User:Charles Dight/sandbox

Article Title: Native American Intertribal Warfare
Prior to European colonization of the America’s, Native American tribal warfare and intertribal relations were mostly harmonious and civil, with animosity directed towards outperforming tribal opponents through ritualized traditions rather than killing. Warfare and hostility was a central part of Native American life and culture pre-contact, but not near to the extent it was following European colonization. This article will examine how European colonization of North America generated a hyper-competitive and atomistic situation between Native tribes, causing a disposition to violence to replace ancient inter-tribal harmony. The result was internecine destruction.

Pre-Colonial Native Warfare Practises
The significant changes in inter-tribal warfare as a result of the European colonisation of North America can be seen in the contrast between the way battles were fought before colonisation.

Prior to European colonisation in the late 1400s, inter-tribal warfare in North America was significantly different to the European way of waging battle. Ultimately, it was highly ritualized and grounded in pacifist traditions designed to minimize casualties. Tribal battles often had several traditions before the fighting began, with the male members of tribes painting their faces red, which according to the Canadian government was to prevent “any appearance of pallor or fear on their faces.” Another tradition was the entire tribe would join in a feast together and those fighting in the battle would perform a dance prior to the war beginning. Another element of inter-tribal warfare was the weaponry used prior to European colonisation, with tribes using bows and arrows made from bones, flaked stones and cotton, with some tribes such as the Erie, using “poisoned arrows”.

An example of how the course of a battle played out is the conflict between the Iroquois and Montagnais tribes as recorded by French military campaigner Samuel Champlain in 1609. Once it was decided when the battle would be fought, it did not begin until sunrise with the tribes spending “the entire night before… dancing and singing”. This highlights the pacifist nature of North American tribes before European colonisation as they stressed the importance of undertaking their traditional customs prior to waging war. Pre-Columbian warfare can ultimately be considered more an art and expression of tribal passion than barbarism. However, these accounts of intertribal civility in times of conflict were only made in the early years of colonization, as the corruptive snare of Western ideals soon manipulated Native understanding of warfare.

As a result of this type of warfare, the battles in the Western Plains of America would be drawn out over days and according to James D. Drake, “had minimal casualties” in part, due to the weaponry not being as powerful in comparison with the more lethal weapons used by European colonists. Another example of the pacifist nature of inter-tribal warfare prior to European settlement is evident in the type of battles fought in the Rockies and Western plains, with Drake arguing that tribes would, “express violence at a personal level”, showing that often battles would be fought between small groups of men as opposed to larger groups fighting on a large scale post-colonisation. Drake also proposes that Native tribes prioritized diplomacy and mediation over outright warfare. Trade deals were often used to diplomatically avoid bloodshed as tribes sought to appease enemies through the exchange of goods.

Hence, although warfare, conflict and bloodshed underpinned the functioning of Native American society, it was mostly avoided when possible. The battles that were fought were small in scale, used primitive weaponry that was not especially lethal, and diplomacy was always the primary consideration.

Radicalisation of Warfare Following Colonization
For centuries, historical understanding of Native America post European contact has followed the narrative that genocide occurred immediately following colonisation, with vast proportions of the Native population massacred. While a genocide did occur, it was a long and protracted genocide of culture and way of life, rather than an immediate population genocide. This difference means that there remained a period where Native populations and settlers interacted and related to one another in complex ways. It is this period of interaction where there was a marked intensification of intertribal warfare. Champlain’s 70 years war beginning in 1609 is deemed the starting point of this radicalisation being the first major European conflict in the ‘New World’ where tribes were forced to wage war against other tribes.

When broken down, there are three outlying factors that contributed to a significant intensification of inter-tribal warfare; the creation of a new trade economy which led to increased intertribal competition, the embroilment of tribes in European conflicts through parasitic military alliances where the European power was the only beneficiary, and the introduction of lethal Western military technology and weaponry. Each of these factors will be discussed separately.

The passage of metal tools and other valuable European goods created an entirely new trade economy in North America. The result was bitter intertribal conflict over the monopolization of access to European trade posts. Horse trading was a major trade commodity that generated a constant state of war between the Blackfoot and Cheyenne tribes, two previously harmonious people’s. Both were major tribes in the Great Plains region and both desired the political latitude that accompanied control of a crucial commodity. The result was internecine destruction, a significantly increased propensity for violence, and the initiation of generational conflict that would last centuries. For other less established tribes, violent slave raiding became the only commodity they could barter for the weapons they needed to defend themselves, thus perpetuating a state of cyclical violence. Similarly, head shrinking, the trade of severed heads, was encouraged by the colonists with the Jivaro tribe trading with the British a singular head of their enemy for a rifle. Indiscriminate slaughter ensued. The promotion of head shrinking is an example of European colonists' divide-and-rule policy whereby they would leverage tribe to turn against tribe, thus limiting their ability to form a united opposition. This manipulation ultimately shattered a delicate inter-tribal social balance that had existed for thousands of years.

Equally contributing to the radicalisation of intertribal warfare were the various alliances colonial powers formed with tribes forcing the Native people to become entangled in millenia old European rivalries. The North-East became a regular conflict zone between the British and French settlers from 1609 onwards. Impoverished by European land acquisition, the Huron formed a trade dependence on the French and were required to follow them into conflict against the British. In response, the British recruited the Iroquois, training them in European warfare strategy that stresses casualty maximization. Consequently, the Huron and Iroquois became embroiled in intertribal conflict that lasted generations. But rather than conflict grounded in ancient pacifist traditions, it followed a Western model which focuses on mortality maximization. Due to divide-and-rule policies, the Powhatan tribe became isolated in the highly competitive Chesapeake region and allied themselves with the French out of desperation. However, they were subsequently forced into bellicose raids of other tribes to acquire slaves for the Europeans, an act that made surrounding tribes especially violent towards them.

The introduction of steel weapons, rifles and other European military armaments further acted to intensify warfare amongst Native American tribes. Prior to colonization, killing was a violent and confronting act. However, rifles and metal blades took much of the personal out of killing. With an immediate abundance of weapons designed to maximize injury, the result was an inevitable propensity to kill.

Long Term Consequences of Radicalisation
Colonization is known to have affected the Native American people in a devastating way, but the sheer scale of this devastation is grossly misunderstood. Many long term consequences can be seen as an effect of this radicalisation. The dramatically increased propensity for violent intertribal warfare saw tribes massacre each other at the behest of the colonizers. Ultimately, this caused a significant decline in the Native American population. Within a few centuries, Native tribal structures were effectively lost as most tribes disbanded. The result was the loss of culture so refined and unique, stooped in ancient customs of pacifism that would have aided in resolving today’s geopolitical crises. The Native tribes that exist today are shadows in comparison to the scope and influence of those that came before colonization.

Before the British settlers landed in North America, the Native American tribes ruled the land and fought over things like crops, territory, and blood feuds. These battles were fought with the use of weapons such as bows & arrows, spears, knives, tomahawks, and blowguns. The “civilized” world at the time was eons ahead of them in terms of technology. When the settlers landed and new innovations were introduced, it changed the way in which the natives fought. Metal swords, pikes, armor, guns, ships, and even wheeled carts were all new to the Indigenous people. While the colonists used this to wage war on them, the natives were able to adapt these creations and make them their own. As discussed, this saw battles become bloodier and mortality rates increase exponentially. This coupled with the diseases introduced into their population caused a complete collapse of their culture.

Between 1491 and 1691, the population of Indigenous Americans had decreased by 90-95 percent. As mentioned in “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond, the major causes of this were diseases brought about by British colonists, the introduction of European weapons and military alliances, and the creation of a trade economy. Unlike the Maya, Aztek, and Zapotes, no Native American tribe had a written language. That means all of their history was passed down through storytelling. With such a decline in population across all generations, the majority of Native culture, traditions, and identity have been lost in the annals of history. Thus, one of the few models for genuine inter-communal harmony, a blueprint for peaceful cooperation that facilitated thousands of years of unity, was deconstructed in a matter of generations.