1. Discrimination Faced by Native Americans

2. Native Americans and the Colonist
Native Americans did help the American colonists in the beginning- land, agricultural advice, and trade
Native Americans killed by European diseases (95%)
Many Native Americans were enslaved by colonists
Wars broke out over land which resulted in the massacre of Native men, women, and children

3. Indian Removal Act Passed by Congress in 1830
Under the law, the federal government provided funds to negotiate treaties that forced Native Americans to move further west.

4. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state of Georgia could not regulate the Cherokee Nation or invade their lands
President Andrew Jackson refused to follow the Court’s decision
“They made their ruling, now let them enforce it”

5. Trail of Tears Removal of 20,000 Cherokee at gun point by U.S. troops
800 mile journey on foot throughout the winter
Moved to inferior land
Trail of Tears

6. Suffering Along the Trail
“The sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire. And I have known as many as twenty-two of them to die in one night of pneumonia due to ill treatment, cold, and exposure”- Private John Burnett

7. Loss of Land
To open more land for white settlers, the U.S. government began to sign treaties with Native American tribes
Treaties created reservations for the Native Americans
Reservations = poor quality land

8. Dakota Sioux Reservation
The Dakota people were forced to relocate to barren land in Minnesota
In exchange, they were to be given annuities by the US government
By 1862 most lived in poverty, facing starvation
When Chief Little Crow asked the local traders to provide food on credit he was told “If they are hungry, let them eat grass or their own dung”

9. Uprising Begins
Although Chief Little Crow was reluctant to start a war, an uprising began
Targeted mainly civilian populations
Goal= drive out white settlers from Minnesota
Hundreds of settlers murdered

10. Dakota Executed The US troops were able to defeat the Dakota
307 Dakota were sentenced to death
Lincoln reduced the number sentenced to 38

11. Sand Creek Reservation
The Cheyenne had been forced onto the Sand Creek Reserve (1864)
Barren, no means to hunt or farm
Began to raid nearby lands and hunt off of the reservation land
Governor told the Cheyenne to either head back to the reservation or he would order his militia to strike
Cheyenne headed back to the reservation, flying both an American flag and a white flag, symbolizing their desire for peace

13. US Military Reacts
“I want no peace till the Indians suffer more” – Colonel John Chivington
At dawn, Chivington and his troops attacked the 500 sleeping Cheyenne
By the end, over 200 women, children, and men had been killed, their bodies mutilated

14. Buffalo Native Americans depended on the buffalo for survival
Used almost every part of the buffalo for everyday life
Could not hunt for buffalo on the reservations
White settlers hunted the buffalo in excess, destroying the Native American way of life

15. Ghost Dance
Native tribal ritual which they believed would restore their lands, return the buffalo, and make the whites disappear
Rapidly spread among the 25,000 Sioux on reservation
Made illegal by the local authorities

16. Wounded Knee
In 1890, 40 Indian policemen were sent to arrest Sitting Bull
Chief who started the Ghost Dance
The arrest led to a shoot out
Both Sioux and the police grabbed their rifles and began firing
350 Sioux were then rounded up and led to Wounded Knee Creek
Ordered to give up their weapons, but one resisted
Soldiers fired at the Sioux
The Last of the Sioux

17. Massacre
Within minutes, 300 unarmed Natives, including children were shot and left for dead in the snow

18. End of the Native American Wars
After the Battle/Massacre at Wounded Knee, the series of Indian Wars ended

19. Assimilation
After the end of the Native Wars, the US Government attempted a new policy- assimilation
Dawest Act- broke up reservations into farm land
Wanted to get Native Americans to own property and farm
Sold parts of the reservations to white farmers

20. Carlisle Boarding Schools
US Government established boarding schools, or Carlisle Schools
Native American children were sent to the schools
Purpose was to “Americanize” or “civilize” Native Americans
Native Americans were expected to learn the culture and customs of white Americans
Into the West

21. “Kill the Indian and Save the Man”