Assimilation or Resistance?

I believe that resistance would be the best option for the Indians/Native Americans. A political point for resistance has to do with their land, assimilation won't save it. The Cherokee are a prime example, they assimilated to a large measure, and eventually even crafted their own constitution based on that of the United States, unfortunately, they were forcefully dispossessed shortly after. A social reason for resistance is the culture of the tribes being retained, assimilating basically meant totally giving up all of the culture of you tribe that had been with them for hundreds of years. Losing the culture to these tribes is like losing their identity and who they are, seeing as culture was so important to Native Americans. An economical point for resistance also has to do with land, if you resist, then you can retain your land and at least attempt to guard it further. They would have likely had to deal with more assaults by the U.S. but with the land, they could have retained something that could give them an advantage in resisting, plus you can retain valuable resources to your people.

Assimilation on the other hand would be the worst option for the Indians/Native Americans. A political point for this is by assimilating, you are kind of succeeding to the U.S. and doing what they want you to do. Yes, you're surviving, but you are in a way playing their game, not making them play yours, and that puts them into a position to be able to take advantage of you. A social point for this is the exact opposite of the positive point for resistance, it's the loss of your culture. Assimilating meant giving up your culture, and one would think that that would be a gigantic thing to give up for these tribes, by assimilating, they were essentially giving up who they'd been as a tribe and individuals for hundreds of years. An economic point for this is that assimilating didn't really save your land, people like the Cherokee assimilated to a great extent, but sadly, were still dispossessed. It also meant having to adjust to the different ways of life, like farming instead of hunting and gathering.

My final thoughts on the reasons for why resistance would be a better option for Native Americans than assimilation is that these tribes were fighting a losing battle in the fight to keep their land, so assimilating to keep your tribe alive means giving up your culture and your way of life just so your tribe moves on, and you still lose your land. I would rather go down fighting and retaining who I am and who my tribe is than assimilate and lose everything that you once were as a tribe and a person.