Rights

• Native American aims

  1. They wanted to live according to their customs
  2. They wanted the right of self determination
  3. But, US government wanted to assimilate the Native Americans into American society
• Lifestyle of Native Americans

  • On the Great Plains, they followed and hunted buffalo herds
  • They worshipped nature, were nomadic, had their own language and own tribal laws
  • To white settlers their lifestyle was seen as uncivilised
• Native Americans placed under threat prior 1865

  • They were driven out of their traditional lands due to westward expansion
  • 1830 Removal Act seen tribes move from states on the Great Plains
  • The discovery of gold encouraged settlers to travail to Oregon and California
• The Great Spirit

  It acted as a natural frontier barrier between settlers and Native Americans
• Government treaties of 1851-1868 failed to resolve problems

  1. Losing land, buffalos and traditional way of life became a greater problem due to hunger rising
  2. Plains wars, e.g. 1862 Little Crow's War against the Sioux
• Civil war exacerbated the problems facing the Native Americans

  • They traded with the forts where the soldiers were stationed but troops who replaced them were volunteers and poorly disciplined
  • Resulted in Sand Creek Massacre 1864- attack by US cavalry on an undefended Cheyenne camp: deaths of many elderly men, women and children
  • Massacre at Wounded Knee 1890- cavalry killed over 100 Native American men, women, children
• Homestead Act 1862

  • to populate the region with small scale farmers
  • it gave farmers a 160 acre plot free on the condition that they farmed it for 5 years
  • it encouraged more movement to the West
  • 20,000 people settled on the Plains by 1865
• Impact of railways

  • It ran from coast to coast
  • railway companies encouraged settlers to come and live on the land they had been given
  • it disrupted buffalo herds
  • added to the dramatic fall of buffalos
• 1877 government report on the Yankton Sioux

  As long as Native Americans stay in their villages, they can keep their traditions
• Federal government achieved their aims of assimilation through:

  • education
  • conversion to Christianity
  • turning them into farmers
  • establishment of government reservations
• How the government destroyed their lives

  • polygamy was abandoned
  • braves could no longer demonstrate their skills
  • herbal remedies were forbidden
  • tribal laws were abolished
  • communal living was ended
  • power of tribal chief was ended
• Significance of education in the assimilation

  • parents were forced to send their children to school, where children were forbidden from speaking their own language
  • two off reservation boarding schools were set up- quality of education on reservations was poor
  • boys were provided with vocational training
  • girls were provided with skills for domestic service
  • provided some with more opportunities to find better jobs
• Little Bighorn in 1876

  • 1871- they lost the right to determine what happened to their land and Congress was given the power to decide on setting up reservations
  • Relocation of tribes
  • Size of reservations were reduced
• Challenges faced Native Americans on the reservations

  • They were unable to cultivate because it was unsuitable for farming -they depended on food supplies, which often failed to appear
  • Worse in 1880s- drought hit their crops and disease killed many
  • Many died of highly infectious diseases
  • Alcohol addiction widespread
  • By 1990- only 100,000 of 240,000 were inhabiting
• Significance of Dawes Seweralty Act 1887

  • Turned them into landowners and gave them full rights of citizenship because they pay taxes
  • Ignored their belief of ownership of animals and land
  • Resulted in decline in land of Native Americans as it was bought by white settlers when Native Americans were unable to farm it
• The Five Civilised Tribes

  • 1898- Curtis Act ended their exemption from the Dawes Act
  • Attempted to prevent this by proposing their lands to become the state of Sequoyah
  • Cherokees challenged Congress’s right to deny the right to live according to their laws
• Status of the Native Americans by the outbreak of the WW1

  • Land is given to them in the 1860s had been denied now
  • Development of the allotment process - they lost their identity, which had been preserved to some extent
  • They lost their pride and self respect because thy were dependent on government for food
• Position of Native Americans change between 1914 and 1945

  • Granting citizenship , but many weren’t interested
  • NA hadn’t regained their native sovereignty
  • Attacks on their culture with Dance Order
  • Allotment policy- added to their poverty
• New Deal era

  • Many benefits were abandoned in WW2
  • Indian Reorganisation Act of 1934- first move to preserve their culture. Right to practice their religion, right to undertake ceremonial dances
  • Improved conditions on reservations- agencies built schools and hospitals
  • Encouraged women to take more of an economic approach