Beginning in the Jacksonian Era , many Americans subscribed to the belief that American Indians were " vanishing " . Despite the fact that governmental actions , including the forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia via the Trail of Tears , had much to do with the declining population of American Indians in the Eastern United States , leading American thinkers shifted the causes of “ disappearance ” to the Indians ’ own destiny to give way to whites . In addition to the belief that American Indians would physically vanish due to forced migration , disease , and war , Americans also held the belief that Indians would " culturally " vanish through contact with whites and forced assimilation . Because of this belief , Euro-Americans took on the responsibility of externally preserving the cultural memory and traditions of American Indians , particularly through collecting tribal objects
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Salvage anthropology