# Native American assimilation before the Civil War **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398 "2017-09-03T13:56:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/1 "2017-09-03T13:56:24Z")
Hello all, I’ve been looking for resources, including websites and books, that focus on Native American assimilation before it became Federal policy after the Civil War. While the post-1860 transition is a very interesting topic and well-studied, I’m trying to find the history before that time, at least in the United States. I know every country handled this a bit differently at different times, although I would not be averse to including Canada. Is anyone out there aware of good sources on this subject? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/2 "2017-09-03T17:07:26Z")
[Indian Removal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_removal), not assimilation. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/3 "2017-09-04T01:02:52Z")
**Duckster** , I am well aware that Indian Removal was a common practice in the colonial and early American periods. I am trying to find research on American Indians that assimilated on their own volition. This very clearly did happen, but I can’t find any records of how many, during what periods, and where it tended to occur. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/4 "2017-09-04T01:07:49Z")
What do you mean by assimilation? There was forced assimilation, sometimes followed by forced un-assimilation for removal. Look at the history of the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies to get a lot of information. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/5 "2017-09-04T02:44:16Z")
Go to Wiki for Native American Assimilation and look at the footnotes. You’ll be reading for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/6 "2017-09-04T04:29:27Z")
A notable example of (semi)-voluntary assimilation was that of the [Cherokee.](https://www.americanhistoryusa.com/the-cherokee-acculturation/) By the early 1800s many had become agrarian landowners on the white model. Some owned cotton plantations and held slaves. It didn’t do them much good in the long run, though. A similar process took place among what were known as the other [“Five Civilized Tribes,”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Civilized_Tribes) the Choctaw, Creek (Muskogee), and Chickasaw. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/7 "2017-09-05T21:26:24Z")
Is your interest just US? A series, approximate title, Canada, A Peoples History, available on YouTube, at least it was yesterday, has significant episodes about the this. I never heard of the Métis before. Wikipedia says there were some in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/8 "2017-09-06T14:05:09Z")
U.S. Grant had a Seneca officer on his staff, as it happens: [Ely S. Parker - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ely_S._Parker) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/native-american-assimilation-before-the-civil-war/795398/9 "2017-09-06T23:32:42Z")
Thank you, **Elendil’s Heir** - as a matter of fact, Ely Parker was one of the individuals whose story got me interested in this question. **janeslogin** , I will check that series out. Mostly, I was trying to dodge getting into American Indian history in the context of Latin America - not because it’s not interesting, but because it’s just too big a topic at the moment.