Native Americans Confront the United States

Early 19th century: Westward settlement increased.
1820s-30s: Federal government established reservations for eastern tribes.
- Purpose: Land for white settlers, control natives, assimilate natives.
Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creeks, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole) faced removal.
The Trail of Tears (1830s).

1840s: White settlers encountered Great Plains tribes (Sioux, Cheyennes, etc.).
Plains tribes: Nomadic, dependent on open land for buffalo hunting.
White settlement disrupted native life: hunting, agriculture, and cattle raising.
Buffalo population drastically declined between 1840s-1880s.
- From 25-30 millions in the 16th century to barely 100 in the late 1880s.
Shrinking resources led to conflicts among tribes and with the U.S. government.
Warfare ensued, impacting food, autonomy, and spiritual life of natives.
Fort Laramie Council (1851): Tribes ceded land for compensation and fixed boundaries.
Homestead Act of 1862: 160 acres for settlers, impacting native lands.
Transcontinental railway (1869) crossed native lands.
Wars erupted due to settler encroachment; U.S. Army retaliated.

Late 1800s: Policies aimed to assimilate natives.
- Denied native leader authority, banned religious ceremonies.
Dawes Act (1887):
- Sought to break up reservations by granting land to individual Indians.
- Aimed to destroy communal norms and promote Americanization.
- Led to natives losing land (60% in 20 years).
Residential/boarding schools: forced assimilation of Indian children; harsh treatment.
Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879-1923): Model for similar schools.
- Richard H. Pratt: "Kill the Indian in him, and save the man."

Wounded Knee (1890): Symbolic defeat of the Sioux (Lakota).
Ghost Dance movement: Religious expression of despair and resentment.
Massacre at Wounded Knee: Army killed approximately 200 Miniconjou Lakota Sioux.