Introduction
The history of Native Americans in the United States from 1890 to 2000 is often depicted through lenses of destruction, cultural loss, and inevitable disappearance, driven by federal policies aimed at assimilation and erasure. Initiatives such as the allotment system, boarding schools, forced urbanization, and the erosion of tribal sovereignty sought to dismantle Indigenous cultures and integrate Native peoples into mainstream American society. However, as a student exploring Native American history, I have come to appreciate that these narratives overlook the remarkable resilience demonstrated by Native communities. They preserved cultural traditions, political identities, and knowledge systems through active adaptation and resistance. This essay examines this endurance through three artistic works: Allen Houser’s 1952 painting Apache Crown Dance, Frank Waln’s music video “AbOriginal,” and Drezus’s “Warpath.” Although differing in medium and era, these pieces collectively illustrate that Native identity survived not through passive endurance but via dynamic engagement with oppression. By analyzing these works in historical context, this essay argues that Native Americans maintained sovereignty and cultural continuity amid intense colonization and assimilation pressures, embodying concepts like survivance and “modernity by tradition.” The discussion will draw on key historical events and scholarly perspectives to highlight this resilience, ultimately challenging simplistic views of Native history as mere victimization.
Federal Assimilation Policies and Their Impact (1890–1930s)
The late nineteenth century marked a pivotal era of aggressive federal efforts to suppress Native American cultures, culminating in events that symbolized the supposed end of Indigenous resistance. The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, for instance, represented the violent suppression of the Ghost Dance movement, a spiritual revival among Plains tribes that federal authorities perceived as a threat (Ostler, 2010). This tragedy, where U.S. troops killed over 250 Lakota people, including women and children, was framed by many contemporaries as the final chapter in the “Indian Wars,” signaling the confinement of Native peoples to reservations and the onset of cultural erasure. Following this, policies intensified to assimilate Natives into Euro-American society, often under the guise of “civilizing” them.
A cornerstone of these efforts was the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, which divided communal tribal lands into individual allotments, with “surplus” lands sold to white settlers. This policy not only reduced Native landholdings by millions of acres— from approximately 138 million in 1887 to 48 million by 1934—but also attacked the communal land stewardship integral to many Indigenous societies (Hoxie, 1984). The act aimed to promote private property ownership, erode tribal governance, and foster individualism, thereby weakening collective identities. Alongside this, the establishment of off-reservation boarding schools, such as the Carlisle Indian Industrial School founded in 1879, sought to “kill the Indian and save the man,” as articulated by its founder, Captain Richard Henry Pratt (Adams, 1995). Children were forcibly removed from their families, forbidden from speaking their languages, and subjected to military-style discipline, resulting in widespread cultural disruption and trauma.
These policies extended into the early twentieth century, with forced urbanization adding another layer of pressure. Indeed, the erosion of tribal sovereignty through legal and administrative means further marginalized Native communities. However, as historical analyses reveal, such measures did not achieve total erasure. Tribes like the Apache, Lakota, and Cree adapted by preserving oral traditions, ceremonies, and kinship networks underground, demonstrating a resilience that scholars term “survivance”—a active process of survival and resistance rather than mere endurance (Vizenor, 1999). This concept, drawn from Indigenous literary theory, underscores how Native peoples negotiated modernity while retaining cultural cores, a theme evident in the artistic expressions examined here.
Allen Houser’s Apache Crown Dance and Cultural Persistence
Allen Houser’s 1952 painting Apache Crown Dance exemplifies Native resilience in the post-assimilation era, capturing the vitality of Indigenous ceremonies amid historical suppression. As a Chiricahua Apache artist trained in both traditional and Western art forms, Houser (1914–1994) portrayed Apache dancers engaged in the Crown Dance, a sacred ritual involving elaborate headdresses and spiritual invocation central to Apache identity (Bernstein, 2012). Created in the mid-twentieth century, the painting emerges against the backdrop of the Dawes Act’s lingering effects and the boarding school system’s intergenerational scars.
In the painting, the dancers are depicted with dignity and spiritual poise, their forms dynamic and connected to the earth, symbolizing continuity rather than defeat. This visual narrative counters the “vanishing Indian” trope prevalent in early twentieth-century American culture, which portrayed Natives as relics destined for obsolescence (Deloria, 1998). Houser’s work, therefore, embodies survivance by presenting Apache culture as living and adaptive. For example, despite federal bans on Indigenous religious practices under policies like the 1883 Code of Indian Offenses, which criminalized dances and ceremonies, Apache communities sustained these traditions covertly, passing them to younger generations (Trafzer et al., 2006). Houser’s own life reflects this balance: educated at the Santa Fe Indian School, he merged modernist techniques with Indigenous motifs, illustrating “modernity by tradition”—a framework where Native peoples engage contemporary contexts without abandoning heritage.
Critically, while Houser’s painting highlights persistence, it also invites reflection on limitations. Some scholars argue that such artistic representations, though empowering, risked romanticization by non-Native audiences, potentially reinforcing stereotypes (Raheja, 2010). Nonetheless, the work’s emphasis on ceremonial continuity underscores how Native identity endured through active preservation, challenging narratives of total assimilation.
Frank Waln’s “AbOriginal” and Intergenerational Healing
Decades later, Frank Waln’s 2013 music video “AbOriginal” extends themes of resilience into the contemporary era, blending hip-hop with Lakota perspectives to address historical trauma and survival. Waln, a Sicangu Lakota from the Rosebud Reservation, uses the track to reclaim the term “Aboriginal” as a badge of Indigenous pride, transforming colonial language into a tool of empowerment. The video interweaves scenes of reservation life, activism, and personal reflection, directly referencing the legacies of boarding schools and allotment policies that fractured Native families.
Waln’s lyrics confront intergenerational trauma, such as addiction and cultural loss stemming from assimilation efforts. For instance, the boarding school system’s abuses—documented in reports of physical and emotional harm—created cycles of dysfunction that persisted into the late twentieth century (Child, 1998). Yet, “AbOriginal” shifts focus from victimhood to agency, with Waln affirming, “We survived genocide,” and emphasizing community healing through kinship and spirituality. This aligns with survivance, as Waln adapts hip-hop—a genre rooted in African American resistance—to articulate Lakota experiences, demonstrating cultural dynamism (Chang, 2005).
Furthermore, the video’s imagery of Indigenous youth engaging in activism highlights adaptation to urbanization policies of the 1950s, like the Indian Relocation Act, which displaced many Natives to cities but fostered new intertribal networks (Fixico, 2000). Waln’s work thus illustrates how Native identity evolved, incorporating modern forms while preserving traditional values like collective memory. However, a critical view might note that hip-hop’s global appeal could dilute specific Indigenous messages, though Waln’s intentional fusion arguably strengthens them.
Drezus’s “Warpath” and Political Defiance
Drezus’s 2013 song “Warpath,” by the Plains Cree artist Jeremiah Manitopyes, adopts a more confrontational tone to assert Native sovereignty and resistance, echoing the Red Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The title invokes historical “warpaths” of Indigenous warfare against colonialism, reframing them as modern political battles. Drezus challenges stereotypes of Native passivity, rapping about pride, defiance, and the rejection of assimilation.
This resonates with the era’s activism, including the American Indian Movement (AIM) and occupations like Alcatraz (1969–1971) and Wounded Knee (1973), which demanded treaty rights and self-determination amid termination policies that dissolved over 100 tribes between 1953 and 1966 (Wilkinson, 2005). Drezus’s aggressive style mirrors AIM’s rhetoric, using hip-hop to reclaim narratives and affirm sovereignty, as seen in legal victories like the 1908 Winters v. United States decision, which secured tribal water rights (Burton, 1991).
Like Waln, Drezus exemplifies “modernity by tradition” by adapting urban music forms to Indigenous contexts, showing resilience through reinvention. Critically, while empowering, such works sometimes risk glorifying confrontation without addressing internal community challenges, yet they undeniably highlight ongoing political agency.
Conclusion
In summary, from 1890 to 2000, Native American history in the United States was marked by federal assaults on Indigenous cultures through assimilation policies, yet communities demonstrated profound resilience via adaptation, resistance, and cultural continuity. Allen Houser’s Apache Crown Dance, Frank Waln’s “AbOriginal,” and Drezus’s “Warpath” collectively testify to this, challenging decline narratives and embodying survivance. These works reveal that Native identity persisted through ceremony, activism, and artistic innovation, often merging tradition with modernity. The implications are significant: understanding Native history as one of agency rather than solely oppression fosters more nuanced scholarship and supports contemporary Indigenous sovereignty struggles. As a student of this field, I recognize that while progress has been made, ongoing challenges like land rights disputes underscore the enduring relevance of these themes. Ultimately, these artistic expressions affirm that Native cultures not only survived but thrived amid adversity, offering lessons in resilience for broader historical studies.
References
- Adams, D. W. (1995) Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928. University Press of Kansas.
- Bernstein, B. B. (2012) Allen Houser: An American Master (Chiricahua Apache, 1914–1994). Harry N. Abrams.
- Burton, L. (1991) American Indian Water Rights and the Limits of Law. University Press of Kansas.
- Chang, J. (2005) Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. St. Martin’s Press.
- Child, B. J. (1998) Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900–1940. University of Nebraska Press.
- Deloria, P. J. (1998) Playing Indian. Yale University Press.
- Fixico, D. L. (2000) The Urban Indian Experience in America. University of New Mexico Press.
- Hoxie, F. E. (1984) A Final Promise: The Campaign to Assimilate the Indians, 1880–1920. University of Nebraska Press.
- Ostler, J. (2010) The Lakotas and the Black Hills: The Struggle for Sacred Ground. Viking.
- Raheja, M. H. (2010) Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans in Film. University of Nebraska Press.
- Trafzer, C. E., Keller, J. A., and Sisquoc, L. (2006) Boarding School Blues: Revisiting American Indian Educational Experiences. University of Nebraska Press.
- Vizenor, G. (1999) Manifest Manners: Narratives on Postindian Survivance. University of Nebraska Press.
- Wilkinson, C. F. (2005) Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations. W. W. Norton & Company.
(Word count: 1624, including references)
