Native Americans

• 3/10 people have jobs, riddled with unemployment, depression and alcoholism. Sickness was rife and the upkeep of the community like roads were terrible. E.g. Pine ridge, one of the poorest reservations


  1851
• Indians had been forced West and it then became government policy to attract settlers West, this meant Natives were forced from traditional lands and given reservations
• Reservation policy


  Westward expansion
• 1862 - gave 160 million acres to white settlers, by 1965 20,000 were on the plains
• Idea that white people were bringing religion and education with them while taking this land, extremely paternalistic, fuelled racist readjustment and boarding schools.
• Homestead Act


  1862 - Gave 160 million acres to white settlers
• Manifest destiny


  Idea that white people were bringing religion and education while taking Native land
• The Native population of California had declined to an estimated 31,000 with over 60 percent perishing from diseases introduced by the miners. Tribes were also systematically chased off their lands, forcibly relocated to missions and reservations, enslaved and brutally massacred.


  1870
• California Gold rush


  Caused massive decline in Native population due to disease, relocation, enslavement and massacres
• 1865 Railway was under construction, meant to extend from coast to coast, railroad meant more land was lost and trains disturbed the buffalos as well as bringing more settlers
• Union Pacific Railway


  Construction led to more land loss and disruption for Native Americans
• Why the plains war happened: Native Americans, angered by the further settling of their land, driven by hunger, rose up against the Government and fought back resulting in a series of clashes.
• 1864 massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people by the U.S. Army where the Cheyenne village was ravaged and over 250 Indians were killed, 2/3s women and children
• Sand Creek Massacre


  1864 - U.S. Army massacre of Cheyenne and Arapaho people
• 1868 Battle of Little Bighorn - Custer pushed to attack too quickly in fear they would scatter and lost a huge defeat, 210, all of his men killed. Fed Gov reacted badly.
• 1890, wounded knee - Effectively ended to Plains war, US Amy wanted to disarm Lakota tribe in fear of a another Sioux resurgence and the spread of the Ghost Dance, when they refused to hand over their weapons they opened fire and massacred nearly 300 Indians.
• Wounded knee


  U.S. Army massacre of Lakota tribe
• Dawes - 1887 Provided each individual of an Indian family with 168 acres of farm land or 320 of grazing land, Land was split up equally, Gave them an economic foot in the door later on, Land owning Indians paid tax and gained full rights and citizenship
• Dawes Act

  Provided land to individual Native Americans, aimed to break up tribes
• 1898 - Amendment to Dawes, applied Dawn to 5 previous exemptions in Oklahoma which sentially prevented self-governance. Tribes responded with the Muskogee convention
• Curtis Act


  Amendment to Dawes Act that prevented Native American self-governance
• All remaining tribal land (1.2 millions) was declared surplus and were open to white settlers, Indians did not want land to be divided because it went against their culture (Dawes was designed to break up tribes, by 1000 only 7 million acres belonged to Indian compared to 1887 which was 150 million, I adversely affected matriarchal tribes (Cherokee)
• The Indian Reorganisation Act (IRA) 1934 gave Native Americans a greater role in administration of the reservations including the restorations of tribal self governance, corporations were established to ensure that resources on reservations were better managed, the Act protected cultural and religious practices like the use of Peyote on reservations and and repealing the ban on ceremonial dances, Children were allowed to attend local schools rather than attend boarding or white run schools, it De Jure stopped the sale of Native land and called for the restoration of unallocated land to create new reservations.
• 25,000/350,000 NA's served in WW2 a higher percent than any other ethnic minority increasing respect and awareness of Indians, A further 75,000 moved to urban areas to work in the defence industry, these large numbers integrated into the big cities more than the reservations.
• National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was formed in 1944 which united Native Americans in protest
• WW2 also began the process of urbanisation of NA's which was arguably the most powerful force in accelerating assimilation.
• For those who remained on the reservations it was a time of great hardship because money was poured into the war and away from reservations, Japanese Americans who had been interred were given reservation land in compensation at the end of the war and also many NA soldiers were effectively forced back onto the reservations at the end of the war as well as munitions workers as they were facing discrimination
• Growing frustration with their social and economic situation as well as inspiration taken from he African American civil rights movement, Native Americans united in protest. During the 1960's the National Congress of American Indians (1944) had some civil rights success in the courts and obtained a pledge from Kennedy to help develop the human and natural resources on the reservations, these were not fulfilled by the time of his assassination.
• Partly in response to this the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) was set u in 1961. They took a more active role in protest and in 1964 hundreds of Native Americans gathered in Washington for recognition of LBJ's war on poverty. They also brought court cases with some success.
• National Congress of American Indians


  1844 United Native Americans in protest, had some civil rights success
• National Indian Youth Council


  Took a more active role in protest, brought court cases
• Siege of Alcatraz 1969 - 14 Indians occupied the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. They were led by the charismatic Richard Oakes with negotiations carried out by Adam Fortunate Eagle. They campaigned for the lands return now it was deserted, they offered to but it back for $24. When this was refused the number jumped to 80
• Although the occupation was unsuccessful it was impactful because of how much media coverage it received, not just American, it raised awareness and gave them credibility, it was also an issue which inspired young Natives with over 10,000 visiting the island, finally inspired a wave of other protests and occupations under AIM
• Occupation of Mount Rushmore 1971 - Attempted reclaiming of disputed land where the burial grounds of Lakota Sioux Indians lay. Protesters were eventually evicted but soon after lay ownership tot he black hills.
• Red Power Occupation movement


  Protests and occupations by Native Americans to raise awareness and reclaim land
• AIM take-over of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in DC 1972 - Marched over Washington the 'city of broken treaties' to spread awareness of the Indians plight before the election. Was meant to be a peaceful protest but violence and property damaging broke out.
• Occupation of Wounded Knee 1973- site of the Sioux Massacre, alleged mistreatment of the land so they occupied it. Violence broke out and it lasted for 71 days. Federal marshals, FBI agents and military personnel were called in, 2 of the leaders were arrested but later acquitted, lots of media coverage, ended with a negotiation settlement.
• For Many other groups progress was too slow and AIM was established in 1968. The Red Power movement was based around high profile activities and gaining media attention. By 1968 protest was popular amongst younger Indians, in 1969 Vine Delloria Jnr published "Custer died for your sins" and by Dee Brown "Bury my heart at wounded knee" which raised awareness of millions about the plight of Native Americans and is still popular today.
• AIM and Red Power

  Protest movement by Native Americans to raise awareness and assert rights
• Native American Rights Fund (NARF)-1970 put pressure on the Supreme court to protect their culture and way of life