Question

Critical Thinking question:

Clarks opinion towards Lakota’s people was “These are the vilest miscreants of a savage race, they must ever remain the pirates of the missouri until such measures are pursued by our government as will make them feel a dependence of its will on their supply of merchandise”
Hypothesize: Why does Clark consider the Lakota people to be “savage”? What biases may Clark possess that led to his conclusions?

Answer 1

Clark sees the Lakota people as savages not only because he considers their way of living as less developed than his own, but because the racist organization of the society was a requirement for the colonialist endeavor.

Step-by-step explanation:

Although assimilation was the official government policy, the natives never really got the promised chance to preserve their way of life as long as they could adapt to new demands. The real goal was to take the natives' lands, and that could only be accomplished by spreading paternalistic and racist ideas such as the belief that the natives were savages.