SWBAT: DESCRIBE FEDERAL POLICIES TOWARD NATIVE AMERICANS DURING THE ENCLOSURE OF THE WEST AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE WEST

DO NOW What are some of the consequences for Indians due to the rapid decline of the buffalo population? Photo from the 1870s of a pile of American bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer.

AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE WEST New Mexico & Arizona Hopi & Zuni - permanent farmers raising corn & livestock Navajo & Apache - nomadic hunter gatherers  more settled, raised crops & livestock Pacific Northwest Chinook & Shasta - complex communities, fish & game Great Plains- 2/3 rds of Native Americans Sioux, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Crow & Comanche - nomadic Gave up farming after intro. of horse by the Spanish Skilled horse riders  hunted buffalo for survival & trade Late 1800 conflicts with U.S. gov. due to ignorance of white understanding of loose tribal organization & nomadic lifestyle

RESERVATION POLICY Andrew Jackson’s 1830s removal policy was based on idea that lands West of the Mississippi would remain Indian Country Oregon Trail & transcontinental railroad changed this  1851: Fort Laramie & Fort Atkinson meetings - Fed. Gov. assigned Plains tribes large tracts of land - reservations- with definite boundaries - Most Plains tribes refused to restrict their movement & continued to be nomadic

VIOLENCE IN THE WEST Sand Creek Massacre Cheyenne massacred; thought they had been promised immunity & land rights under Treaty of Fort Laramie  reflected American thirst for land &further reduction of respect for treaties Second Sioux War Sioux were defeated Led by Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse in northern plains Sioux had ambushed & destroyed Colonel George Custer’s command at Little Big Horn (aka “Custer’s Last Stand”) Chief Joseph’s effort to lead a band of the Nez Perce into Canada ended in defeat and surrender in 1877

VIOLENCE IN THE WEST Indian Appropriation Act of 1871: ended recognition of tribes as independent nations by the Feds. Nullified previous treaties

INDIAN RESPONSE Elk v. Wilkins (1884) 1880 Election- John Elk, a native American born on a reservation, moved to Omaha & sought U.S. citizenship  exercise his right to vote Supreme Court ruled Indians born on reservations are born on land not under U.S. jurisdiction, so 14 th & 15 th amendments do not apply to Indians

INDIAN RESPONSE Ghost Dance Religious revitalization movement in which Indians believed sacred dances would Bring a return of the buffalo Bring a great storm that would drive whites back across the Atlantic Allow Indians to practice their ancestral customs

U.S. RESPONSE: WOUNDED KNEE 1890 U.S. Army gunned down over 200 American Indian men, women & children in the “battle” of Wounded Knee in the Dakotas Last battle of the American Indian wars… the last significant resistance of Natives to unite to defend their resources & lands

ASSIMILATIONISTS Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor (1881) Created sympathy Generated support for ending Indian culture through assimilation Formal education Job training Conversion to Christianity Reformers built boarding schools (ex. Carlisle School, Penn.) White Culture Farming Industrial Skills

ASSIMILATIONISTS Read the assigned excerpt from, A Century of Dishonor Complete the reading questions that follow and review with your group members "Look upon your hands: they are stained with the blood of your relations.“ – Benjamin Franklin

DAWES SEVERALTY ACT 1887: Designed to break up tribal organizations and attempt to “mainstream” Indians into American society Divided tribal lands into 160 acre plots Citizenship granted to those who stayed on the land for 25 years & adopted civilized lifestyle Failure Disease & poverty reduced American Indian population to just 200,000 Simply reduced land under Native American control

Genocide  the deliberate killing or extermination of people who belong to a particular racial, political, or cultural group WRAP UP Can the U.S. policy towards Indians be labeled genocide? Why or why not?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT What is all that federal land for? Exactly who is in charge? According to the Congressional Research Service, a total area of just under 610 million acres – is administered by 4 federal government agencies: 1.The United States Forest Service (USFS) 2.The National Park Service 3.Bureau of Land Management 4.Fish and Wildlife Service