native americans

When were the Plains Wars?

1862-7

Tribes in the 1800’s

• 86

• Vast majority were nomadic + following roaming buffalo herds to survive

European Settlement

• caused gradual erosion of NA’s traditional culture + lifestyle (communal living, tribal chiefs, herbal remedies + polygamy)

• greatest number of NA inhabited to Great Plains

Manifest Destiny

Westward expansion + completion of the railroad in 1869 = increased number of white settlers

Homestead Act

1862 - encouraged more movement to West → 160 acres of land was given to farmers for free for 5 years → 1868 = 20,000 homesteaders had settled on the Plains

When was the Battle of Little Bighorn?

1876

Battle of Little Bighorn

1876 - result of some Lakota + Cheyenne refusing to return to their reservation → force of 200 men + Custer killed

Life on Reservations

• death by measles

• whiskey addiction

• by 1900 only 100,000 of the original 240,000 NA from 1860 remained

• considered ‘wards of the state’ (not taxpayers)

• however, Navajo tribe → adapted to new farming practices, built up flocks of sheep + goats + increased from 8000 (1868) to 22,000 (1900)

Education on reservations

• part of ‘Americanisation’ → Hampton + Carlisle = off-reservation boarding schools + centres for vocational training

When was the Dawes Severalty Act?

1887

Dawes Severalty Act

1887:

• turned NA into landowners + gave full rights of citizenship on land divided into allotments/plots

• NA had to now pay tax

• ignored belief that land belonged to all creatures + couldn’t be owned by individuals

• decline in land held by NA (sold to white settler-colonists when NA were unable to farm it)

Massacre @ Wounded Knee

1890 - army killed 200 unarmed Sioux who left their reservation

When was Cherokee Nation v Hitchcock?

1902

Cherokee Nation v Hitchcock

1902 - challenged Congress’ right to deny them their right to live according to their laws

When was Lone Wolf v Hitchcock?

1903

Lone Wolf v Hitchcock

1903 - gave government the right to revoke all treaties w/ NA → “ignorant + dependent race” “wards of the state”; weren’t citizens + had no rights

= 90% allocated land lost + NA could appeal ONLY to Congress over land disputes (continued w/ SC. of 1913)

1924 Citizenship

• should’ve ensured extension of franchise for NA, but Western state SCs refused this

• gave NA the right to vote but was a shrewd policy of assimilation

• 2/3 could already vote (Dawes Act)

When was the National Congress of American Indians founded?

1944

When was the SC decision which meant that in 1921 the Pueblo Indians lost much of their land? (seen as incapable of managing it)

1913

When was the Meriam Report?

1928

Meriam Report

1928:

• condemned allotments + acknowledged terrible conditions

• Hoover supported + appointed Indian Commissioner Rhoads to implement suggested changes = boarding schools closed, reservation schools improved + medical facilities improved but nothing done to stop allotted land + 1929 economic depression stopped further reforms 😕

When was the Indian Reorganisation/Wheeler-Howard Act?

1934

Indian Reorganisation/Wheeler-Howard Act

1934:

• right to practice their religion

• right to undertake ceremonial dances + celebrations (reversed law of 1883)

• ability to prevent sale of NA lands to individual buyers

• extension of political rights to women

• ended allotments

• agencies of the New Deal built schools + hospitals

• however, it didn’t end assimilation ☹

Indian Claims Commission

• established 1946 → allowed NA to regain lands taken in previous treaties - 370 claims filed very quickly

• slow to act + often just gave compensation

• initially set up for 5 years, but had so many claims it closed 1978

• still a form of assimilation 😡

When was Termination?

1953 onwards

Termination

1953:

• NA would now be treated as self-supporting + lose any special protection as ‘wards’ of the government/state

• planned to end the reservation system + encouraged them to move to cities = policy of “urbanisation” to speed up the policy of assimilation

• more AGGRESSIVE approach 👿

% of poor NA in 1960

25%

When was the National Indian Youth Council established?

1961

National Indian Youth Council/NIYC

1961:

• established to protect NA fishing rights in the northwest

• took on lawsuits to protect treaty rights, voting rights + religious freedom

• 1964 = 100’s of NA assembled in Washington for protest/recognition as part of Johnson’s “War on Poverty”

• demonstration @ BIA, Denver, 1970

• youth believed progress in obtaining rights was too slow -.-

Red Power

60’s - sought to restore their ‘native sovereignty’ that had been removed by US colonists

AIM/American Indian Movement

1968 group - more militant approach

Siege of Alcatraz

1969

Actions of Nixon

• July 1970 = speech criticising treatment of NA, especially termination

• launched a reform programme + SC upheld all measures in 1974

When was the Native American Rights Fund established?

1970

Native American Rights Fund/NARF

1970:

established to defend rights:

• restoring lost tribal lands

• right to vote + worship freely

• reinstating terminated tribes

Trained legal specialists w/ interest in NA issues + were responsible for most of the cases that went before the SC

Occupation of Mount Rushmore

1971

AIM take over BIA, Washington DC.

1972

When was the Indian Education Act?

1972

Indian Education Act

1972 = increased amount of money available for NA schools, even on reservations 😄

Occupation of Wounded Knee

1973

Oneida v Oneida + Madison Counties v NY

‘74 = sued for return of their lands = SC ruled in favour → increase in actions taken by tribes to regain lands

Pine Ridge Reservation

1975

When was the Indian Self-Determination Act?

1975

Indian Self-Determination Act

1975 = federal funding for tribes taking responsibility for education, health + social service provision

When was the Indian Education Assistance Act?

1975

Indian Education Assistance Act

1975 = allowed NA to have greater involvement in their children’s education process → self-sufficiency!

Fisher v Montana

‘76 = tribal courts would decide on adoption = recognition of tribal courts

When was the Native American Religious Freedom Act?

1978

Native American Religious Freedom Act

1978 = gave NA the right to follow their traditional religion + use sacred objects/rituals

When was the Indian Child Welfare Act?

1978

Indian Child Welfare Act

1978 = attempted to regulate the forced removal of NA children from their families

US v Sioux Nation

‘80 = compensation for loss of NA lands = Lakota awarded $17.5 million + 5% interest since 1877 = + $106 million (rejected)

Seminole v Butterworth

‘82 = right to establish gambling enterprises on tribal land = against state law but gave NA their own rights on their own land

Charrier v Bell

‘86 = remains dug from burial lands in Louisiana belonged to the NA = states passed laws which protected NA burial lands