While “A Dialogue Between an Englishman and an Indian,” represents a minority view, it does highlight the power of colonialism through education. Deemed the “great permanent problem,” by President Chester A. Arthur, the question of the place of American Indians in British North America and eventually the United States often dominated policy. In Ebony and Ivy, Craig Wilder argues colonial and American officials sought to answer this question with assimilation. “A Dialogue” focuses on the benefits for both Indians and whites if the Englishman actively tried to teach the American Indians the habits of civilization.
Throughout “A Dialogue,” the Indian admits his people are “uncultivated and unpolished,” but argues the Englishmen have the ability to refine “his people” through education (7). The Indian in “A Dialogue” is the living embodiment of the success of civilizing the “savage” with schooling. The Indian in the short work convinces the Englishman of the benefits of improving American Indians and making them “good members of society” (8). However, what is indirectly argued, is being a good member of society required American Indians to abandon their traditional lifestyle and embrace the Anglo-culture of the people around them. Dartmouth College sought to ordain American Indians as ministers for them to cast off their Native roots and return to their tribes to teach other Indians to embrace assimilation.
Really interesting point about Indian culture being replaced with American/ British. It is interesting to see the implications of the opinion that Indians had to be assimilated into this new, developing society. Today Indian culture has dramatically changed to fit the modern world but certainly some parts must remain unchanged. Also, how likely is it that aspects of Indian culture effected modern-day American culture?
I remember reading the memoirs of Luther Standing Bear, a Sioux who attended an American Indian school in the late 19th century, and he talked a lot about that. He said, while the whites forced him to embrace their culture, there were little attempts to inject Indian culture into society. He firmly believed, a more mutual education would have produced better Indian-white relations in the 20th century.
Native Americans have left their mark on American culture in some areas of language and agriculture. Early English settlers borrowed words from a few Native American languages for naming places. We see this today, with cities like Manhattan, Chicago, and Spokane and states like Oklahoma, Alabama, and Illinois all having Native American origins. European settlers learned new harvesting methods from Native Americans. They also introduced Europeans to potatoes, corn, chocolate, and peanuts.