LITR 4328 American Renaissance Research Posts 2015 (research post assignment) Research Post 2

Karin Cooper

4/25/15

Who Did Native American's Marry?

          In my last research post I explored the question of what happened to the Mohegan tribe aside from the fictional account we get in The Last of the Mohicans. A suggestion from Dr. White has led to the topic of my second research post. I am going to look into intermarriage involving Native Americans. My question is who did Native American's marry at that time? I will begin my search in the UHCL library and see what comes of it.

          The first example that history has of American Indian intermarriage is Pocahontas to John Rolfe in the 1600s (Kaplan 127). According to an article in the International Social Science Review  called "Historical Efforts to Encourage White-Indian Intermarriage in the United States and Canada," intermarriage was at first encouraged for the purpose of gaining power in this new world. After the invading class felt secure, whether it was the French or the British, then intermarriage was frowned upon and even punished. During the time that intermarriage was encouraged rewards in money and land were common inducements offered. The article states that another reason apart from gaining control, was that intermarriage was used as a tool to Christianize the American Indians. Knowing that people were being paid to marry Native Americans makes it understandable that by the time The Last of the Mohicans was written there were not many pure-bred Native Americans left. Christianity is not the only religion that had an effect on the intermarriage of American Indians, Mormons also considered this to be an issue worth making a decision over.

          The Mormon church in Salt Lake City was strongly encouraged to treat the American Indians with every kindness. Brigham Young, the Mormon leader, also encouraged intermarriage according to Mormon-Indian  Relations  In  Deseret: Intermarriage  and  Indenture,  1847  to  1877 by Richard  Darrell  Kitchen :"Brigham  Young  sent  missionaries  to  go  and  live  with  the  American Indians  but  not  as  other  denominations  had  done.  Instead,  he  gave  missionaries  specific instructions  to  marry  American  Indian  women". Mormons were encouraged to marry and convert American Indians as well treating them with kindness. The Mormon church seemed to be following the pattern that other institutions were using, and using marriage as a tool of conversion, peace and control.

          As America was trying to fulfill its Manifest Destiny, intermarriage was a great way to encourage peace on the borders of the frontier. These mixed marriages inevitably effected the culture; according to an article by Clara Sue Kidwell called "New Frontiers in American Indian History," the children of these marriages were called Metis, and they were a recogonized part of the culture. Whenever different races live in close proximity to each other, intermarriage is going to happen. It is a good thing that it was eventually encouraged rather than frowned upon. Racism was there especially at first, leading "in some states to antimiscegenation laws forbidding marriages between whites and Indians or blacks. . . . The derogatory term 'squaw man' was created, with the even more derogatory term 'buck woman'" (Thorton 270).

          In answer to my question who did Native Americans marry? The Native Americans married whoever was around. This behavior makes sense: it is what most people do. You marry those who are close by, those who you end up spending a lot of time with. Intermarriage was very beneficial from religious and government stand points. The intermarriage of American Indians became common. For different reasons, one being proximity, and availability of the couples to each other, and the other being the strong push from the government, and religious institutes to get people to encourage intermarriage. People often judge and dislike what is different from them, so not everyone approved of these marriages, but that did not stop them from happening. They continue to happen to this day, although they are now widely accepted.

Works Cited

Kaplan, Sidney. "Historical Efforts to Encourage White-Indian Intermarriage in the United        States and Canada". International Social Science Review. Vol. 65, No. 3 (SUMMER 1990), pp. 126-132. Pi Gamma Mu, International Honor Society in Social Sciences. Web. 27 Apr. 2015

Kidwell, Clara Sue. "New Frontiers in Native American History". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies.Vol. 17, No. 3 (1996), pp. 29-30. University of Nebraska Press. Web. 28 Apr. 2015

Kitchen, Richard Darrell. "Mormon-Indian Relations in Deseret: Intermarriage and Indenture, 1847 to 1877." Arizona State University, 2002. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 27 Apr. 2015

Thornton, Russell. "Indian Intermarriage." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 270. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.