1. 1.1 Part One Cultures Clash on the Prairie
Essential Questions:
Identify three differences between the culture of the Native Americans and the culture of the white settlers on the Great Plains.
How effective was the Dawes Act in promoting the assimilation of Native Americans into white culture?

2. The Culture of the Plains Indians
Most easterners in the early years of the US picture the land west of the Mississippi a vast desert occupied by savage tribes – But they were wrong on both accounts
The land west of the Mississippi actually was made of large grasslands extending through the west-central portion of the US called the Great Plains
In fact though, the native tribes of the Great Plains region had highly developed societies

5. Tribes
To the east, near the lower Missouri River, tribes such as the Osage and Iowa had, for more than a century, hunted and planted crops and settled in small villages
Farther west, nomadic tribes such as the Sioux and Cheyenne gathered wild foods and hunted buffalo
People of the Plains traded and produced beautifully crafted tools and clothing

6. Range of the Plains tribes before European invasion

7. The Horse and the Buffalo
After the Spanish brought horses to New Mexico in 1598, the Native American way of life began to change
They were able to travel further
After gaining guns, they were able to hunt more efficiently
By the mid 1700s, almost al the tribes on the Great Plains had left their home to roam the plains and hunt buffalo

8. Horses’ Effect on Tribes
Their increased mobility often led to war when hunters in one tribe trespassed on other tribes’ hunting grounds
War parties and raids
A way for young men to gain prestige
Gained honor for slaying enemies
“counting coup” – touching an enemy with a coup stick and running away unharmed
Tribes at a truce would trade and share in the harvest

9. The feather on the coup displayed the number of touches a warrior had

10. Buffalo Effect on Tribe
Tepees were made from buffalo hide
Skin was used to make clothing, shoes, and blankets
The meat was dried into jerky or mixed with berries and fat to make a staple food called pemmican

11. Nothing Goes to Waste

12. Family Life
Native Americans in the Plains usually lived in small extended family groups with ties to other bands that spoke the same language
Men trained to be warriors, while women helped butcher the game and prepare the hides
They believed spirits controlled the natural world
For those who showed a sensitivity to the spirits, they would be made a medicine man/woman
Behavior was developed through story telling, games, myths, and example
Leaders of tribes ruled by counsel, not force and land was held in common for the use of the whole tribe

13. Stump Horn and his family (Cheyenne) with a horse and travois, or a frame structure that was used by Plains Indians of North America, to drag loads over land, ca. 1871–1907

14. Settlers Push Westward
Differences between Plains Indians and settlers:
Indians – land cannot be owned
Settlers – thought Indians forfeited the land since they never settled it
Thus, this land was viewed as “unsettled”
Settlers began moving westward to stake a claim in land

15. Manifest Destiny
Based on this image, how would you define manifest destiny?

16. The Lure of Silver and Gold
The prospect of “striking it rich” was a powerful attraction to the west
In 1858, gold was discovered in Colorado drawing in tens of thousands of minors
Most mining camps were filthy with rows of tents on dirt “streets” with wooden sidewalks – the first destruction of this beautiful land
Irish, German, polish, Chinese, and African-American men (some women) crowded the camps

18. The Government Restricts Native American Land
In 1834, the federal government passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as one enormous reservation for tribal groups
In the 1850s, however, the government changed its policy and created treaties that defined specific boundaries for each tribe
But Most tribes ignored the restrictions and hunted on their original land clashing with the miners and settlers – sometime tragically

20. Massacre at Sand Creek 1864
In the winter of 1864, the Cheyenne had peacefully settled in the Colorado Sand Creek Reserve – “under protection of the government”
US Army General Curtis sent a telegram to colonel Chivington exclaiming “I want no peace till the Indians suffer more”
At dawn on November 29, Chivington and his troops descended on the group of 200 warriors and 500 women and children killing over 150 (mostly women and children)

21. The Sand Creek Massacre

22. Death on the Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail ran directly through Sioux hunting grounds
Chief Red Cloud tried to appeal to the gov’t to end the white settlement on the trail
In Dec. 1866, the warrior Crazy Horse ambushed Captain William J. Fetterman and his men at Lodge Trail Ridge killing over 80 men
Whites called this the Fetterman Massacre, while the Native Americans called it the Battle of the Hundred Slain

24. The Treaty of Fort Laramie
Skirmished continued over the Bozeman Trail
But in 1868, the government forced the Sioux to live on a reservation along the Missouri river
They agreed and this was called the Treaty of Fort Laramie
Sitting Bull, leader of one of the Sioux tribes, never signed it – In addition, two other Sioux groups, who had signed, expected to keep using their traditional hunting grounds

25. The Red River War
For six years the Kiowa and Comanche engaged in raiding sprees and battles that led to the Red River War of
The US responded by herding the people of friendly tribes onto reservations while opening fire on all others
Destroy their villages and ponies, kill and hang all warriors, and bring back all women and children – General Phillip Sheridan, Union Army veteran

26. Gold Rush
In 1874, Colonel George A. Custer reported that gold was in the Black Hills “from the grass roots down”
Miners began searching the Black Hills for gold
The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho protested to no avail
Red Cloud and Spotted Tail appealed again to government officials in Washington as a gold rush threatened the natives again in the region

28. Custer’s Last Stand aka The Battle of Little Big Horn
In June 1876 Custer and his troops reached the Little Big Horn River
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull and their warriors were ready and waiting due to a prophecy seen by Sitting Bull of the approaching army
Within an hours, Custer and all of his men were dead
By late 1876, however, the Sioux were beaten
Sitting Bull fled to Canada, but was forced back to prevent his people’s starving by surrendering
He was killed in 1890 by Police

30. Fallout from Battle at Little Big Horn
Two weeks later, the US government declared that, “due to the Indians' warlike behavior”, the Fort Laramie Treaty was invalid and the Sioux were expected to relinquish all claim to the Black Hills
They were then rounded up and confined to army forts where their ponies and rifles were confiscated
In September, the Sioux were presented with a document giving the US all of the Black Hills and 22.8 million acres of surrounding territory, granting rights-of-way across what was left of the Great Sioux Reservation, and ending all hunting rights outside the reservation

32. The Government Supports Assimilation
While some people supported the Native Americans and wanted to see them remain on their home lands, many feared that the only way for them to survive was if they assimilated
A plan under which Native Americans would give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of the white culture

34. The Dawes Act
1887 – Congress passes the Dawes Act which aimed to “Americanize” the Native Americans
It also broke up their land and gave ownership to individual Native Americans
160 acres to each head of the household
80 acres to every unmarried adult
The rest of the land would be sold to settlers
The money made from farming on this land would be given to the Native Americans
But By 1932, whites had taken about 2/3rds of the land set aside for Native Americans, and none of the money was given to them

36. The Destruction of the Buffalo
It can be argued that the most significant blow to the tribal way of life was the destruction of the buffalo
Tourists and fur traders killed them for sport while the Natives used every part for many aspects of their daily life and routine
In 1800, approximately 65 million buffalo roamed the plains – By 1890, fewer than 1000 remained – And in 1900 a single herd left was sheltered in Yellowstone National Park

40. Making a Small Rebound
Today there are close to 200,000 living buffalo in the wild due to gov’t protection programs

41. Wounded Knee December 28, 1890 December 29
7th Cavalry (Custers old group) rounds up 350 starving and freezing Sioux and take them to a camp at Wounded Knee Creek in SD
December 29
Soldiers demand they all give up their weapons
A shot is fired (not known which side)
Soldiers open fire on a now weaponless groups
Within minutes more than 300 unarmed Native Americans are killed
The corpses are left to freeze on the ground

42. What do you notice in this photo taken after the massacre?

43. Wounded Knee Massacre

44. Answer each question on your own paper under where you wrote the question earlier
Essential Questions:
Identify three differences between the culture of the Native Americans and the culture of the white settlers on the Great Plains.
How effective was the Dawes Act in promoting the assimilation of Native Americans into white culture?