Native American Experience Flashcards

How Did the Native American Experience Change Over Time?

• Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce fought against the loss of Native American lands.
• He refused treaties and led his people on a 1300-mile march towards Canada before surrendering.
• Chief Joseph: "Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

Westward Expansion Impact on Native Americans

• After the Civil War, settlers moving into the South and West impacted Native Americans.
• The West was seen as the final American frontier, leading to land grabs by miners, farmers, and businesses.
• The federal government made guarantees of reserved land to Native Americans, but these were often broken.
• Native Americans were forced westward, lost possessions and land, and were sometimes massacred.
• By the start of the 20th century, Native American land holdings were greatly reduced.
• Their ability to fight was diminished, and they were confined to reservations.
• Eastern Native American tribes were moved to the Great Plains, considered the "Great American Desert."
• The term "reservation" implied land reserved for Native American use, but this was often violated.
• Fur trappers, traders, and explorers continued to encroach on these lands.
• The Bureau of Indian Affairs, created in 1824, managed the reservations but failed to protect Native American interests.
• Treaties were renegotiated when settlers wanted reservation land, forcing Native Americans to move again.
• Settlers brought diseases like smallpox, leading to about 50,000 Native American deaths after gold was discovered in the West.

Life on Reservations

• Life on reservations was difficult due to displacement and placement near traditional enemies.
• Economic and social obstacles included poor farmland and lack of farming skills.
• The destruction of the Plains buffalo further complicated reservation life; the buffalo was central to Native American culture, providing food, clothing, and materials for tools and shelter.
• The buffalo population declined from approximately 65 million in 1800 to fewer than 1,000 by 1890.
• Tourists, railroad workers, fur traders, and sportsmen caused this decline.
• Military leaders like George Custer organized buffalo hunts, aware of the harm to Native Americans, sometimes encouraging destruction.
• U.S. Secretary of the Interior Delano stated, "the buffalo are disappearing rapidly, but not faster than I desire."
• Reservations also suffered from high rates of suicide, alcoholism, poverty, and illiteracy.
• Some argued for assimilation as a better alternative to the reservation system.

Federal Legislation Impact

• The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged settlers to move into tribal areas by offering 160 acres of land free to any head of household over 21.
• Ownership could be claimed after paying a small registration fee and occupying the land for five years, or the land could be bought for 1.25 per acre after six months.
• Many homesteaders began farms on over 80 million acres of land in the West.
• The Homestead Act created push-pull factors, enticing settlers westward while displacing Native Americans.
• The promise of reservations was used to move Native Americans away from land settlers wanted.
• Much of the public domain land was taken over by wealthy investors, railroads, and large businesses by the end of the 19th century.

Native American Resistance

• In the 1830s, the federal government considered the Great American Desert as one giant reservation, but specific boundaries were defined for each tribe in the 1850s.
• Native Americans often ignored these boundaries to continue hunting on traditional lands.
• Key events:
  • Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado: Cheyenne chief Black Kettle and tribesmen were killed; around 150 Native Americans died on November 29, 1864 due to Colonel John Chivington's troops attacking Native Americans at Sand Creek.
  • Battle of Little Big Horn/Custer's Last Stand, Montana: General Custer attempted to round up remaining Native Americans in the Black Hills but was met with resistance and died with his entire 7th Cavalry.
  • Battle of Wounded Knee, South Dakota: After Sitting Bull's murder, the 7th Cavalry collected the 350 remaining Sioux and took them to a camp at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. When soldiers demanded that Sioux tribesmen hand over their weapons, a shot was fired (source unknown), and by the end of the conflict, around 300 Native Americans had been killed.
• Due to the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, the Cheyenne and Arapaho signed treaties giving up claim to most of their land.
• Miscommunications at Fort Lyon and a hostile army led to the Sand Creek Massacre on November 29, 1864, resulting in over 150 Native American deaths.
• By 1874, the Black Hills of South Dakota were swarmed by miners searching for gold.
• The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho protested but received no support.
• Colonel George A. Custer and the 7th Cavalry attempted to round up the remaining Native Americans.
• The 7th Cavalry met resistance at Little Big Horn River, where Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led Native American warriors to victory, destroying Custer's troops.
• The victory at Little Big Horn was short-lived as the Sioux suffered from poverty, hunger, and disease.
• They followed Wovoka, a Paiute shaman, and his Ghost Dance religion, which promised the restoration of their lands.
• American leaders viewed the Ghost Dance Movement as rebellious, leading to the order to arrest Sitting Bull.
• Sitting Bull was killed in a firefight that started when his bodyguard fired at arresting police.
• Later that month, the remaining Sioux were taken to a camp at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
• Soldiers demanded the Sioux give up their weapons; a shot was fired, leading to the death of around 300 Native Americans.
• The Battle of Wounded Knee is considered the end of Native American resistance.

Assimilation: The Dawes Act of 1887

• Assimilation was seen as a way to deal with Native American issues: adopting the culture, language, and attitudes of the majority group.
• Congress passed the Dawes Act in 1887 to Americanize the Native American people.
• The act aimed to make independent farmers by giving them land from reservations.
• Each head of household received 160 acres, and each unmarried adult male received 80 acres.
• Any remaining land was to be sold by the federal government, with proceeds used for seed, farm machinery, and other expenses.
• Native Americans received little to no money from the sale of excess lands.
• Speculators bought land for low prices from desperate Native Americans.
• Some Native Americans refused to sign up for individual plots, believing the land should be owned by the tribe as a whole.
• Those who didn't register forfeited their rights to land and payment.
• The Dawes Act stripped the tribes of most of their land and destroyed the reservation system within 20 years.

Assimilation: Education of Native Americans

• Indian Commissioner Thomas Morgan said, "It's cheaper to educate Indians than to kill them."
• From the 1880s to the 1920s, Native American children were removed from their families and enrolled in government-run schools to immerse them in dominant culture, away from native aspects such as tribes, land, and language.
• Captain Richard Henry Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, sought to "kill the Indian and save the man" by transforming Native American children.
• At Carlisle, students had to cut their hair, change their names to American names, and dress in American clothing.
• Boarding schools combined vocational training with academics.
• Girls learned laundry, cooking, cleaning, and sewing, while boys learned carpentry, blacksmithing, and shop-keeping.
• Christian missionaries opened schools that focused on religious training as well as academics, discouraging tribal beliefs.
• Native Americans were pressured to leave their culture behind and adopt the ideas of the dominant culture in many ways.
• Even with assimilation, they were not guaranteed a safe and peaceful life.