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I think he's just pointing out that the lumping of Native Americans into one discrete category is a bit artificial, since white-native and native-native relatio
by neuromantik8086 8y ago
I think he's just pointing out that the lumping of Native Americans into one discrete category is a bit artificial, since white-native and native-native relations varied widely depending upon the tribe (and the white people). For instance, the Iroquois and white settlers in upstate New York had a much better relationship than tribes in the far west and pioneers I think. On the other hand, the Iroquois hated the Algonquins.
An anecdote: I grew up close by the Oneida Indian Nation and one of the town seals for an area village (the aptly named Whitesboro) had a white man choking an Oneida. The seal was depicting a good-natured wrestling match from the 18th century that led to a decent long-lasting relationship between the Oneidas and early settlers, but at first glance it looked very terrible. Someone at the Daily Show discovered this, descended upon Whitesboro and strongarmed them into changing the seal (and honestly they probably should have anyways since it isn't obvious what it meant without more context). What I found ironic was that they interviewed a Lenape (a.k.a. the sworn enemy of the Iroquois) who dutifully informed them how terrible the seal was.
In the meantime, more serious issues that the Oneida actually care more about were ignored by the Daily Show. Namely, the Daily Show completely glossed over the fact that the Oneida Indian Nation is essentially a puppet state run by Ray Halbritter, who was illegally elected and essentially does/did the bidding of Sherwood Boehlert (a former white congressman from the area). It probably wouldn't have made for as sexy of a segment, but it still annoys me that of all the white-native issues from my area, they chose to highlight the Whitesboro seal.
[edit] There's also the question of Iroquois-Iroquois relations after the Revolutionary War, when some tribes in the confederacy sided with the British and had to flee to Canada and other tribes stayed in New York.
Disclaimer: Fact check my statements because I'm not totally sure I understand the Ray Halbritter issue myself / don't think about it on a daily basis.