to enslavement, seizure of their land and resources, the destruction of their societies,.
Indian prejudices, and the attitude that causes Indians to still be treated as inferior. A .
California Chumash Indian, named Kote Kotah is quoted by David Hurst Thomas as .
having said, "there is no better or worse only different. That difference has to be .
respected whether it's skin color, way of life, or ideas" (Josephy, Jr. 21). .
The Chumash have an idea of human change and evolution. It begins with a .
worm that is eaten by a bird. A cat whose self-satisfaction is disrupted by a mean looking .
dog eats the bird. After devouring the cat, the dog is killed by a grizzly bear that .
congratulates himself for being the strongest of all. About that time comes a man .
who kills the bear and climbs the mountain to proclaim his ultimate superiority. He ran .
so hard up the mountain that he died at the top. Before long the worm crawled out of his .
body.
Laced with the convictions that the Indians were indeed, "savage and backward" .
and had to go, peace talks very often turned violent. In one such meeting, several chiefs .
3.
were gifted with handkerchiefs and blankets. What they didn't know was that the items .
had come from a smallpox hospital and were infected with the disease, it then spread .
into their villages. This was the first germ warfare in American history.
In 1609, Wahunsonacock of the Powhatan Tribe told soldiers at one of talks, .
"Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should .
you destroy us, who have provided you with food? What can you get by war? We can .
hide provisions, and fly into the woods; and then you must consequently famish be .
wronging your friends. What is the cause of your jealousy? You see us unarmed, and .
willing to supply your wants, if you will come in a friendly manner, and not with sword .
and guns, as to invade an enemy" (Wilson 43).
The colonists moving into the territories made it harder and harder for the Native .