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NATIVE AMERICANS

NATIVE AMERICANS . Westward Expansion, Indian Policy, & the Indian Wars. Theories of Early Settlement. In dispute among historians. Explorers, Migrants, Hunter-Gatherers Entered North America 12,000 to 70,000 B.C. Beringia Theory (Ice-Land Bridge over Alaska)

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NATIVE AMERICANS

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  1. NATIVE AMERICANS Westward Expansion, Indian Policy, & the Indian Wars

  2. Theories of Early Settlement • In dispute among historians. • Explorers, Migrants, Hunter-Gatherers • Entered North America 12,000 to 70,000 B.C. • Beringia Theory (Ice-Land Bridge over Alaska) • Boat Crossings (Alternative Theory) • Spread out developing many diverse cultures over the regions of N.Amer, C.Amer, & S.Amer

  3. Cultural Regions in the U.S. • Eastern Woodland Tribes • Potlaches among NW Coastal Tribes • Cliff Dwellers and Pueblo Tribes in SW • Inuit in Arctic • Natchez caste system & Agricultural in SE • Mobile hunting tribes on the Central Plains

  4. Early Interactions with Europeans • Estimated Native population at the time of Columbus’ arrival—about 1 million • Earliest colonists relied heavily upon natives’ charity, horticulture, guides, military campaigns • Many actually preferred the Indian way of life, as opposed to colonial towns & military forts • Relationships soon became one of dominance, perceived superiority/inferiority, and conflict

  5. European/Colonial Views of the Natives • Assumed their migratory habits, lack of farming, clothing styles, nonChristian religious views, and their perceptions of land use were signs of being primitive and uncivilized. • Results—open warfare, slavery, pushing them off of lands and claiming ownership, missionary and Christianizing efforts, efforts to teach agriculture and settlement.

  6. Conflicting Religions • Europeans—Held Christian beliefs (A single Creator of the physical universe that gave human beings the authority to dominate and use the rest of creation.) • Natives—Spiritual unity throughout creation; humans are only a part of the total living universe; there is a spiritual side of the earth; “Sun is my Father and Earth is my Mother.”

  7. Conflicts over Land Use & Control • Europeans viewed land as something to be claimed and owned individually (practice of fencing property for example; idea that a political community like a country owns its territory with strict boundaries) • Natives separated the people and their government from the land they lived on (sovereignty over a culture, way of life, govt., but land is sovereign over itself—to be used and cared for by all in a shared or communal fashion)

  8. Early Indian Wars • 1st in New England colonies (eg, King Phillip’s War in 1636) • Frequent in the newly established U.S. as well (80% of federal budget under Washington’s administration was used in Indian Wars) • Example—Ohio War (1790-95)—British surrender in Amer. Rev. vs. Natives keep fighting—1787 NW Ordinance and surveying/ settling NW Territories—Miami tribe giving up OH in Treaty of Greenville

  9. War of 1812—Andrew Jackson’s campaign against the Creek in Mississippi Territory in 1813-4, (Horseshoe Bend) acreage won in GA & AL [won w/ help of Cherokees] • Further expansion—forcing tribes into treaties, promising land further west (few legal rights; not citizens in Const.; est. Bureau of Indian Affairs; “Your Great Father in Washington”) • Allowing whites to settle on native treaty land, and then claiming the need to protect them

  10. Cherokees in Georgia • GA claimed right to pass laws for the Cherokee nation, subject them to military duty and state taxes, and outlaw tribal meetings and chiefs. Still, denied them right to vote, testify in court, or bring lawsuits. Also confiscated land even though federal law said that this could happen only by a federal treaty. • Pres. Jackson ignored this in favor of “states’ rights.”

  11. Trail of Tears • 1830-Indian Removal Act (to Indian land west of Mississippi River); opposed by many religious groups and parts of Whig party. • Cherokees sued (Worcester v. GA in 1832)—US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cherokees, but Pres. Jackson refused to enforce the Court’s ruling. “Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”

  12. Continued • Jackson’s claim of Indians threatening US sovereignty and making “war” even though only about 100 Creeks fought. Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, & Chickasaw removed & promised land out west (barren OK & KS) “which they shall possess as long as grass grows green and water runs.” • Thousands died on the land marches, 1835-42. Broke all previous treaties.

  13. Reservation System • As early as 1840s, federal govt. was designating land as “Indian Territory”, forcing tribes off of traditional grounds to smaller reservations. (e.g., Oklahoma territory) • Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 (signed by Lt.General W.T. Sherman and representatives of 4 bands of Sioux Indians, including Sitting Bull and Red Cloud—all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River was guaranteed to be “absolute and undisturbed” Indian land

  14. Continued • Reservations were administered by the BIA • Faced many serious problems—altered lifestyles and family structures for tribes; land was often unsuitable for crops; forced dependence upon promised govt. food rations; corruption among BIA officials and tribal members given recognized authority interfered with services & rations & created a black market; depression often was satisfied with encouraged drunkenness, resulting in a spread of alcoholism

  15. Native Americans Take a Last Stand • Treaty rights and reservation lands continued to be violated (e.g., Black Hills, SD was swarming with white prospectors after gold was discovered; similar mining invaders on Arapaho & Cheyenne lands) • Railroads had also began a campaign to destroy the buffalo herds as they built further west (estimated 13 million in 1860 to a few hundred in 1890) • Sand Creek Massacre (1864—Col. Chivington and slaughter of an unarmed Cheyenne village).

  16. Indian Wars (1861-1980) • Sioux Wars (1876) in Black Hills—led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, including the Battle of Little Big Horn, where Col. G.A. Custer died; Sioux eventually lost, having to forfeit a 1/3 more of the Laramie Treaty land • Nez Percé—land in Snake River Valley (WA & ID) threatened by gold miners; Chief Joseph’s band vowed never to sell the land; when govt. tried to force a deal, they decided to fight

  17. Continued • Chief Joseph, outnumbered by US Army attempted to flee to Canada through MT with about 700 Indians; pursued for over 1000 miles until forced into surrender with 450 remaining in 1877, declaring, “I will fight no more forever.” • Apache in AZ territory, led by Geronimo, used small warring parties for ten years, pursued by over 5000 US soldiers; surrendered in 1886.

  18. Ghost Dance—A New Hope • Wovoka of the Paiute tribe in NV & UT claimed to have experienced a vision proclaiming this dance. According to the Great Spirit, he was Christ the Messiah, who had been wounded and rejected by white people and so he came to the Indians. The dance he taught had spiritual powers.

  19. Continued • Through peaceful means it would bring back to life all Indians and animals killed by Whites, after which whites would finally be driven off of the face of the earth by a flood, returning the traditional culture and life of the Indian tribes. • The federal govt. prohibited this ceremony on reservations, using troops to break it up.

  20. Wounded Knee • The popularity of the dance allowed it to spread to other tribes. The dance became widely practiced on the Lakota reservation. The government made a list of “troublemakers”, and Sitting Bull was to be arrested (After returning from 4 years in exile in Canada, he became a popular leader among his tribe and resisted further government purchases of land). Members of his own tribe, working for the govt., arrested him as he slept in his lodge, but when dancers gathered to protect him, he was shot.

  21. Continued • A band of Lakota left the reservation, pursued by US Cavalry. On Dec. 29, 1890 the natives and troops met at Wounded Knee Creek, SD. About 350 Natives attempted to surrender, but as a rifle discharged during arms turn-ins, troops opened fire. The skirmish killed 300 Indians and 25 soldiers. This was the last armed stand taken during the Indian Wars.

  22. A Look Back • The US government had made over 400 treaties with Native American nations and had broken every single one of them by 1900. • Their way of life destroyed with centuries of persecution, genocide (estimated population in 1890 = about 2000), and cheating government interactions, the remaining Indians often resided on reservations becoming increasingly dependent upon govt. aid and seeing their quality of life deteriorating.

  23. Current Relations • Controversies surround treaty rights (hunting & fishing especially), representation in government, national sovereignty, civil rights (discrimination & police brutality), poor conditions on reservations, involvement in casino operations, activities of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1960s-present, and Indians imprisoned (eg. Leonard Peltier).

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