Challenges of Native American history

The history of the Native Americans has interested both Indians and non-Indians. The Native American history is available from the colonial times until the end of the 20th century; however, there are many deficiencies and limitations. For example, most of the writers in the 19th century narrate the history of the country from a White
man perspective. The history often celebrates Americas winning of the west and it deems it a good thing the American civilization spread throughout the entire continent overdoing the less developed savage native inhabitants. Significant challenges to understanding the native Americans history is the lack of written records in their culture. Initially, the Native Americans were pre-literate. They transmitted memories of the past orally through stories. During the colonial period, the native communities faced famine, wars, and diseases resulting in the death of many members of the community and with them their history.
During the contact and post-contact eras, most of the people who documented the lives and culture of the Native Americans were traders, missionaries, scientists, and government officials of European decent. The Indians were the subject in the writings but the perspectives were non-Indian. The right perspective is important to understanding history in the right context. History never changes but the way people interpret the past events changes. Different perspectives emphasize and downplay different issues. The value assigned to each element differs with the perspective. The European perspective does not portray the actual history of the Native Americans because it contains the personal and cultural biases of the non-Indian writers. Such simplified stereotypes severely limit the understanding of Indian history.
Attempts to address biases resulting from the European foreign perspective of recording Indian history have resulted in serious flaws. Some observers have exaggerated the Indian impact proposing that what is American is simply Indian. Others propose that Americans are simply Europeans with Indian souls. Less sweeping approaches are equally unproductive save for one when used appropriately.  These approaches include the heroes approach, which focuses on the devious side of treaty making. The who is more civilized approach, which focuses on the barbarities committed by the Whites against the Indians. The ‘cultural theft approach, which focuses on social changes and how they destroy the Indian culture. the contributions approach, which outlines and discusses in details the long list of contributions the Native Americans made to the American way of life. the first two have the theme of Indian heroism and resistance. The third has the theme of Indian victimization. The contribution approach enables historians define the role of the Indians in American history.
Challenges in the contribution approach
The contribution approach has a relative disregard for chronology. The focus is the modern legacy of the Indian culture, ignoring the specific time the Whites borrowed or adapted a certain cultural element. The lack of chronology makes the history imprecise and prevents the determination of the causation with certainty. This makes it hard to measure the impact of the adaptive changes as they occurred and as they continue to reverberate. The contribution approach also focuses on the material culture, which includes names of places, things, and objects. This neglects how the Indians used the objects and perceived them. It also neglects how the Whites adapted the use of the objects and specific elements in the culture.