The History of the USA. Учебное пособие для студентов исторического факультета

discovery of America, many people celebrate the traditions and cultures of the

Native American tribes that really discovered the land.

2. Test yourself.

1.What is a group of Native Americans called?

2.In which region did the Native Americans hunt the buffalo for food?

3.Were the Native Americans in the desert peaceful or did they like to fight?

4.Was life good for the Native Americans after the Europeans came?

3. Translate in written form. Make up the plan.

THE LONG ROAD OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS

Native Americans' struggle against an Invading society began five hundred years ago.

The stories of two American peoples, the Sioux and the Navaho, show how it continues to this day.

North American history from a Native American Indian point of view makes sad and terrifying reading. From the beginning of European colonization in the seventeenth century, the native peoples were pushed out of their homelands. They tried to live with the settlers in peace, but the agreements that were made were always broken. The whites hardly seemed to see them as human beings. The Indians only fought as a last resort, but even if they won a few battles, they could not possibly win the war.

By the 1890s all the tribes had been pushed into reservations, while the European settlers had the freedom of the huge continent that had once been the Indians'. Even the land that was left to them was usually poor, because the good land was given to white farmers.

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But the Indians' first wars with European society were only the beginning of a long fight for their whole culture and identity.

The Sioux were once the masters of the vast plains* between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. Their way of life was what we always imagine when we think of the traditional Indian ways, hunting the buffalo over huge areas. Their buffalo-hide tents, or tepees, were designed to be put up or taken down quickly, so that the tribe could move after the herds. They were great warriors and even chased the whites out of part of their land for a while. But even they were defeated in the end.

By the 1880s, most of the once-proud Sioux were confined to reservations. Even their most sacred land, the Black Hills, was taken from them. It was realized the hills contained gold, so the government pressured them to sell them. Years later, the great holy man Black Elk spoke of the end: “The nation's hoop is broken and scattered,” he said. “There is no centre any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.”

The Navaho did slightly better than the Sioux and other Indian nations. The United States began to try to round them up in the 1860s in their territories in Arizona and New Mexico. The Navaho were farmers and sheep-herders. But raiding had always been a normal part of their way of life. Everyone, other tribes of Indians as well as the local Mexican herders, took livestock and had theirs taken in return. When the US army moved into the area, it promised to protect the Mexicans against the Indians.

A reservation was organized, and the Navaho were told all their males would be kilted unless the people agreed to come in. There was a long war, but eventually most of the Navaho surrendered, taking part in what they still call their 'Long Walk'. In a very bad winter they had to travel a long way to the reservation, which was outside their own lands. Many died on the way, and when they got there they found that the land was too poor to be cultivated. More people died from disease and malnutrition in the crowded conditions, and many risked their lives to escape.

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Eventually, the government realized it would never be able to keep the Navaho peacefully in such a place. So they were allowed to go back to their homelands, which were made into a new reservation. Much of the best land was kept for white settlers. But at least they held onto large parts of their own country, and could return to their traditional way of life.

Once they had control of all the Indians, the government's policy was to 'civilize' them and bring them into line with the rest of American society, the practice of tribal culture and religion was outlawed. Children were taken away to special boarding schools, often hundreds of kilometres from home, where they were taught that their parents' culture was bad and beaten for speaking their own language. As a result whole generations of Indians grew up with no confidence in their own culture, and no place in white society. The result was depression, alcoholism, self-destructive violence and suicide.

But Indians never quite gave up their struggle. Since the mid-thirties they have had the right of limited self-government, and they have tried more and more to take control of their own fate. Sometimes they have succeeded, seemingly against the odds.

The Sioux have been asking for the return of the Black Hills. In 1980, after more than fifty years of court action, it was decided that the United States had taken them illegally. The Sioux were offered $105 million in compensation, but refused to take it. They want their sacred territory back. The movement to regain the Black Hills is focusing the energies of the people, and many believe that it can rebuild the Sioux as a nation.

The Navaho have declared their reservation independent. By encouraging tourism, building an industry of native crafts, and, above all, making sure they are paid for any minerals that leave their land, the Navaho are building their own economy as well as their independence and self-respect. They have taken control of

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their children's education to make sure they are taught all the ancient stories and traditions so that the people's identity is never forgotten.

Meanwhile there are still great problems. Young Indians are torn between their own traditions and the attractions of modem American society. While Navaho elders call them to remember the old farming ways of life many young Navaho would rather take government handouts to spend on motorbikes, beer and electric guitars.

But the Indians' identity survives. Five hundred years ago the Europeans began to dominate and push aside their cultures. But the Native Americans have lived through it all. Perhaps one day their long road down what they call their 'trail of tears', will turn upwards again.

WORDS

they never kept but one - they only kept one; settlers - people who came to live on their land; as a last resort - when there was no other choice; tribes - groups; plains - flat lands; herds - large groups (of grass-eating animals); warriors - fighters; sacred - religiously important; holy - religiously respected; hoop - circle; round (them) up - collect (them); sheep-herders - sheep owners; livestock - animals; outlawed - made illegal; boarding schools - schools where pupils live; struggle - fight; fate - future; seemingly against the odds - when they seem to have little chance; court action - legal action; handouts -free money;

4. Write down the transcription of the words:

5. Give synonyms:

-to risk to escape

-to be kept by smb

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-to civilize smb

-ancient story

-to live through

-peoples.

6. Give definitions:

-settlers

-tribes

-holy

-warriors

-boarding school

-handouts.

7. Choose the best answers to the questions, and the best ending to the

unfinished statements below:

1 From the beginning of the seventeenth century

(a)American Indians were pushed out of their territories by the Europeans

(b)the Europeans were pushed out of their territories by American Indians

(c)the American Indians were pushed out by something other than the Europeans

(d)new Europeans pushed the first European colonists out

2 The Indians

(a)loved fighting the Europeans

(b)didn't want to fight them but sometimes did because they had to

(c)never fought the Europeans

(d)fought everyone except the Europeans

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3 Red Cloud

(a)thought the Europeans had been very fair to the Indians and kept all their

promises

(b)thought they hadn't kept any

(c)thought they had broken all their promises except the one which most^ damaged the Indians

(d)thought it was very good of the Europeans to take the Indians' land

4 What happened to the Indians from the 1890s onwards?

(a)They continued to fight wars with the Europeans

(b)They were not actually fighting, but they were struggling to protect their culture against white society

(b)They felt they had won their wars against the whites and settled down in

peace

(c)They fought secretly against the whites

5 What does the article say about the Sioux's way of life?

(a) The buffalo-hunting way of life we imagine is not the way they actually

lived

(b)The Sioux lived the way we always imagine Indians lived

(c)Instead of living the traditional Indian way of life, they hunted buffalo

(d)The Sioux were the only Indians who hunted buffalo

6 The Navaho

(a)lived entirely by stealing other people's sheep

(b)never raided anyone

(c)regarded raiding as part of their lives

(d)only raided the Mexicans

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7 The” long Walk” was what the Navaho called

(a)their terrible journey to their first reservation

(b)their war against the whites

(c)winter

(d)a special ceremony

8 The article says the Navaho “did slightly better than the Sioux”. What does

this mean?

(a)They were more successful in battle

(b)In the end, their treatment by the whites was better because they kept a larger area of their own land

(c)They didn't have any wars with the whites

(d)The United States tried to round them up, but couldn't

9 Why are the Sioux asking for the return of the Black Hills?

(a)Because there's gold in them

(b)Because they are sacred tribal lands

(c)Because they think they can get more than $105 million for them

(d)Because the United States took them illegally in 1980

10 The article concludes that

(a)the Indians have solved all their problems

(b)they have started to attend to their problems but have a long way to go to solve them all

(c)they've given up trying to help themselves

(d)their problems are getting worse and worse

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8. What do you know about Indian's culture? Have you read something

about it? Read the text and express your impression.

A NAVAHO STORY

In Navaho mythology, there are two kinds of people in the universe: the Holy People and the Earth Surface People, or ordinary humans. The Holy People are mysterious, supernatural beings who have great powers to help or harm Earth Surface People. They are certainly not infallible and not completely moral, and can be a great danger to humans. At first they lived beneath the earth's surface, but eventually came above ground, where they created human beings. The Holy People taught humans the techniques that were necessary for living in this world.

This is one of the stories of the Holy People.

WORDS

harm - hurt; infallible - unable to make mistakes; moral -good; fed up - bored, irritated; get rid of him - be free of him; turn out – finish.

THE FIRST DOG

The Holy People were the first people on earth to have a dog. But they began to dislike him because he had a habit of barking, especially early in the morning. When they got really fed up with him, they decided it would be best to kill him and get rid of him forever.

But First Dog heard what they were saying and decided to save his life by not barking any more.

So when, the next morning, he saw another group of Holy People approaching the camp he did not bark, because he was afraid his masters would kill him.

But the Holy People, his masters, were very angry.

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'Why didn't you bark and warn us these strangers were coming?' they asked the dog. ‘Why did you stay silent?'

'You said you were going to kill me because of my barking,' said the dog. 'So I stopped it. You can still kill me if you like, but remember that I can sense everything - from east, south, west and north. I can tell when anything is coming, and warn you about the things you're afraid of. Do what you like, but see how things turn out for you in the end.'

The Holy People talked with each other for a while, then they said: 'Let's keep the dog for our pet. It's true he can help us protect ourselves against dangerous things.'

After this decision people always kept dogs as pets, because they were useful to them. Now, because of the Holy People, we all know we should treat these clever animals kindly: they are loyal and helpful, and protect us day and night.

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UNIT 3

1. Make up your own word list and translate the text.

THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

The King of England made life difficult for his colonists with many taxes and laws. But one, the Tea Act, was especially bad for the colonists. All companies had to pay a tax for their tea. One company in Great Britain didn't have to pay this tax. The company was allowed to sell tea cheaper than any company in the colonies. The colonial tea merchants were very angry, and merchants for other goods worried that the King would give other British companies the same advantage.

One night in Boston Harbor a group of men dressed like Native Americans boarded ships from England carrying the cheaper tea. They dumped the tea into the harbor. Perhaps they should have thrown in muffins, so the fish could have something with their tea.

When the King heard about the Boston Tea Party, he was so angry he sent many warships to Boston. The warships formed a blockade around the harbor. No ships could come in or go out until the tea was paid for. The tea party and the blockade led to the Revolutionary War with England.

2. Test yourself.

1.With what did the King of England make life difficult for his colonists?

2.Why was the Tea Act especially bad?

3.How were the merchants dressed?

4.What did they do with the tea?

5.What did the King send to America?

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