NATIVE AMERICANS 1865-1890

what were the two white American attitudes towards NA?

Contempt and hatred towards all Native Americans
OR
Believed it was their divine duty to install Christian values and bring 'civilisation' towards NA (white saviours)

How was acreage in Mississippi impacted between 1870 and 1900?

Acreage for farming tripled

How was the Western population impacted between 1880 and 1900?

Western population increased at a faster rate than the nation as a whole

How many buffalo did 'Buffalo Bill' (William Cody) kill between 1867-8 and why?

43,000 to feed the construction crew for the Union Pacific Railroad

How many buffalo were killed between 1872 -75 and what was the impact of this?

9 million killed —\> ruined the NA way of life

How many western reservations by 1860? Why were they established?

8 reservations —\> aimed to concentrate and control the NA population

When did Congress send a Peace Commission to the Reservations? Why were they sent? What were their findings?

Sent in 1867 to end massacres and conflicts between local militias and NA. Commission set aside 2 large reservations North of Nebraska and South of Dakota
Threat of force for NA who refused to 'locate in permanent abodes provided for them'

When and what was the Fort Laramie Treaty?

1868-\> signed by representatives of nearly 54,000 North Plains NAs and agreed to move to the reservations set out by the Commission

What did Lieutenant General Armstrong Custer do in 1868?

Struck a sleeping Cheyenne Village that refused to cooperate with Fort Laramie Treaty and move to reservations
100+ warriors killed and 53 women and children taken prisoner

When did Congress establish the Board of Indian Commissioners? Why?

Christian reformers pushed for it —\> est. in 1869

What did the Board of Indian Commissioners aim to do? When was it abolished?

Aimed to try and reform Native Americans with Protestant ministers being appointed as Indian Commissioners
Ineffective and abolished in 18seventy1
Treaty replaced with executive orders and acts of Congress

When was the Women's National Indian Rights Association set up?

1883

What was the title of Helen Hunt Jackson's novel? What did it achieve?

'A Century of Dishonour' 1881
Rallied public opinion against government's record of broken treaty promises to Native Americans

What was the aim of the Indian Boarding schools? How effective were they?

schools aimed to erase NA culture and language and instead replace with white Christian values
Instead —\> NA children from different tribes mixed together and forged their own Native American identity

What and when was the Dawes Act?

1887
Designed to turn NA into landowners and farmers to help them integrate into 'mainstream society'
Called for 160 acres of reservation land for farming and 320 acres for grazing to be granted to the head of every NA family that accepted the law's provisions

Why was the Dawes Act ineffective?

Did not appoint a timetable for break up of reservation land —\> few allotments made until 1890s
Best and richest land went to speculators
Much of the land left for NA was unsuitable for farming

How was NA land affected by the Dawes Act?

By 1934, 65% of NA acreage slashed

Why did the Sioux tribes decline in the 1880s? What did thus lead to?

federal government reduced meat rations and placed hunting restrictions
disease killed 1/3 of their cattle
Revival of the 'Ghost Dance' custom —\> believed it would protect them from harm but viewed with horror by white Christians

How many were killed at the Massacre of Wounded Knee? When was it?

300 killed within minutes in 1890

What and when was 'Custer's Last Stand'?

Since 1873, Sioux able to remain on their traditional land and known for raiding non-native settlements in Nebraska and Wyoming and intimidating federal agents, construction workers etc. that ventured into their area
In 18seventy6 Federal gov sent in Lieutenant Colonel Custer with 600 troops into Sioux land
Beaten and outnumbered by Sioux —\> public felt federal policies towards Sioux not harsh enough

What did the Sioux tribe do to settlers in Minnesota in 1862? How did federal troops respons?

Sioux tribe killed 500 settlers
Retribution —\> 300 NA publicly hanged

What happened to the NA population by 1900?

Decreased from a 1/4 of a million to just over 100,000

How did the Navajo flourish by 1900?

Navajo tripled their reservation land and increased their cattle and population by 1900
Able to carve their own identity in Arizona and New Mexico