Indian Peoples in Retreat

1. Indian Peoples in Retreat Promises Made and Broken End of the Buffalo The War for the West The Indian Way of Life Ends Reformers Fail

3. Promises Made and Broken • Started in the 1840’s when settlers and miners began to settle on Indian hunting grounds • Fort Laramie Treaty – 1851 when government met with Indian nations in Fort Laramie, WY • Officials asked the tribes to keep to a limited area • In return they were promised animals, tools, and money • However, in 1858 gold was discovered in Pike’s Peak, CO and miners rushed onto Cheyenne and Arapaho land • The government forced the natives to sign a new treaty giving whites the land around Pike’s Peak • Some Natives refused to accept this agreement and attacked the whites

4. Chivington Massacre • 1864 – Colonel John Chivington led his militia against the Cheyenne village whose leaders had come to the fort asking for protection • Chivington ignored that the natives were asking for protection and ordered his men to destroy the village • Over 200 people were killed • People in the US were outraged and across the Plains Indians and whites went to war

5. Assimilation and Reservations • 1867 – Government officials established a peace commission to end the wars on the Plains so that settlers would be safe • Urged the natives to send their children to white schools and settle down like white farmers • Assimilation – plan where Natives would give up their Indian beliefs and accept the white way of life • 1867 – Kiowas, Comanches, and other Southern plains tribes signed a new treaty with the government promising to move to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma) • Lakotas and Arapahos also signed a treaty saying they would live on reservations (limited area set aside for Native Americans) in present day South Dakota

6. Carlisle School for Children

7. End of the Buffalo • Decline of the buffalo began before the whites arrived due to disease, drought, and land destruction • Market for buffalo robes grew • Buffalo hunting became a pleasure sport

8. War for the West • Custer’s Last Stand • Prospectors found gold on the Sioux lands in South Dakota • Thousands of miners rushed to the area • Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and other Lakotas attacked the whites in what become known as the Sioux Wars of 1876 • June 1876 – Colonel George A. Custer led soldiers into Little Bighorn Valley • Custer and all his men died in the Battle of Little Bighorn • However, the army soon defeated the Lakotas and Cheyennes and Congress said they would get no food rations until they agreed to the government demands • The Lakota gave up their claim to the Black Hills that they were promised in the Fort Laramie Treaty • Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse took their followers to Canada and vowed to return

9. Chief Joseph Flees • Nez Perce lived in the Snake River Valley (between Oregon and Idaho) • 1855 – Signed a treaty with the US government and gave up parts of their land • Gold was discovered on their remaining land and they were ordered to move to a reservation in Idaho • Chief Joseph and his people eluded the US army by fleeing • They traveled over 1,000 miles but eventually he surrendered “I will fight no more forever.” ~ Chief Joseph

10. The Apache Wars • The Apaches fiercely resisted the loss of their lands • Geronimo – continued fighting the longest (1876-1886) • He led raids by hiding in Mexico and attacking in Arizona and New Mexico • His surrender marked the formal end of Indian resistance against the whites

11. Indian Way of Life Ends • Ghost Dance – Word spread among the Paiute people led by Wovoka who said the Great Spirit would make a new world for his people • On the reservations, many tribes embraced this dance and idea • Settlers React • They though Ghost Dancers were preparing for war • The government outlawed the dance • On a Lakota reservation they claimed Sitting Bull was spreading the dance and in the chaos he was shot and killed • Massacre at Wounded Knee • Because of Sitting Bulls death, many Lakotas left the reservations • Met the troops at Wounded Knee, SD • As the Indians were preparing to surrender a shot rang out and in the end over 300 Native Americans lay dead

12. The Aftermath of Wounded Knee Massacre

13. Reformers Fail • Many reformers spoke out about the unfair treatment of the Indians • Susette La Flesche lectured about the destruction of Native American life • Helen Hunt Jackson published A Century of Dishonor in 1881 • Discussed the broken treaties • Dawes Act – in 1887 this act encouraged Natives to become farmers and divided up tribal lands for individual natives • Was unsuccessful because natives believed everyone owned land and didn’t fully understand the concept of selling land • Also on reservations, the chiefs had no power, only the US government did

14. What symbols do you see? What is the cartoonists point?

15. Buffalo Soldiers • The BeginningAfrican Americans have served proudly in every great American war. In 1866, through an act of Congress, legislation was adopted to create six all African American Army units. The units were identified as the 9th and 10th cavalry and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st infantry regiments. The four infantry regiments were later reorganized to form the 24th and 25th infantry regiments.These fighting men represented the first Black professional soldiers in a peacetime army. The recruits came from varied backgrounds including former slaves and veterans from service in the Civil War. The Nickname The nickname buffalo soldiers began with the Cheyenne warriors in 1867. The actual Cheyenne translation was Wild Buffalo. The nickname was given out of respect and the fierce fighting ability of the 10th cavalry. Overtime, Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all African American soldiers.