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Sara Stewart Mainwaring English 7-8, Period 6

"Why should I mourn the untimely fate of my people? [...] It is the order of nature and regret is useless. Your time of decay may be distant, but it will surely come, for even the White Man whose God walked and talked with him as friend with friend cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all". This was Chief Seattle's response when asked about his people losing their way of life. In 1870, the Civil War was over, and many American soldiers continued their expedition west. Along the way, they encountered many Native American tribes. Such was the case in Montana, where many tribes, including the Blackfeet, were settled. The Blackfeet were composed of three bands, the Kainahs, the Sik-Sikas, and the Pikuni, the latter being the focus of James Welch's novel Fools Crow. The book explains from a Pikuni's point of view the experiences of the Native Americans in dealing with the white men, or 'Napikwans' or 'seizers' in the novel. Amidst the tragedies of smallpox and the extinction of the buffalo, the Blackfeet deal with a problem which they consider the most important, being forced to give up their culture and ways of life. They are forced to adapt to a world that was once theirs, and then was taken over by the Napikwans. Meanwhile in the south, a completely opposite group of people were encountering an identical problem. The Confederates, suffering terribly from the loss of the war, were having some problems with the same soldiers, the Yankees. Similar to the Native Americans, the Confederates had a set culture and way of life, and the loss of the war, which led to the loss of money, property (mainly farms and plantations), and lives, shattered it. Despite the innumerable differences between the Blackfeet and the southerners during the aftermath of the Civil War, they both faced the same dilemma, and if the matter is more closely examined, seem to share three distinct attitudes towards invaders. The southerners in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind and the Pikuni in James Welch's Fools Crow are similar in the fact that they both have to deal with losing their culture and way of life, some with violence, some by cooperating with the soldiers, and others by peacefully resisting and refusing to accept new ways. Owl Child's gang in the north and the Ku Klux Klan in the south similarly dealt with the invading soldiers using violence. Owl Child was one of the Many Chiefs band who was feared for many people. He murdered without regret, not only Napikwans but his own people as well. “He had killed Bear Head, a great Warrior, the previous summer in an argument over a Cutthroat scalp” and also killed Four Bears because he considered him too kind to the Napikwans (Welch 59). He not only murdered the whites, but also stole from them, everything from horses to alcohol. It is also insinuated in the novel that he has raped white women. A similar "gang" was ravaging the south. The Ku Klux Klan was "[taking] the punishment of crime into their own hands at a time when the ordinary processes of law and order had been overthrown by the invaders" (Mitchell 522). They took "justice" into their own hands by seeking out Yankees and African Americans and either attempting to frighten them or assaulting or murdering them. They, like Owl Child and his gang, believed that by taking harsh action against the invaders, they could somehow restore their way of life before the war. Both groups do not see their actions as violent or wrong, but instead considered them a "tragic necessity" that was helping their people fend off the invaders (Mitchell 522). Owl Child took it as far as to look down upon the Pikuni for "letting the Napikwans steal their lands, kill off their blackhorns, [and] marry thier women" (Welch 209). However, Mitchell makes it seem so as well, while Welch puts more emphasis on the negative results of their actions. Both Owl Child's gang and the Ku Klux Klan bring the consequences of their encounters with the invaders upon not only themselves, but their own people as well. Three Bears is fearful that the consequences of the violence will lead the siezers to kill the Pikuni, and make them "be as shadows on the land" (Welch 61). This fear is legitimized by the murder of Yellow Kidney, who was killed by a white man because the Napikwan had heard of the Native American violence against whites and in turn "[wanted] to kill an Indian" (Welch 245). The gang's killings also led to the Baker Massacre, in which many innocent Pikuni were killed by siezers when they mistakenly attacked the wrong camp looking to kill Owl Child. Similarly, the Ku Klux Klan's actions were creating turmoil not only for them but their families as well. Families had to watch in fear as the Yankees "hunted down and hanged" many of the members. The Klan, just as Owl Child's gang, did not succeed against the invaders, but instead "[made] the Yankees madder and put off the day when they [would come] back" (Mitchell 696). In addition to using violence to deal with the invaders, both the Pikuni and the Confederates also tried to cooperate with them, such as Heavy Runner and Scarlett O'Hara. Heavy Runner was the cheif of the Some Pikuni and Confederates who believed in neither violence nor cooperation simply peacefully resisted while refusing to accept any new ways of life. Rides at the Door and Three Bears were the main advocates for this idea for the Pikuni. While asked for his opinion on how to deal with the Napikwans, Rides at the Door states that "[The Pikuni] must resist them, [..] but [also] give them something" (Welch 255). They know that using violence, like Owl Child and his gang, will not bring them any closer to gaining victory over the invaders, there were too many whites. Rides at the Door tells the others that "[they] must fend for [themselves], for [their] survival", and they had to keep their culture and traditions alive (Welch 177). This last becomes Fools Crows mission in life, to tell stories of who the Pikuni once were and what they did. By keeping these traditions alive, they would be able to preserve the lives they once had in some way. Similarly in the south, a band of people called the Old Guard similarly dealt with the Yankees. The Old Guard felt that "'Starving is good enough for [them]. It ought to be good enough for [other southerners]" (Mitchell 701). They had been the first to disapprove with cooperation with the Yankees. They did not use violence like the Klan, yet they did not even speak with the Yankees. The Old Guard lived the closest they could get to the way they lived before the war. However, "the Cause" which had inspired and driven the war did not die when the war ended. As the Pikuni valued their traditions, the "Lost Cause was stronger, dearer now in [the Old Guard's] hears than it had ever been at the height of glory" (Mitchell 701). Though the individuals who chose this path did not attract as much attention to themselves as others who were violent or cooperated, they were much more respected than other members of society. Three Bears, a well respected chief, and Rides at the Door, who becomes chief after the death of Three Bears, both believe deeply in this idea. So does the Old Guard, whose "quiet parlors" would have been preferred by the Yankees than anywhere else in society (Mitchell). The respectability of the people who represent this idea refect the respectability of the idea itself. Overall, the similarities between the attitudes towards invaders displayed by the Pikuni and the Confederates are overwhelming. Owl Child and the Ku Klux Klan used violence and crime against the blue coats, while Heavy Runner and Scarlett cooperated with them. Elder Pikuni and Confederates did not cooperate or resist, but simply survived the best they could and tried to carry on their traditions and way of life. Sadly, none of them really succeeded, but some ended up living better lives than others. The violence that was used on the blue coats came back onto both the Pikuni and the Confederates. Though violence seems like the answer, it only brings more sorrow and trouble, and does not solve any problems. Cooperation with the American soldiers did nothing but make the Blackfeet and Southerners poorer faster. The cooperation was also misconstrued as alliance with the siezers, and many of the people who participated were shunned by their own people. However, those who peacefully resisted and refused to lose their way of life lost less than the others. They kept their traditions alive and though they may have suffered, they suffered less, and lived a life of dignity. Chief Seattle predicted that his race will not be the last to suffer, and he is most likely right. Many races have suffered trials and tribulations, and some have endured terrible conflicts. What will happen when it is the Americans instead of the Native Americans? If American culture and traditions were in jeopardy, what would its citizens do? Would they use peace or violence? As it has been proved with both the Blackfeet and the Confederates that certain paths lead to certain consequences. It can only be hoped that Americans will make the right choice.

Works Cited Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind. New York: Macmillan, 1936. Webster's Dictionary of Quotations. New York: Smithmark, 1992. Welch, James. Fools Crow. New York: Penguin, 1986.