Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism and death.

Cultural assimilation is the process of a minority group adopting the cultural practices, beliefs, and values of the majority group. Cultural assimilation can either occur naturally, as minority groups are immersed in the majority culture, or the government can forcibly compel minorities to give up their own culture and assimilate.

Genízaro refers to Indigenous Americans who were captured and enslaved by Spanish conquistadors from the 17th to the 19th century. Once slavery was abolished and the genízaro were freed, they generally settled on the outskirts of Spanish settlements, adopted Spanish names, and slowly forgot their Indigenous roots.

The Ghost Dance was a spiritual and political movement that arose in the late 19th century among various Indigenous tribes. The movement, founded by the Paiute prophet Wovoka, promised that practicing the Ghost Dance would bring about the return of ancestors, restore traditional ways of life, and remove white settlers from Indigenous lands. The US government viewed the movement as a threat, leading to violent suppression, including the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.