CONQUEST OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS

What were some of the major events of the Indian Wars post

Civil War?

Main Ideas of Native American Culture

Native American Society- 8 to 9 million pre Columbian: by 1860- 350,000

History of destruction: settlement, disease, King Philip’s War, Tecumseh, Trail of Tears, now Gilded Age

Organization- male dominate, chiefdom etc. Rights of Passage- earning of stripes Religion- polytheistic- shamanism The Horse- nomadic and warlike Displacements: These lands once belonged to the

Kiowa's and Crows, but we whipped those nations out of them and in this we did what white men do when they want the lands of the Indians

Closing of the Frontier

Scissors- rough square of 1000 miles. Few white settlements by 1865- Bent’s fort, Mormon settlements, trading posts, gold camps, Spanish/Mexican missions

1834- Indian Intercourse Act: made the west one big reservation… must have a license to enter

1851- Concentration to reservations (Indians did not adhere)

1868: Treaty of Fort Laramie- establish two colonies- Indians do not recognize large tribes outside of individual families

Forced to settle in the Dakotas and Oklahoma: food needs

Bureau of Indian Affairs- notoriously corrupt (moth eaten blankets, spoiled beef, inflated salaries)

Beginnings of the Indian Wars

Civil War Uprising in Minnesota- Sioux attack a settlement and kill several hundred settlers (leads to a mass execution of 40 Sioux)… Little Crow vs. MN Militia

Sand Creek Massacre- 1864: Colonel John Chivington led a militia to Sand Creek, CO. Drunken soldiers kill 400 innocent (mistaken for a more war like tribe). Atrocities range from shooting praying women, smashing children’s brains, torturing and scalping.

Vicious Cycle

A cycle of violence in which each side escalates acts of violence against the other side.

1865-1867 Sioux War: Bozeman Trail- Big Horn mountain of WY- Sioux party kills 81 soldiers and leave no survivors (one soldier had several dozen arrows in his face)

William Fetterman

Little Big Horn

Advantages of Both Sides- US battled hardened soldiers- Indians have better rifles and horsemanship

George Armstrong Custer- vet of the Civil War (youngest General- very brash and bold)

“Scientific” expedition into the Black Hills… find gold Sitting Bull- vision quests: predicts a Lakota Sioux

victory. Crazy Horse: leads an ambush of 2500 braves against

an unscouted force of 200- only one lives to tell the tale

Eventually becomes the last gasp of Lakota Sioux- later will be hunted down.

Nez Perce

Nez Perce Indian Tribe- traditionally peaceful- goaded into fighting by US government who had found gold in their territory in Idaho and Oregon (shrinks size of territory by 90%).

Chief Joseph- military evasion of 1400 miles trying to hook up with Sitting Bull in Canada… but betrayed an agreement with the Federal government- would be given back their land in Idaho/Oregon

Fight No More Forever: “Our chiefs are killed… the old men are all dead… the little children are freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children… hear me my chiefs. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun know stands I will fight no more forever.”

Later the Nez Perce will be forced to Oklahoma/Kansas- 40% will die from disease and never return to Idaho.

Apache of New Mexico & Arizona

Most fierce resistance Lead by Geronimo Big Medicine- sun flashing heliograph Apache persuaded to surrender as

Apache women are captured and sent to Florida

Ultimately become successful farmers in Oklahoma

Final Submission

Human Zoos- reservation system: better to feed than fight

Railroads, buffalo, firewater Helen Hunt Jackson- A Century of Dishonor (morality

of Indian submission) Attempts at “taming” the Natives (civilized).

Christianity- end of reservation system Squatters, boomers, sooners: Oklahoma territory Dawes Severalty Act 1887- dissolves tribes and tribal

ownership. Forced assimilation- “Good white settlers”

Carlisle Indian School- “Kill the Indian and save the man”

Epilogue: Last Attempt at Resistance

1890’…Outlawing of the Sun Dance Wovoka and the cult of the Ghost Dance-

Rejection of all things white. Creation of the ghost shirts (bullet proof) Wounded Knee- Big Foot wanting to

surrender. Black Coyote fires an inadvertent shot US Army opens fire and kills 150 natives.