"Indian Reservation" Constructed Response Activity

 

"Brothers! I have listened to many talks from our Great Father.  When he first came over the wide waters, he was but a little man…But when the white man had warmed himself before the Indian's fire, and filled himself with their hominy, he became very large. With a step he bestrode the mountains, and his feet covered the plains and the valleys. His hands grasped the eastern and the western sea, and his head rested on the moon.  Then he became our great father. He loved his red children, and he said, 'get a little farther, lest I tread on thee...' Yet he continued to love his red children, and when he found them too slow in moving, he sent his great guns before him to sweep his path. Brothers! I have listened to a great many talks from our great father. - But they always began and ended in this- 'get a little further, you are too near me.' "

~ Speckled Snake, elder of the Creek Nation, 1829




1. Who wrote the above document and when was it written?
 
 
 
 
 

2. What events are being described in both the song and the document?
 
 
 
 
 

3. What is the writer's general feeling about these events? How does this compare to feelings or opinions that are expressed in the song?
 
 
 
 
 

4. Write meaningful statements about the U.S. Governments policy towards Native Americans in the early 1800's using each of the following concept words; change, environment, power, empathy, culture, choice.
 
 
 
 
 



 
 

Indian Reservation
Paul Revere & The Raiders, ©1971
 

They took the whole Cherokee Nation
Put us on this reservation
Took away our ways of life
The tomahawk and the bow and knife

Took away our native tongue
And taught their English to our young
And all the beads we made by hand
Are nowadays made in
Japan

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe
So proud to live, so proud to die

They took the whole Indian Nation
Locked us on this reservation
Though I wear a shirt and tie
I'm still part red man deep inside

Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe
So proud to live, so proud to die

But maybe someday when they've learned
Cherokee Nation will return
Will return...
Will return...
Will return...
Will return...
 
 
 

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