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Native American Policies and Conflicts History

The document outlines the historical policies and conflicts between the U.S. government and Native American tribes, starting from the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s to the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. It highlights key events such as the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the Sand Creek Massacre, and the Dawes Act, which aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white society but often resulted in loss of land and cultural identity. The document also contrasts different perspectives on significant events like the Battle of Little Bighorn and the Wounded Knee Massacre.

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20 views4 pages

Native American Policies and Conflicts History

The document outlines the historical policies and conflicts between the U.S. government and Native American tribes, starting from the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s to the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. It highlights key events such as the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the Sand Creek Massacre, and the Dawes Act, which aimed to assimilate Native Americans into white society but often resulted in loss of land and cultural identity. The document also contrasts different perspectives on significant events like the Battle of Little Bighorn and the Wounded Knee Massacre.

Uploaded by

cauxbruce
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Name: ___________________________________ Native American Policies & Conflict

Beginning with Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act and subsequent “Trail of
Tears” in the 1830s, “removal of the eastern Indian tribes to the West” became the
dominant government policy toward Native Americans. Under the Treaty of Fort Laramie of
1851, the Arapaho and Cheyenne had been guaranteed their land in Colorado. However,
miners flooded into the region when gold was discovered, leading the government to
negotiate a new treaty that moved the tribes to a reservation and promised annual
payments.

During the Civil War, Black Kettle and other leaders realized the payments and land could
not sustain the tribe and conflict broke out, leading to the Sand Creek Massacre, in which
US forces attacked and killed Cheyenne and Arapaho Native Americans, killing more than
150 at Sand Creek.

In 1868, President Grant announced his Peace Policy to attempt to address the increasing
violence and conflict with the Plains Indians. This approach attempted to move Indians
closer to white civilization (and ultimately U.S. citizenship) by placing them on reservations
and helping them assimilate to American society by becoming farmers. The army was to
protect Indians on reservations from white attacks more effectively and had the power to
attack any Indians who refused to stay in their reservation. Grant also replaced any corrupt
Indian agents (government officials in charge of running the reservations) with Christian
men, believing they would be more trustworthy and less likely to take advantage of the
Plains Indians. However, these changes fell short of radically altering conditions for Native
Americans in the United States. White settlers, with governmental support, continued to
push Indians aside to take land, and they relied on the Army to prevent Indian attacks. At
the same time, Native Americans on reservations had little chance of creating farms out of
desolate pieces of land and were beset by poverty and desperation.

The Treaty of Fort Laramie was born of war on the northern plains. Led by Chief Red
Cloud, the Sioux and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies defeated U.S. Army detachments
and halted wagon trains moving across the Dakotas into the Wyoming and Montana
territories. With its soldiers subdued, the United States dispatched peace commissioners to
reach a settlement. In 1868, the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie created the Great Sioux
Reservation and guaranteed that the Sioux and Arapaho tribes would have exclusive
possession of the land in the Dakotas, specifically sacred land in the Black Hills, and that
the government would prevent white settlement on their lands, banning whites from
entering the reservation and agreeing not to build railroads in the area. Natives would also
send their children to school and incentives such as land and subsidies (payments) were
promised to natives who agreed to farm for a living.

In 1871, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act, signifying the end of the
“treaty system.” This act established several changes in US Indian policy:
● No longer was any group of Indigenous Americans in the United States recognized
as an independent nation by the federal government, meaning that "no Indian nation
or tribe" would be recognized "as an independent nation, tribe, or power with whom
the United States may contract by treaty."
● Treaties made prior to 1871 were still in effect (although the US government often
violated these treaties)
● All Indigenous Americans were designated "wards" (essentially dependents) of the
federal government.
In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills. General Sheridan was sent to negotiate a
new treaty to give the US government control of the territory, but a series of clashes that
resulted in Sioux victory gave the Sitting Bull and the Sioux confidence and caused other
tribes who had negotiated treaties to join the Sioux in resisting white encroachment.
Name: ___________________________________ Native American Policies & Conflict
President Grant ordered tribes back onto their reservations and Colonel George Armstrong
Custer was sent to the region to secure the arrival of more troops.

Two viewpoints on the Battle of Little Bighorn: Watch video (shorter alternative here)
after reading to complete organizer below
Kate Bighead, a Cheyenne Indian, Interview in Battle of Little Bighorn (a report by the
1922 Secretary of War on the Sioux War)

Little Big Horn was not the first meeting between the To the PRESIDENT: Washington, July 8, 1876
Cheyennes and Long Hair [General Custer]. Early in There have been certain wild and hostile bands of
the winter of 1868 Long Hair and the Seventh Cavalry Sioux Indians in Dakota and Montana. I refer to
attacked our camp on the Washita River killing Chief Sitting Bull's band and other bands of the Sioux
Black Kettle and his band, burning their tipis and Nation. These Indians continue to rove at pleasure,
destroying all their food and belongings. In the spring attacking scattered settlements, stealing horses and
Long Hair promised peace and moved the Cheyenne to cattle, and murdering peaceful settlers and travelers.
a reservation. When gold was discovered white people The present military operations are not against the
came and the Indians were moved again. My brothers Sioux Nation at all, but against certain hostile parts of
and I left for the open plains where our band of it that defy the Government. No part of these
Cheyenne was again attacked by white soldiers in the operations are on or near the Sioux reservation. The
winter of 1875. We were forced to seek help from a accidental discovery of gold on the western border of
tribe of Sioux. We joined Sitting Bull and the Sioux the Sioux reservation, and the settlement of our
and decided to travel and hunt together as one strong people there, have not caused this war. The young
group. As conditions on the reservations became Indian warriors love war is promoted by Sitting Bull,
worse more and more Indians moved west joining our who reportedly had a vision of a great victory over
group. Six tribes lived peacefully for several months, soldiers. They frequently leave the reservation to go
hunting buffalo, curing the meat for the winter on the hunt, or warpath. The object of these military
months, and tanning buffalo hides. In the early operations was in the interest of the peaceful people
summer, 1876 we set up camp near Little Big Horn of the Sioux Nation, and not one of these peaceful
River. Soldiers were spotted by some hunters to the Indians have been bothered by the military
south of the camp. . . authorities.

Causes Effects

U.S. Govt Broke treaties by taking. Major Native


victor — Sitting
Native land after gold was found Bull & Crazy
Horse defeated
. Custer
and his troops. Battle of
in Black Hills. Little
Bighorn U.S.
public demanded revenge.
Sioux and CHeyenne resisted
being forced onto smaller Eventually
Natives lost. Tribes
. forced
to reservations.
reservations.

Tension built up from years of


U.S. military pressure and Native
resistance
Name: ___________________________________ Native American Policies & Conflict

Changing Government Policy: 1880-1890 (link to readings)

The Dawes Act of 1887


Purpose & Provisions Outcome

To break up tribal lands and assimilate Most land ended up taken by white
Native Americans into white society by settlers; Native Americans lost millions
giving them individual land plots for of acres and their immunology way of
farming. life was damaged.

Indian Boarding Schools (Carlisle)


1. What was the overall purpose of the boarding schools?
To assimilate NA children into white American culture by erasing their
language, traditions, and identity.

2. What was the US Government’s Point of View/Justification?


They claimed it was to “civilize” and “educate” NAs so they could fit into
mainstream society.

3. According to Luther Standing Bear, how were Native Americans impacted?


They lost their cultural identity, language, and connection to their people —
many felt ashamed or disconnected from both Native and white communities.

Wounded Knee
1. What happened at Wounded Knee?
In 1890, U.S. soldiers surrounded a Lakota camp at Wounded Knee Creek,
and a shot was fired — leading to a massacre where over 250 Native men, women, and
children were killed.
Name: ___________________________________ Native American Policies & Conflict

2. What was the Ghost Dance and how did misunderstandings about it
contribute to conflict?
The Ghost Dane was a spiritual movement meat to restore Native lands and
bring back ancestors. The U.S. government saw it as a threat or rebellion, which led to fear
and violence.

3. Compare the two viewpoints on the immediate outbreak of the massacre.


How do they differ?
Dewey Beard Lakota: He said the Lakota were unarmed and peaceful; the soldiers
started shooting without reason.

Philip F. Wells: He claimed the fighting began when a Lakota man resisted giving
up his weapon, causing chaos and gunfire to break out.

Common questions

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The discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 directly led to increased tensions between Native American tribes and the U.S. government. Despite the Treaty of Fort Laramie guaranteeing the Sioux exclusive rights to these lands, the U.S. government sought to control the region due to economic interests. This violation of treaty terms led to resistance from Native American tribes, uniting under leaders like Sitting Bull to defend their lands. Ultimately, these conflicts culminated in military confrontations, such as the Battle of Little Bighorn, and significantly degraded the relationship between Native Americans and the U.S. government .

Post-Civil War policies, including President Grant's Peace Policy and the Dawes Act, ostensibly aimed at reforming Native American relations through assimilation and agricultural encouragement. However, they continued to marginalize tribes by relegating them to infertile reservations and seeking to dissolve communal lands. These actions ignored Native cultural practices and caused widespread poverty and land loss. Furthermore, the continued push of settlers into Native territories, supported by the military, resulted in broken treaties and erosion of Native sovereignty, demonstrating that these reforms did little to alleviate Native American marginalization in practice .

The immediate outcome of the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was a significant victory for Native American tribes, including the Sioux and Cheyenne, over U.S. forces led by Colonel Custer. However, this victory provoked a strong retaliatory response from the U.S. government, leading to increased military presence and pressure on Native tribes to move onto reservations. In the long term, the battle and the eventual fall of Native resistance resulted in further loss of land and autonomy for Native Americans, as they were systematically forced onto smaller reservations .

The differing perspectives on Wounded Knee highlight broader themes of misunderstanding and conflict between Native Americans and the U.S. government. Dewey Beard of the Lakota perceived the massacre as an unprovoked attack on unarmed, peaceful Native Americans, emphasizing the brutality and injustice faced by his people. In contrast, Philip F. Wells described the event as chaos stemming from a Lakota man's resistance, which echoes the government's justification of its actions as self-defense. These contrasting narratives illustrate the deep cultural divides and mistrust that fueled conflicts during this period .

The Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 marked a significant shift in U.S. policy by ending the recognition of Native American tribes as independent nations. Treaties could no longer be made, relegating tribes to 'wards' of the federal government. This diminished their sovereignty and ability to negotiate on equal terms with the government, effectively stripping them of their status as independent political entities. While existing treaties were theoretically upheld, they were often violated, limiting the tribes' autonomy and subjecting them to unilateral federal policies .

The Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868 sought to end conflicts between the U.S. government and the Sioux by establishing the Great Sioux Reservation, guaranteeing exclusive possession of lands including the Black Hills to the Sioux and Arapaho tribes. It promised no white settlement or railroad construction in the area. However, the treaty's ability to resolve conflicts was limited by subsequent U.S. government actions, such as the discovery of gold leading to territorial breaches, and the lack of enforcement in preventing settler encroachment. These violations inevitably led to renewed tensions and hostilities .

President Grant's Peace Policy was meant to reduce violence and encourage the assimilation of Native Americans by placing them on reservations and converting them to farmers. This policy reflected a paternalistic attitude of the U.S. government, which aimed to 'civilize' Native Americans by bringing them closer to white civilization. The replacement of corrupt Indian agents with Christians indicated a belief that moral supervision was needed. However, these efforts largely failed to improve the living conditions of Native Americans, as they faced poverty on infertile lands and continued to lose territory to white settlers .

The Dawes Act of 1887 aimed to break up tribal lands and assimilate Native Americans by allotting them individual plots for farming. However, it largely failed to achieve its goals. Most allocated lands were unsuitable for agriculture, leading to economic hardship for many Native Americans. Additionally, a significant portion of the land ended up being sold to white settlers, resulting in a loss of millions of acres for Native Americans. While the policy intended to integrate Native Americans into American culture, it often led to the erosion of communal living and cultural identity, proving detrimental to Native American societies .

Cultural misunderstandings, such as those surrounding the Ghost Dance, significantly exacerbated conflicts between Native Americans and the U.S. government. The Ghost Dance was a spiritual movement that aimed to restore Native lands and bring back ancestors. However, the U.S. government misinterpreted it as a threat of rebellion, leading to heightened tensions and violent confrontations, such as the massacre at Wounded Knee. Differences in cultural interpretation and a lack of understanding fueled fear and aggression, highlighting the deep-rooted communication gap between the two groups .

The abolition of the treaty system in 1871 significantly undermined Native American land rights and government-recognized autonomy by ceasing the recognition of tribes as independent sovereign nations. This shift turned Indigenous peoples into wards of the state, negating their ability to negotiate land rights and terms of coexistence on an equal footing. Consequently, native lands became more vulnerable to encroachment, and government policies could be unilaterally imposed without input or consent from the tribes, further eroding their territorial rights and sovereignty .

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