Marilyn Bernice Mutsune Ndubi

 AMERICA’S PRIVATE AND PUBLIC INDIAN POLICY: LEWIS’SONTRIBUTION Student Course Date Michael P. Johnson’s Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents Volume 1: To 1877, Chapter 10, present the different perceptions of liberty in 1800s United Stated. Jefferson’s individual goals are in his, “A letter to Governor William H. Harrison, February 27, 1803” while the Indian public policy in an address to the Native Americans, “Address to the Wolf and People of the Mandan Nation, December 30, 1806.” Jefferson sent Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to gather information on the Native Americans. Jefferson’s intention was to increase white farmers’ occupation of Native American lands for protection of the frontiers and to assimilate or eliminate the indigenous people. Lewis’s observations noted in the same chapter under, “The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1805, appear cultural: however, Meriwether’s data collection and information are complementary to Jefferson’s expansionist ideas for the American nation the information reveals the strengths and the weakness of the indigenous people. In his letter to the Governor William Harrison, Jefferson expresses his strategy for land acquisition from the Native Americans. He emphasizes his quest to make the indigenous people dependent on the white American economy by encouraging game hunting among the white Americans,1 reducing the Native Americans’ reliance on subsistence hunting. As an option, Jefferson believed in the introduction of agriculture, weaving and spinning2 for the Native Americans’ existence. The dependence on the white Americans for provisions for their farms and household rendered the Native American helpless. To live, they would eventually succumb to the laws of trade, custom, and abide by the authority of the “dominant” white Americans. In this, Jefferson’s private strategy was to entice the Native Americans out of their tracts of lands and encourage a dependence of their livelihood on the white Americans. However, if they resisted in their weakened and vulnerable state, the white Americans intended to push the indigenous people beyond the boundaries of the frontiers. Additionally, Jefferson proposed to eliminate private traders through offering the native people commodities at reduced prices,3 further entangling the natives to the commerce system of the white Americans. Besides, the inevitable dependence Jefferson predicated Native American’s escalated fear as they witnessed their dealings with Britain, Spain, France,4 as America ousted the above. In that, the Native Americans feared the repercussions of resistance. Jefferson’s address to Wolf and the entire Mandan nation confirms his psychological approach. Despite his expansionist ideas, Jefferson maintained that the Native American an amiable stance. In this, Jefferson assumed a position of a leader and father in his address. In creating an atmosphere of trust and love, as he highlighted in his letter to Governor Williams Harrison, 5 Jefferson hoped to camouflage his motives. In his letters, Jefferson’s assumption was that the white American culture was superior to that of the indigenous Native American. For instance, he mentions sending Captain Lewis as a guise to find out from the natives required with the promise of relevant actions such as providing trading houses6 stocked with “necessary” provisions. He urged the Mandans that they were in the white American’s eyes their “red brothers” and they may “all live together in one household.”7 Jefferson’s strategy was to bring the entire region under one nation, United States. Simultaneously Jefferson’s aim, in the Lewis and Clark expedition, was to map out a way from the interior to the West coast.8 Lewis’s observations resonate with Jefferson’s strategies in the area of hunting. One of his men shot and killed a deer and Lewis noted the Shoshones appreciated the effort. They partook of the venison obtained by, apparently, superior means in comparison to the tribal rudimentary hunting implements. A soldier in Lewis’s group shot another deer, and the indigenous people reacted with much the same enthusiasm.9Thus, Lewis confirmed Jefferson’s strategy that the act of hunting and providing food for the Native Americans was an active approach. Further, with the white Americans, superior weaponry game served Jefferson’s purpose to eliminate subsistence hunting. Indeed, Lewis expressed that he, “did not until now think that human ever presented Itself in a shape so nearly allyed [sic] to the brute creation.”10He thought of the indigenous people as devils since they ate the venison raw including the offal. Lewis perceived the cultural aspects of this people as poverty. His observation compounded Jefferson’s assumption that the Native Americans needed and would respond well to acts of pity, compassion, and love. Jefferson and Lewis alike thought the white American culture superior to that of the Native Americans. Additionally, Lewis further observed that the Native American male was a law unto himself; he thrived on his own decisions and actions. The Chief of the “band” had no centralized authority, control, or consistent influence over the members of the tribe. Thus, Jefferson’s strategy of divide and conquer in the event of resistance was a feasible approach. Besides, Lewis’s observed a populace of 10011 warriors and that the women and children numbered thrice that of the warrior exemplified the exploitable weakness. In addition, their weapons consist of all-purpose flint knives, aside from bows and arrows. The flint knives offered no threat as they used them to scale fish as well as other domestic chores. In addition, in the event of an attack their horses lacked proper reins and stirrups. The women had to take care of the children multitude of children. Therefore, it was impossible to put up a strong defense. Of importance, Lewis observed that the Shoshones suffered attacks from the other tribes who raided their bands and stole their horses, mules, and tents. Lewis’s information led to Jefferson’s offer of protection in “Address to the Wolf and People of the Mandan Nation, December 30, 1806.”12In essence, with superior arms and numbers, the white Americans could assume control of the indigenous population. Another important aspect of Lewis’s expedition was the revelation that the Indian women labored in building the lodges, packing up in a time of travel, and cooking. The men were polygamous, spent most of their time hunting, fishing, and tending horses. Jefferson’s assumed the option of agriculture, spinning, weaving offered relief for these women. Lewis noted small but significant details such as the indigenous men gave themselves names, which received affirmation from the community. In this, the distinguished characters of the individual received recognition and the man honor. Jefferson in his letter to the Mandan nation used the respectable name “Wolf” feigning recognition of his importance. Meanwhile, Lewis observed that the Indians suffered from venereal diseases and small pox. He noted that the diseases might have originated from contact with other tribes who had contact with European. Another explanation was that considering that the remote location of the Shoshones, the conditions stemmed from within their community, inherently. Lewis’s contribution is a highlight of what conditions prevailed in the areas, thus an indicator for the medical address. In sum, Jefferson was intent on white farmers/settlers occupying and expanding into the frontier lands. His interests were to keep out the French, the British, and the Spaniards. Of the Native Americans, he thought it best to assimilate them or push them beyond the frontier boundaries if they resisted. Jefferson’s assumption was the white Americans offered the Native Americans a better, more civilized way of life. However, he used their cultural weakness such as living in bands, and political evidenced of no centralized authority to deprive them of their cultural existence thus forcing them into submission. Similarly, Lewis’s observation served to confirm Jefferson’s assumptions; they served as anchor points in the quest to possess the Native American’s massive tracts of land. Bibliography Michael P. Johnson, Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents: Volume 1: To 1877 (Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2012)