Chapter 17 Notes

I. Native Americans Beyond the Mississippi

A. Native Americans of the great plains
1. Northern plains- war among the tribes there was common (Lakota Sioux, others)
2. Middle Plains (OK area)- 5 civilized tribes, relocated during Jackson’s presidency
3. Southern Plains- Kiowas, Comanches, Arapahos, Apaches

B. Lifestyles
1. Some agricultural practices
2. Mostly nomadic and followed buffalo
3. Guns and horses in widespread use by mid 1800s
4. Extended family ties and tribal cooperation
5. Lakota religion
a. Emphasizes importance of the community- view community in a series of circles: Family-band-tribe-Sioux Nation
b. Hierarchy of plant and animal spirits whose help could be invoked by the Sun Dance
c. Self-torture to gain spiritual power and strengthen the community
6. Buffalo Culture
a. Northern or High Plains Indians could not practice agriculture due to lack of rainfall
b. Developed nomadic lifestyles that followed the patterns of buffalo migration
c. Supplied everything necessary for living
d. Until the 1850’s numbered as many as 30 million, but were reduced to a few thousand by 1880

C. Reservations and the End of Nomadic life

1. Reduction of buffalo herds created most obvious pressure
2. As whites moved in and gold was discovered in the Rockies, the government (pressured by settlers, developers and the railroads) moved toward a system of tribal reservations
3. Some Native groups who were already agricultural did not resist. More nomadic groups attempted to resist
4. Sand Creek Massacre (1864)- Following Cheyenne and Arapahoe raids on travelers, the Governor of Colorado had issued an order to kill all hostile Indians on site. A peaceful band of Arapahoe Indians near a US Army Fort was slaughtered by a Colorado militia group led by Methodist Minister Chivington
5. Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867- group of Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyannes, and Arapahoes agree to live on land grant in Oklahoma
6. Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868- some Sioux agree to move to a reservation in western South Dakota
7. Many tribal leaders were dissatisfied with the treaties and opposed to the idea of reservation confinement. They continued to roam the Plains and occasionally raided white settlements
8. US Army units were dispatched to force roving Indians into reservations. George Custer was the most infamous commander in this effort
9. When gold was rumored to exist in South Dakota, Custer was dispatched to confirm its existence and pressure the Sioux to sell this land. The Sioux asked for too high a price so Grant decided to force them off
10. Custer’s Last Stand (Little Bighorn, Montana, 1876)- overconfident Custer attempted a frontal attack on a huge group of Cheyenne and Sioux warriors led by Chief Sitting Bull. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry were destroyed
11. Ft Robinson Massacre (Nebraska 1879)- US army captured 150 Cheyenne who were trying to return to the Dakotas, led by Chief Dull Knife, they escaped but were overrun and slaughtered by the army

D. Reform in Native American Relations
1. Well-meaning reformers, most notably Helen Hunt Jackson, were appalled by the wanton killing of Native Americans
2. They espoused integration of Indians into mainstream society- opposed nomadic lifestyle and reservations
3. DAWES ACT- (1887) culmination of integration movement
a. Emphasized that Indians would be regarded as individuals from a legal standpoint
b. Each head of an Indian family would receive 160 Acres of former reservation land for farming (320 for cattle); land held in trust for first 25 years to prevent sale
c. Indians who accepted land would be declared citizens
d. Reservation land decreased by 65% from 1887 to 1934- most redistributed land was eventually sold to white settlers or too arid to farm

E. The End of Indian Resistance
1. Ghost Dance Movement- originated with prophet Wovoka and spread quickly among Sioux in the Dakotas. Members performed a Ghost Dance, wearing a Ghost Shirt, which they believed protected them from harm (even bullets)
2. To stop the movement’s spread, Major McLaughlin ordered the arrest of Chief Sitting Bull. The Chief and some Indians as well as some soldiers were killed.
3. Wounded Knee Massacre (s. Dakota 1890)- The army rounded up 340 Sioux. When one Indian shot his rifle, the army opened fire with cannons, killing 300 Indians in minutes. This is the last major confrontation between the US Army and Native Americans.