. He helped the white people divide ther lands and make good offers. In his life, he also had an Indian name from his tribe wich was Kohiesa. Charles Eastman also worked as a police but his life became difficult remembering memories he had in his real home and he felt sad by the way he misses it so much.


Native Americans had a hard time in the reservations with the white people because of their surrender. In the reservations, they divided the lands with its individual tribes. Charles Eastman was an indian man who assimilated with the white people and lived on the reservations. I think that it was a good choice to move to the reservations because then they could die with diseases spreading around and the hunger they were facing although many issues ocurred it was better than the ones they had in their home.

 Native American Lands