Blog 2: Indians Key Role in History

Excerpt from:2 Fur, Gunlög. “Indians and Immigrants—Entangled Histories.” Journal of American Ethnic History 33, no. 3 (2014): 55–76.

It was the land itself that brought Indians and immigrants into contact

and conflict. All concurrent histories begin there, and the significance of

land cannot be overstated. The physical space of American Indian land

gave rise to other forms of entanglements, such as exchanges of food, sex,

family-making, and impersonations. Yet, although land is a paramount

concern in both novels and historical studies of migration and removal,

the historiography of Scandinavian and Indian entanglements remains

shackled by the two fictions of empty lands and friendly relations. A common assumption in scholarship as well as in schoolbooks is that by the time Scandinavians arrived in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the Indians had

left (and how their departure came about is not cause for rumination).(p.61)

In Gunlog Fur’s piece, we gain a better understanding of the role that Indians had as immigrants and the lack of their relevance in our history. When I say the lack of their role in history, I am referring to the fact that their great presence is often diminished for made irrelevant through the story that we tell through history. This excerpt brings the idea and the relevance of Indians in our history and their great importance on immigration.

As we know it, the indians were here first, long before white folks arrived. This was their land that they had made home until colonizers began to arrive and displace them. As this excerpt notes, people often believe that indians left certain plots of land by choice but that is not the case. They were fought and forced out by other immigrants arriving. These indians were forced to leave because they refused to colonize and change their lifestyle to please the incoming immigrants. Although there was great violence in forcing the indians to leave, Fur does a good job of telling the history without constantly highlighting the negative violence.

This excerpt brings up a good point regarding how the physical land brought the indians and immigrants into contact. The immigrants were there for the land and showed little respect for the indians. Rather they wanted the resources that the land provided and the indians were the only thing stopping them from doing just so.

It is important that we understand how indians were the first colonizers here in the U.S. and specifically in the west. Without their existence, our lives would not be the same. It is unfortunate, as this article mentions, that indians role in our history is not made more prevalent in today’s society.