The “Vanishing” Indian

Manifest Destiny The frontier had been closed with Euro-American expansion into every area of the country- Many white settlers believed it was their god- given right to inhabit North America Social Darwinism The theory that cultures battle with each other in which one is destined to overcome the other, and the other fades into extinction

By the early 20 th century white settlers were living from east coast to west coast and everywhere in between Frederick Jackson Turner – 1893 American Frontier had closed In doing so Native Americans were forced off their lands and suffered extreme hardships - no land, no bison, no traditional way of life Violence and disease caused some tribal communities to lose as much as 90% of their population At the time of Columbus’s arrival there were approximately seven to ten million American Indians By 1900 there were approximately 250,000

Indian Wars Massacres at Wounded Knee Plains Indian wars

Small pox Chicken pox Yellow Fever Measles Whooping cough Alcoholism Diabetes And more

Captain Richard Henry Pratt

Pratt believed that to claim their rightful place as American citizens, Native Americans needed to renounce their tribal way of life, convert to Christianity, abandon their reservations, and seek education and employment among the "best classes" of Americans. Established the Carlisle Indian Industrial School 1879 Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Between 1880’s and 1930’s – official government policy Separated families Forced lost of culture Tried to turn Indians into farmers Some tribes had never farmed before Most were forced onto land that was unfarmable Assimilate = to adapt, absorb or integrate (people, ideas, or culture) into a wider society or culture

I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in his sight. It is not necessary for Eagles to be Crows. We are poor…but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die…we die defending our rights. Sitting Bull

Even those American Indians who succeeded in white terms by giving up their connections to their homeland and communities, and learning trades and professions were forced out of American society because of their skin color and perceived lack of intelligence

Wild West Shows Portrayed re-enactments of recent wars Reinforced the notion that tribal culture is only in the past

YMCA – Indian Guides Program Schools - Indian Mascots Railroads /National Parks– Images sold tourist vacations Museums /Exhibitions – Live Displays 1893 – last chance to see the “noble red-man” before annihilation Ethnologists tried to collect as many artifacts as possible

All of this added to the idea that Indians were no longer a part of American society, but rather a thing of its past.

Curtis’s pictures helped perpetuate this vanishing myth by depicting American Indians as they were in the past Indian culture was badly damaged, but somehow managed to survive