ABSTRACT
As the previous chapters have shown, both Lenape and Yoeme survived the trauma of removal against all odds as in both cases they were faced with a much more powerful encapsulating nation state. While neither the United States nor Mexico were technically new states at the crucial time of the Natives’ removals, they both were involved in a phase of nation (re)building. Mexico under Díaz attempted to achieve its proclaimed goal of modernization and the United States of the Reconstruction had to cope with the legacy of the Civil War. Their attitudes and policies determined how much room to maneuver the Natives had in shaping their responses to removal and thus ultimately affected the form the Indians’ fight for their tribal identity could take.
