" (Jefferson 73). The reservation systems did not allow the Indians suitable land for agriculture or hunting, which forced them into a cash economy. In contrast to the white men, Indians did not believe in possession of land. In Ceremony Tayo, the main character is merging with the earth rather than trying to own it (Silko, 202). From a time where Indians roamed the land freely to a time where they are confined to reservations that are not ideal, the Indians have been robbed. In an autobiography by Aleek-chea-ahoosh, he said, "We made our mind up to be friendly to the white men, in spite of all of the changes they were bringing. But we found this was difficult, because the white men too often promised one thing and then when they acted at all, did another" (www.iwchildren.org/plntycps.htm). Whites made several laws and expected the Indians to keep them, though the whites thought nothing of breaking these laws. Silko explains, colonization hurts the colonizers as well as the ones being colonized. Indians were taught that, "only brown-skinned people were thieves; white people didn't steal, because they always had the money to buy whatever they wanted" (Silko, 191).
Indians were denied their right to have their own religious beliefs and Indians were forced to attend schools where Christianity was forced onto them. As many whites would want a choice of religion, this choice was taken away from the Indians due to the impact of white civilization on their society (Vecsey). In schools that Indian children attended, they were taught that Christianity was the only way to believe. In Ceremony, Christianity is compared to liquor. They felt that Christianity poisoned (Silko, 150). It was taught in the reservation schools that that the white world was better than their own, and this made the children ashamed of their own culture. Just as you saw in Germany with the millions of exterminated Jews, repression was taught in public schools to be acceptable behavior (http://members.