Native Americans

Question 1

Progress of Native Americans?

Answer 1

• of all the ethnic groups in the USA, NA made the least progress in improving their status + quality of life 1865-1992

Question 2

Relationship between federal government + Natives before 1865

Answer 2

• governed by trust relationship treaties, a commitment for govt. to act in natives’ treaties
• treaties could technically be changed or rejected if 3/4 of a tribe’s male population voted to do so
• appearance of negotiations
• limited outward violence

Question 3

R/ship between federal govt. + natives after 1865

Answer 3

• federal govt. adopted a more heavy-handed approach to dealing with natives
• after 1871 - no illusion of 2 way treaty making = the govt. imposed terms on tribes
• tribes no longer viewed as independent as govt. aimed to assimilate them into American society
• govt. developed reservation as way of containing the Indian population. within determined geographical boundaries
• introduced policies to force them to assimilate
• plain wars - growth of white settlements in west drew natives into conflict with whites, + govt. which aimed to protect white citizens

Question 4

Fighting in plain war

Answer 4

• 1864 Sand Creek Massacre = US soldier attacked Cheyenne camp at Sand Creek - 123 Indians were slaughter (mostly women + children)
• 1865-66 - Sioux + Cheyenne went on a killing spree along the South Platte - Dec 1866 = ‘Hudnred Soldier Killed’/ Fetterman Massacre
• 1867 - Red Cloud’s War
• 1873-4 - Buffalo Wars - between 1872 + 74 the ‘Buffalo Bill’ killed buffalo at the rate of 3 million a year

Question 5

Legislation in Plain Wars

Answer 5

• 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge =
• 1868 Second Treaty of Fort Laramine
• 1871 Indian Appropriation Act
• 1876 dismantling of the Second Fort Laramine Treaty

Question 6

What is the Treaty of Medicine Lodge?

Answer 6

• Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations agreed to the removal of the two tribes to reservation land in Indian territory
• the reservation was created out of lands taken from the Five Civilised Tribes as punishment for the supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War
• (five tribes were removed as a result of the 1830 Indian Removal Act)

Question 7

What was the Second Treaty of Fort Laramine?

Answer 7

• 1868
• after the successful campaign of the red cloud - the govt. agreed to guarantee the Sioux’s rights to the sacred Black Hills of Dakota
• but Nov 1868 - George Custer attacked the tribes in Oklahoma - turned into a massacre
• 1876 - treaty was dismantled + govt. ordered the Sioux to relinquish all claim to the Black Hills
• the threat of the removal of government aid + food was used to obtain Red Cloud’s signature

Question 8

What was the Indian Appropriation Act

Answer 8

• 1871
• the official abandonment of the two way process of treaty making
• enacted by President Grant
• decisions were now made in Washington D.C with little or no involvement by the NA themselves
• the army was used to ensure the NA stayed within their boundaries established by the reservation