Westward Expansion 5-2.4 Explain the social and economic effects of westward expansion on Native Americans; including opposing views on land ownership, native American displacement, the impact of the railroad on the culture of the plains Indians, armed conflict, and changes in federal policy

Native Americans At first, many Native American welcomed and cooperated with explores of the West. However, federal policy changed in the post-Civil War period as a result of the transcontinental railroad, the discovery of rich mineral deposits on some reservations, and continued movement west of white settlers.

Native Americans The destruction of the buffalo by sharpshooters, hired by the railroad companies, undermined the culture of the Plains Indians. In the second half of the 1800’s, farmers and miners claimed the land that the Native Americans believed to be theirs.

Native Americans Pushed onto smaller and smaller reservation, some tribes went to war against the settlers and the soldiers who supported them. The Indian Wars were marked by massacres by white soldiers of Native American women and children such as the Sand Creek Massacre. After silver was discovered in the Black Hills, the Native Americans who lived there were driven out.

Indian Policies Indian policy from the colonial times through the mid 19th century was to drive Native Americans inward as whites moved westward. The removal policy pushed Native Americans across the Mississippi River to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in the 1830s during the Trail of Tears.

Native American Tribes Effected by Westward Expansion Plains Indians: distruction of buffalo by sharpshooters hired by the railroad undermined their culture. Sand Creek Indians: pushed onto smaller and smaller reservations, they went to war against the settlers and soliders causing the Sand Creek Massacre in which women and children were slaughtered.

Native American Tribes Effected by Westward Expansion Lakota Sioux led by Sitting Bull: gold was found in the Black Hills on their reservation. They were forced off their reservation against their will. Battle of Little Big Horn: (Custard’s Last Stand) was between the Sioux Indians and the US army that crushed their resistance in that area.

Native American Tribes Effected by Westward Expansion Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce: The Native American tribe call the Nez Perce in Oregon fled to Canada rather than be moved off their traditional lands to Idaho in order to make way for the white settlers. However, they were surrounded by the US army. When they promised to be allowed to return to Oregon, they surrendered. This promise was NOT kept and the tribe was taken to a reservation in Oklahoma.

Native American Tribes Effected by Westward Expansion Apache Indians led by Geronimo: attempted to resist, but their leader was eventually captured and returned to a reservation.

The Wars Come to an End Some Native Americans escaped the reservations and attempted to restore their old way of life but they were surrounded by the army at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Battle at Wounded Knee: US soldiers massacred approximately 300 men, women, and children as they attempted to give up their weapons. Native American resistance to the reservation policy was OVER.

Life on the Reservations Poverty, starvation, and despondency were prevalent on the reservations! The United States government has promised to supply the Native Americans with food, but the corruption of the Bureau of Indian Affairs meant that many Native Americans did not get enough supplies.

Dawes Severalty Act, 1887 Reformers of the late 19th century were concerned about the Native Americans and the unfairness of many treaties broken by the United States government. The Reformers believed if Native Americans would give up their tribal traditions and adopt the ways of the white man they would prosper. The Dawes Severalty Act, a federal policy took the tribal lands of the reservations and divided it up into farms for individual Native American families.

Dawes Severalty Act, 1887 Many Native Americans had different ideas of land ownership. They believed that land belong to the group not individuals. The policy violated the beliefs and traditions of hunting that sustained the Native American culture for centuries. Many of the farms belonging to the Native Americans failed and the Native Americans lost their land. Dawes Severalty Act

Carlisle School in Pennsylvania Reformers also believed that Native American children should learn the ways of the white man. Children were taken away from their families and taken to boarding schools far away. At these schools, the children were taught to behave like white children and speak English. Traditions and values of Native American culture were not honored in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Native Americans today.. Today, as a result of a civil rights movement among Native Americans in the 1960’s, their culture is being preserved and their rights honored. However, life on many reservations is still difficult and many Native Americans live in poverty.