Lesson 1
LESSON 1
Native American Land Loss and Cultural Diversity
• The U.S. government relocated Native American groups after the Civil War and caused land loss.
• In 1787, trade regulation power was given to the federal government, starting a strained relationship with Native Americans.
• During the 1830s, Native Americans were forced to resettle west of the Mississippi River with the promise of permanent land.
• In the 1840s to 1860s, pressure from white settlers weakened this promise.
• Conflicts between settlers and Native Americans persisted during and after the Civil War, damaging Native American cultures.
• Most Native Americans lived in the region west of the Mississippi River called "The Great American Desert."
• Native American cultures differed in belief systems, languages, and ways of life.
• Geography influenced the cultural diversity of Native Americans.
• In the Pacific Northwest, some tribes flourished from abundant fish and forest animals.
• Hunter-gatherer bands in the south struggled with limited resources.
• Pueblo Indians in arid lands irrigated to grow crops and built adobe homes.
• Navajos were more mobile with mud homes or easily movable hogans.
• Plains Indians, including Sioux, Blackfeet, and Comanches, were nomadic buffalo hunters.
• Native American cultures shared a connection with nature, similar to some white people.
Threats to Native American Cultures in the 1800s
• The differing views of land as a resource led to conflict between Native Americans and white settlers.
• President Jackson moved the Cherokees from Georgia to the Great Plains.
• White settlers believed the Great American Desert was uninhabitable, so Native Americans were forced to move there.
• An 1834 law regulated trade relations with Indians and restricted access of white people to Indian Territory.
• Gold and silver discoveries in Indian Territory led to further restrictions on Native Americans and their territories.
• Indian peoples were placed on reservations, leading to difficulties in sustaining their previous ways of life.
• Native American civilizations were threatened by diseases introduced by white settlers and the destruction of buffalo herds.
Settlers and Native Americans Collide: Conflict and Efforts for Peace
• Industrial development and economic expansion after the Civil War lead to conflict between Native Americans and white settlers.
• Horace Greeley encouraged poor Americans to move west and claim land, ignoring the fact that Native Americans already inhabited the area.
• In 1862, the Sioux Indians attacked European-American settlements in Minnesota, resulting in the government waging war against them.
• The Sioux rebellion sparked attacks on settlements and stagecoach lines by other Plains Indians.
• The Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 led to further warfare as Plains Indians united against white settlement.
• Regiments of Union troops were sent to the West after the Civil War to bring peace to the plains, but tensions continued to escalate.
Native American Resistance and Government Policies
• In 1866, Red Cloud and his warriors ambushed and killed Captain William Fetterman and his troops, sparking public outcry and questioning the government's Indian policy.
• Reformers and humanitarians advocated for Indian education, while European-American settlers sought control over Native Americans.
• The United States Indian Peace Commission concluded that lasting peace would require Native Americans settling on farms and reservations and assimilating to the white way of life.
• Clashes between Native Americans and the U.S. government suggest the impact of westward expansion.
• The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 offered support and reservation land to the Sioux, but many Native Americans doubted the government's promises.
• The Bureau of Indian Affairs, established in 1824, aimed to handle relations between Native Americans and the government, but their plans for peace often fell short.
Tensions between settlers and Native Americans
• Chief Piapot, 1895: - Land ownership: Native Americans were forced onto small reservations. - Broken promises: Initial promises of land and resources were not kept, as they became shorter every year. - Betrayal: Only half of the promises made were fulfilled.
• Indian agents: - Unauthorized actions: Many agents in the United States misappropriated funds and resources meant for Native Americans. - Lack of support: Even well-intentioned agents lacked backing from the federal government or military, making it difficult to enforce favorable treaty terms.
• Resistance: - Living conditions: Some Native Americans refused to accept the unfavorable conditions imposed on them. - Refusal to comply: Native Americans resisted living under the oppressive conditions set by settlers.
• Overall tension: These factors contributed to the existing tensions between settlers and Native Americans.
The Indian Wars and the Plight of Native Americans
• Native Americans faced tragic conditions due to confinement, poverty, and disease.
• The government failed to fulfill promises made to Native American groups, leading to frustration and violence.
• Navajo Indians were forced to relocate to the Bosque Redondo reservation, resulting in death and starvation.
• The Long Walk forced around two-thirds of the Navajos to march 300 miles to a reservation in eastern New Mexico.
• The Plains Indians fought the Red River War to protect their buffalo hunting tradition.
• The Southern Plains Indians, including Kiowas and Comanches, surrendered after the Red River War.
• The Battle of the Little Big Horn resulted from the encroachment of prospectors onto Sioux hunting grounds.
• The lure of gold led to the defeat of Indians on the northern Plains.
The Indian Wars: Battles and Consequences
• Sitting Bull chosen as Chief of all seven Lakota tribes - Late 1860s.
• Colonel George Custer encounters Crazy Horse's group - June 1876.
• Battle of the Little Bighorn - Custer and his men killed by Indians.
• Army forces pursue Indians - Sitting Bull escapes to Canada.
• Crazy Horse and followers surrender due to weather and starvation.
• Nez Percés forced to smaller reservation - 1877.
• Chief Joseph leads refugees on a trek to Canada - Surrenders near the border.
• Indian resistance diminishes, Ghost Dance movement emerges - Late 1800s.
• Government orders arrest of Sitting Bull, resulting in his death.
• Sioux pursued and caught at Wounded Knee - Sioux badly outgunned, many die.
• Native American resistance comes to an end.
The End of Major Indian Resistance
• The Ghost Dance marked the end of major Indian resistance to white expansion and large-scale resistance to US government policies. (Note: 100 men, women, and children were involved in the Ghost Dance.)
• The Dance War at Wounded Knee also signified the conclusion of major Indian resistance. (Note: The battle at Wounded Knee resulted in the deaths of nearly all the Sioux group members depicted in the group portrait.)
• The Indian Wars concluded with the end of conflicts that saw significant Indian resistance.
Assimilation Policies and Native Americans
• The reservation policy, which confined Native Americans to designated areas, was considered a failure both socially and economically.
• Policy makers hoped that as the buffalo population declined, Native Americans would adopt white culture and assimilate into mainstream society.
• Helen Hunt Jackson and Susette La Flesche were vocal critics of the government's treatment of Native Americans, advocating for their rights and recognition.
• Congress passed a law in 1871 that treated Native Americans as individuals rather than independent nations, aiming to weaken their tribal cultures.
• The Americanization movement encouraged Native Americans to give up tribal loyalties and adopt mainstream American values.
• The Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 encouraged Native Americans to become private property owners and farmers, ending the tribal landholding system on reservations.
Americanization movement and the impact of the Dawes Act on Native Americans
• The Dawes Act aimed to promote the values of farming and individual land ownership among Native Americans.
• To protect Indian landowners from land speculators, the Dawes Act prohibited the sale or transfer of land for 25 years.
• Traditional tribal practices and Native American religions were discouraged and even outlawed under the Dawes Act.
• Boarding schools were established to assimilate Native American children into white American culture.
• Despite the courageous efforts of many Native Americans, thousands died in war or on poverty-stricken reservations, resulting in a relatively small number of survivors to carry on their legacy.