Vanishing Indians John Hyde suggests that the Indian population is decreasing due to the extinction of the buffalo and other major factors. However, Lewis Henry Morgan, a leading American anthropologist, claimed that the tribes and families were abused more severe in other countries such as Africa and Australia. Taking this into consideration, the life of an Indian in America compared to those in Africa, are much less barbaric displaying a more civilized side of Indians. Native Americans were not vanishing, they became less barbaric over time, which led to civilization of their tribes.
Americans during this time believed that the Indian population was diminishing. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show portrayed the Indians as warriors fighting the Americans trying to expand. This is like how the Minstrel Show portrayed Black people in the 1830s and continued on through the 20th century. The advertisement displays Indians with guns shooting at American’s who also have guns. This advertisement shows a greater number of Indians over Americans. This shows that the tribe was more barbaric than others which gave Indians a bad image. Indians were becoming more civilized and less barbaric over time. The tribes like this one portrayed, was most likely from an earlier time period. Lewis Henry Morgan published an influential theory of human development. This…show more content… This is due to the extinction of the buffalo, which forced the Indians to become more civilized over time. The buffalo extinction may have caused some tribes to die off, but the Indians were not vanishing. It looked this way because they became more civilized and took part in American activities. The population may have decreased by a small percent, but the Indians adapted to the new way of living and so it appeared as though their old barbaric culture was fading