Native Americans

• Common elements of the NA people

  - tribal use based on the collective ownership of the land

  - Individuals in tribes have specific roles

  - hostility between tribes common and with federal gov

  - nomadic life

  - dependent on the land and used for resources
• What factors changed the lives of NA up to 1865? - westward expansion

  - became gov policy attract settlers to open wide spaces in west. Pushed beyond Appalachian mountains, so gradually removed from their land to Georgia, Alabama approx 70,000

  - Indian removal act 1830 - tribes given land in Oklahoma on plains to create space for white American families to settle on homelands

  - gold discovered in California so inc white settlers to the west, displaced NA for who fishing was natural means of subsistence

  - those remained lost right to fish freely and cut off from survival, so no skills to hunt food
• What factors changed the lives of NA up to 1865? - railways

  - construction of Union Pacific railway bc of federal gov determination to develop and expand existing railway network in the east

  - part of the policy of establishing gov law and order in west territories + encourage settlement there

  - first trans-continental railway 1869 weakened NA position - companies lured setters onto plains with 'buy now, pay later'

  - trains disturbed buffalo herds
• What factors changed the lives of NA up to 1865? - treaties and plain wars

  - by 1865, many tribes (Sioux/Cheyenne) hostile to the encroachments of white settlers on plains + presence of the army - stationed across west bc offer protection to wagon trains + settlers in areas NA as theyre 'hostile'

  - NA began handing over land via series of treaties with gov as realised they were powerless

  - treaties had promised of gov aid to ensure people fed but not kept

  - sand creek massacre 1864 - cavalry attacked undefended Cheyenne camp
• What factors changed the lives of NA up to 1865? - civil war


  - gov determined secure control lands west of Mississippi - create federal territories governed by officials

  - homestead act 1862 - released land in 160 acre plots, free to farmers if farmed land for 5yrs so 1865 20,000 settled on the plains (small no. NA)

  - 1864 Navajo + Apache moved onto reservation lands to fulfil govs idea of NAs as farmers, children receive education, convert Christianity

  - during cw, essential aid not given to NA; some Indian agents corrupt + sold food for NA as profits, tribes starved so hostility
• Why were the NA a problem for the federal gov in 1865?

  - wanted land and resources of NA as valuable

  - hostility of the NA

  - NA were self governing (tribal law), didnt fit with the laws of federal gov for the rest of the pop.

  - typically nomadic lifestyle contrasted with farming

  - independence undermined the idea of a US; 'united so one community'

  - seen as uncivilised influence
• How could this issue be resolved?

  - education of the youth + access to schools

  - 'divide and rule'

  - training in farming to remove dependency on hunting buffalos

  - destroy tribal life and customs

  - convert to Christianity

  - remove tribal chiefs/ replace with Indian agents appointed by federal agency called the Indian Bureau

  - set up reservations to give NA a place to live
• What was the idea of Manifest Destiny?

  - those of US are special and their duty to bring civilisation, law and order to places like the western side of the continent

  - Governor Edward Mccook said ' i do not believe in donating to those indolent savages the best part of my territory'

  - 1875, gold discovered in South Dakota so inc no. White settlers, inc tension further
• What was the battle of Little Bighorn

  - 25th June 1876 - Lieutenant colonel Custer attempted to round up NA who left the Great Sioux Reservations and refusing to return.

  - divided forces into 3 and attempted to encircle them but 200 clusters group killed as attacked by waiting reinforcements

  - great Sioux reservation had lands massively reduced + split up without asking NA which ignored the Fort Laramie Treaty 1851
• What were laws like for NA

  - gov policy was to 'americanise' the NA

  - NA be located onto gov controlled reservations and no longer roam freely to hunt buffalo; every hint of tribal customs removed

  - reservations in the 1890s: located 20 states, had own court of offences where minor crimes tried and judged, rations given to poor N, 1890 total no. Indians 133,417 received rations

  - Reservation NA were denied cr bc classified as dependent 'wards of the state' and not tax payers
• Policing for NA


  - power of the tribal chiefs replaced by an Indian agent appointed by Indian Bureau

  - NA subject to the dept of the interior and the army

  - federal agents had 770 officers
• Land for NA


  - by 1890 there were 78,500,000 acres of land, much of it desert

  - 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty signed by the Sioux estb the 'Great Sioux Reserve' which provided ample land for various tribes comprised the Sioux nation. Agreed this couldnt be changed without the agreement of 3/4 male pop. Of the tribe. But lost this right after 1871 as decisions of relocation of tribes decided by congress without consultation

  - by 1889, 6 small reservations created

  - the Navajo tribe by 19868 relocated on 4mil acres of reservation lands bordered by Arizona and New Mexico - success as adapted to farming + crops

  - much land given to NA proved impossible to cultivate - starved as dependent on food supplied by the gov
• Religion and livestock for NA

  Religion

  - Christian missionaries working on reservations to convert NA largely unsuccessful as continued to practice tribal religious rituals in secret

  - Navajo lands had been inc by the gov 10.5mil from 1878 to 1930s

  - some went through 'motions' of Christianity

  Livestock

  - 1880s drought affected the crops on reservations, disease wiped out cattle. Deprived the hunting of the buffalo so no source of food

  - 1000s starved and others died bc epidemics of measles, influenza
• Education for Na


  - provision was of poor quality, limited curriculum

  - teachers brought from the east and unable to cope with the conditions so left

  - language was big barrier

  - late 1870s, to off reservation boarding schools estb Virginia and Pennsylvania we're recognised as models of vocational training. NA children transferred there father completing 6yrs in reservation schools

  - boys learnt skills like masonry and girls taught e.g cook

  - beating, solitary confinement inflicted for breaking rules

  - during 8yrs, spent 3yrs with white families

  - later graduates employed administer discipline in schools, some worked as interpreters to Indian agents but vast majority returned to reservation life and alienated as schooled to be models to their tribes of 'Americanised' NA so regarded untrustworthy
• Philanthropic organisations


  - most influential was the Indian Rights Association (social activist group, devoted cause assimilating NA people)

  - membership motivated by their religious beliefs and involved Quakers, catholics, Protestants. Common purpose was reform

  - generally believed that tribes should be assimilated and achieve equality

  - didn't all agree on how to achieve this - worked to persuade abandon traditional ways but critical of gov org e.g board of Indian commissioners set up 1869, labelled as dishonest and accused mistreating NA
• Federal action towards NA


  - reservations largely run by federal agents but some by the US army

  - 1890, desperate band 200 starving and unarmed Sioux Indians left reservation were cornered by the army at Wounded Knee in South Dakota and gunned down

  - gov meat subsidies to the Sioux reservations cut at times where other demand on federal funding
• Who were the five civilised tribes?

  - Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole

  - adopted some cultural traditions and customs of the Europeans eg owning AA slaves

  - president Jackson signed the Indian removal act which granted tribes land within state boundaries. Meant forcible relocation of the five tribes to land called 'Indian territory' - 60,000 migrants and c.10,000 died
• The aims of the Dawes Act

  - decision made in congress to divide up (allot) reservation lands on the plains into homesteads to be allocated to NA families which was done by the Dawes Act 1887. The reservations weren't working fast enough to reduce culture

  - clear that no one wished to understand the deeply spiritual dimension of tribal culture/ strength of bonds of the NA
• The aims of the Curtis Act


  - resistance to the allotment policy came from the five civilised tribes still located on the Indian territory (became known as Oklahoma). They'd initially been exempted from the Dawes Act.

  - amendment to the Dawes act passed by congress in 1898

  - proposed the termination of the rights of these tribes to be self governing by 1906; ended independence by removing right to be subject to their own tribal laws+gov

  - proposals to combine the Indian territories and Oklahoma into state of Oklahoma, but tribes wanted separate land called state of Sequoyah, but rejected by Congress even though majority vote for other state. Territories combined 1907

  - 1898-1907, 100,000 NA from Oklahoma were assigned lands. Approx 2mil acres of former NA territory opened for white settlement
• The terms of Dawes and Curtis

  - each head of the family to receive 160 acres of farmland or 320 acres of grazing land for 25yrs in trust

  - further subdivisions of land to be allotted to single persons/orphaned children

  - after 25yrs, NA to have full ownership of the land

  - all NA farming allotted land to have full rights of citizenship

  - unallotted land on reservation to be offered to white Americans for settlement
• Positive effects of the Dawes and Curtis Act

  - largely successful. Navajo reservations e.g most were sig reduced in size of completely disappeared

  - by 1900, of the 150mil acres of reservation and recognised by the gov in 1887 as belonging to the NA, only about 78mil remained

  - land owning NAs paid taxes so gained full rights of citizenship

  - some settled to farming and were successful
• Negative effects of the Dawes and Curtis Act

  - most dependent on the quality of land allocated. Many didnt adapt and enterprises failed

  - sig amount land allotted to the NA were bought by white settlers when NA owners unsuccessful and got into debt - either thrown back on the support of other families or forced return to reservation lands

  - policy allotment affected status and rights of some NA women particularly tribes where traditionally matriarchal; land allotted to male head when female controlled before

  - loss tribal lands inc NA determination to remain separate; not assimilation

  - by 1900, only around 100,000/240,000 who'd inhabited plains in 1865 remained

  - pride and self respect lost as dependent on the gov for food

  - outbreak war 1914 bad as land taken + denied right to negotiate
• How much progress was made by the NA by 1924? SAI

  - potential hope 1911 when the society of American Indians (SAI) formed. Set out to create an intertribal rights org. First group set up/run by NAs. Campaigned for better education and healthcare.

  - group held annual meetings from 1911-23. Published magazine 4x yea show role that NAs could play in the US society (support assimilation), offered legal assistance to tribes etc.

  - sig lack of money + support from the NAs themselves limited impact bc pop spread across and not a clear aim; some members wanted resistance to assimilation, majority argued to engage in it to achieve progress

  - collapsed 1920s, achieved very little
• How much progress was made by the NA by 1924? WW1

  - c.10,000 NAs fought for the army. Not forced to fight in segregated units which showed integration.

  - NA women sent off reservations to work in factories as replacements and some entire families paid move of reservations to cities to work in defence industries

  - Federal gov + Indian Agents saw WW1 as a (+) as the NAs were 'transformed
• Overall progress made by the NA by 1924?

  - NAs powerless in 1921/23 when the 'dance order; prohibited Pueblo Tribe from performing their traditional ritual dances

  - SAI met for the last time 1923 and disbanded shortly after

  - creation of the American Indian Defence Association (AIDA) 1923 led by white social worker John Collier which succeeded in blocking the Bursum Bill passed 1922 to take Pueblo land

  - when Indian citizenship act 1924 passed by Congress (gave NA citizenship), not due to advocacy/campaigning from pressure groups, nor fed gov support for ww1, but bc drive pursue assimilation
• Federal action in the 1920/30s - social


  - convert NA into Indv property owners/ US citizens. Citizenship rights X guarantee right to vote

  - reservation lands drastically reduced in eg Oklahoma - attracted new reformers ready to accept the NA cultures; preserve traditions

  - attention of pueblo NAs - lost much land bc SC decision 1913, 'dance order'

  - AIDA campaign laws protect right NA to land, culture
• Federal action in the 1920/30s - pol


  - hostility of state gov in west towards them did nothing to convince NA that anything to gain from politics

  - many states west resisted extension of franchise + use legal arguments + impose voting qualifications to exclude them - reversed to some extent by case Harrison v. Laveen 1948. Claims rights violated as X allowed register to vote, court decided in their favour

  - by 1924, no.NA right vote inc 2/3 of NA pop - result was allotment system
• The Meriam Report 1928


  - presented picture impact of forced assimilation partially in response to further enroachment onto reservation lands where likely find oil field

  - condemned allotment policy of Dawes act; deprived of land and failed provide with support to achieve eco security (more condemning allotment not assimilation)

  - president hoover supported, appointed new Indian commissioner, Charles Rhodes, to put together reform package like report NA children replaced with improved reservation schools

  - federal funding improve medical facilities but didnt address allotment lands

  - Hoover continued support of NA despite eco effects depression
• The wheeler-Howard act 1934

  - recognise+preserve traditional culture of Indian tribes. NA have more influence +involvement in admin of reservations, rights practice own religion, assert cultural identity

  - curtailed sale of Indian lands to indv buyers. 1900-30, NA lost more than half of their land and unalloyed land was restored to the tribes and used to expand existing reservations

  - collier commissioner for indian affairs, improved quality of life for NA: NA inc involved in work of Bureau of indian affairs but still under federal official; act extended political rights to NA women (opp train for domestic work + encouraged aspire to higher education; built schools, hospitals etc on reservations to improve conditions
• what was the impact of the Indian New Deal?

  - 1934 was a compromise

  - reflected the inc influence of the wheeler

  - whilst there was some sympathy for the plight of the NA, generally politicians though assimilation was the way forward and no further separation

  - needed to achieve assimilation knowing the allotment policy was greatly unfavoured. tried make NA recognised importance through education, economic sufficiency, support for health
• Outcome of the Indian New Deal - failure

  - allotment process was brought to an end, but assimilation commitment remained and gov paternalistic attitude - patronising, make decisions

  - original proposal to provide separate federal court to deal with NA issues was abandoned. although funding made available in the short term to buy former reservation , given only limited powers to control eco affairs

  - Collier had very unrealistic vision - federal funding never sufficient to buy back huge amounts former resv lands

  - ww2 meant impact not big in the long run

  - eco failure
• Outcome of the Indian New Deal - success

  - dramatic loss of land through allotment was curtailed and funds provided by the federal gov did support developments of the NA communities

  - improvements in education and health provisions. 1938 census indicated NA pop inc faster rate nationally

  - tribes still living on resvs led again by tribal councils so resurgence of culture

  - involvement of NA in the indian bureau gave some input into development of policy

  - scale change, avg NA did benefit; education+housing

  -pol/socio a success
• Responses of the NA towards the Indian New Deal

  - Collier had never consulted them in plans, he assumed they all wanted self determination; not rep of their views. he hadnt allowed for fact that allotment had been 40yrs and some already assimilated

  - some didnt want self determination; already successfully farming homesteads and afraid losing land reorganised

  - many lacked understanding of the legal issues with act and became confused with the dealings with federal authorities
• National Congress for American Indians NCAI

  - formed 1944, group 80 mainly educated NAs represented 50 tribes

  - 2 leaders were women, many also worked for John Collier in Bureau of Indian Affairs

  - realisation of unity necessary. worked through courts like NAACP to challenge discrimination in employment, unequal education provision and breaking of treaties

  - 1960s, some successes in approach through courts but mostly out of touch with mass NAs as most members assimilated, and court procedure was very slow. Many NAs wanted lands back to govern tribal law but instead going into poverty
• Dates of the period and different policies

  - pre&post CW: treaties and reservations

  - 1887-1934: allotment

  - 1953-69: Termination+urbanisation
• Public Law 280


  - 1953 - gave state govs power assume jurisdiction over Indian reservations, which previously been excluded from state jurisdiction

  - but states unhappy as new responsibilities without inc funding support supplies/staff

  - NA subject to new laws so unhappy
• Policy of termination


  - intro more aggressive measures to hasten total assimilation 1953

  - 'termination' - NA no longer wards of the gov; plans to end fed control of bureau of Indian affairs + make NA subject to the same laws and rights

  - ended recognition of existence of NA tribes + treaty rights, recognised as independent , self supporting Americans

  - voluntary relocation programme estb ostensibly to provide support, reality to lure away from reservations - gave NA financial support for relocation, help secure jobs. Tempted by city life, compared to post war reality of reservations

  - Indian vocational act 1956 - intended to improve employment prospects vy providing work related training
• End of termination


  - 1968

  - (-) effects were NA had highest rates of illiteracy, diseases, unemployment in US + poorest accommodation

  - message to congress March 'the forgotten Americans' by president Johnson set out the programme to promote Indian self help - proposed national council of Indian opportunities to administer education programme for children preschool to high school and funded by federal gov; provide better quality homes with proper sanitation + legal aid to provide NA with knowledge of rights

  - Nixon ordered the end of policy of termination
• Impact of urbanisation on NA: economic


  - by 1960 around 60,000 NA left reserv and moved to cities near e.g chicago, San Francisco. For many, relocation was forced. The urban env was met with hostility as not used to it

  - job opps for educated NA women arguably better in the 2nd Half 20th century than men as they found openings in service economy and clerical occupations

  - after 1968, NA workers benefitted to some extent from the policy of Affirmative Action - prohibited discr on basis of ethnicity in recruitment to jobs in federally funded projects or enterprises (mainly focused on AA but did help)

  - NA became more aware of the gap between own eco situation and of affluent white Americans
• Impact of urbanisation on NA: social

  - reality of urban dwelling was poverty, alcoholism, unemployment (1968, 42%). 77% unemployment of the Pueblo tribe

  - by 1960 around 25% classified as poor, sig no. Forced to live in shanty town houses, didnt support extended family like traditional life - elderly forced return to what was left of the resv

  - life expectancy NA 44yrs, national avg 64yrs; 20yrs difference

  - lands lost tribes of Wisconsin + Oregon lost around 500,000 acres valuable timber land

  - assimilation not advanced: city life alien, culture shock bc language barrier, est 40-70% resettled NA returned to resv

  - improvements of the new deal not retained bc low funding

  - resv housing overcrowded, unsanitary. NA tend to cluster in specific areas made ghettos - speak own language

  - tuberculosis and alcohol abuse

  - small % educated NA found place amongst urban m-c