The differences are heavily overstated, primarily as a means of dismissing native people as “primitive” and necessarily subservient to the arriving colonists. The main difference with the Cherokee was simply geographic. They lived in land not heavily settled until later in the colonization process and had more time to acclimate to western legal norms. It didn’t save them, but it gave them these neat little anecdotes that we can pretend made them “some of the good ones”.
Well I hope it was clear that I wasn’t even remotely implying they/we are primitive and should be subservient. I am Cherokee, and Choctaw. My great grandmother, and great grandfather are on the final rolls of the Dawes Act.
Each tribe was/is an independent nation, with their own ideals, beliefs, social structures, etc… There’s a reason why I said “most” and not “all”.
The differences are heavily overstated, primarily as a means of dismissing native people as “primitive” and necessarily subservient to the arriving colonists. The main difference with the Cherokee was simply geographic. They lived in land not heavily settled until later in the colonization process and had more time to acclimate to western legal norms. It didn’t save them, but it gave them these neat little anecdotes that we can pretend made them “some of the good ones”.
Well I hope it was clear that I wasn’t even remotely implying they/we are primitive and should be subservient. I am Cherokee, and Choctaw. My great grandmother, and great grandfather are on the final rolls of the Dawes Act.