Momaday: Westward Expansion Of America

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To most Westward Expansion is seen as this dangerous adventure where pioneers made fascinating discoveries such as stumbling across new animals and obtaining land. Both discoveries became valuable to the American people as animals provided the high demand for animal fur and gaining land was cheaper than on the East coast. But, as more white Americans traveled West Native Americans began to lose their homes. Jefferson states "...Individuals among them will run in debt, because we observe that when these debts get beyond what the individuals can pay, they become willing to lop them off by a cession of lands" Here, the reader is able to see Jefferson values gaining land by doing mischievous acts more than respecting one's property. The belief that owning land means making profit is a constant theme throughout this era. N. Scott Momaday argues that the stories of the American West have been told through written history only from the white Americans. When Momaday said "Something is sacred by means of sacrifice; that which is sacred is earned," I think this quote represents how both Native Americans and White Americans saw land as a sacred territory but when it came to the role of who was to make sacrifice the Native Americans were the ones to reprise their role just like the Natives who lived on the East coast during the first arrival.
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