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Harley Landess
His 105- Dr. Cooper Owens
7 February 2013
The Native American life and How Europeans Changed It
In the New World before Christopher Columbus, Native Americans lived in tribes that
prospered through the work of the community as a whole. Men went out hunting, women and
children gathered wild berriers and grains, and trading was sufficient between other tribes. One
might ask, How did various Indian people change their ways of survival after the colonization
of the New World? The native people were stable on their own for so many years. What could
have made them so submissive to the Europeans? With the arrival of guns and ammunition,
clothing, new foods, and other various items, the natives became more reliant on European goods
throughout time.
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, Native American life was independent. The
Indians were trading and growing crops, but they were still very much dependent on hunting and
gathering for their food. Although guns and ammunition had not yet appeared, Indians had no
problems developing the tools and skills it took to kill animals for food. Using bows, arrows, and
other hand crafted tools, the Native Americans were able to sustain life by killing large herd
animals. One skill acquired by the Native Americans was the use of fire. Hunters would set the
land on fire to force herd animals together, so it would be easier to kill more than one at a time.
Hunters also set fires to the edges of woods to burn off undergrowth and trees, so that new tender
plants would grow and attract game animals. Most fires set by Native Americans usually burned
until they ran out of fuel or were extinguished by rain or wind. Because of these fires, most of
Hunt, Lynn, David W. Blight, Bonnie G. Smith, Natalie Zemon Davis, and Ernest R. May. The
World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America. Colin G. Calloway Ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1994. Print. Pg. 129 and Pg. 143
Roark , James L., Micheal P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, and
Susan M. Hartmann. The American Promise: A History of The United States. Fourth Edition. Vol.
1: to 1877. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009. 17-21. Print

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the continent was burned, but in actuality the fires were a big part of what shaped North America
today. The fires led to huge patches of land that were great for agriculture and hunting. Although
life seemed easy for the native people, it definitely was not. Wars between tribes were common,
and resulted in wounded or dead men, women, and children. The Native Americans were not
materialistic or money savvy, but they knew the land and went by their intuitions. Life was
relatively simple until the arrival of Europeans in 1492.
When the Europeans first arrived, the lives of the natives changed. The Native Americans
were not treated nicely, and in some cases they were abused and abandoned. On Columbus first
voyage, he discovered the New World. When he went back to Spain to share the news, he left
behind thirty-nine of his sailors. In the time that Columbus went back to Spain, the sailors
terrorized the natives by kidnapping and sexually abusing the women. Columbus returned to the
New World to discover that the men had been killed by the native chiefs. Decades later,
Europeans came to the New World to lay claim to the land that already belonged to the
Indians. As Europeans continued to sail in, they brought diseases, like small pox and measles,
which decimated the population of the native people. In the 1500s, a Spanish conquistador,
Hernan Cortes, brought on a full battle between his men, Indian allies, and an Indian tribe he
tried to take hostage by kidnapping their chief and killing the other tribe members. As more and
more Europeans came to the New World, the relations between them and the Native Americans
became increasingly worse.
As time went on, more Europeans ascended onto the New World. The natives grew
weak of fighting, and became dependent on the Europeans for survival. Illepotapo, a Great
Medal Chief of the Chickesawhay, wrties, I am not come here to beg, and enumerate Particular
Hunt, Lynn, David W. Blight, Bonnie G. Smith, Natalie Zemon Davis, and Ernest R. May. The
World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America. Colin G. Calloway Ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1994. Print. Pg. 129 and Pg. 143
Roark , James L., Micheal P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, and
Susan M. Hartmann. The American Promise: A History of The United States. Fourth Edition. Vol.
1: to 1877. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009. 17-21. Print

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Articles, I know my father the Superintent, is Just and knows what things are fitting for Red Men
and will Supply our wants accordingly he knows us to be poor and Incapable of making
Necessaries for ourselves. The Native Americans, who were once able to survive through their
own means, are now relying on the Europeans to supply them with the goods to live. The Medal
Chief of Seneacha expresses in his speech the need of the Europeans and their goods; he pleads,
It is very long Since I last saw my Father we are very poor and in want of ammunition we are
Ignorant and helpless as the Beasts in the woods Incapable of making Necessaries for our selves
our sole dependence is upon you. Some Native American groups were so dependent on
Europeans that they were willing to go to war and fight for a European countrys crown. A
member of the Checkasaw Nation declares, We look upon your Enemies as ours and your
Friends as our Friends. The Day shall never come while Sun shines and Water runs that we will
join any other Nation but the English. We hope you will still take Pity on us and give us a Supply
of Powder and Bullets and Guns &c. to enable us to outlive our Enemies and revive a dying
Friend. With this new mind set from the Native Americans, namely that they cannot survive
without the hand of the Europeans, there is no hope in the survival of the traditional Native
American way of life.
Native Americans steadily became more reliant on the Europeans throughout time. With
guns and ammunition, domesticated animals, and European foods and clothing arriving daily,
there was no way for the natives to keep their traditions and routines alive. Indians were once
able to feed themselves, cloth themselves, and fight for themselves, but with the unfaltering
migration of Europeans, with their goods and their diseases, changed the way of life for the
traditional Native American.
Hunt, Lynn, David W. Blight, Bonnie G. Smith, Natalie Zemon Davis, and Ernest R. May. The
World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America. Colin G. Calloway Ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1994. Print. Pg. 129 and Pg. 143
Roark , James L., Micheal P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, and
Susan M. Hartmann. The American Promise: A History of The United States. Fourth Edition. Vol.
1: to 1877. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2009. 17-21. Print