GA - Document Analysis - Native Americans Lesson

Document Analysis - Native Americans

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The Americas were settled by American Indians long before Europeans arrived on the shores of the "New World". While there were some positive interactions early on, such as between the Wampanoags and the Pilgrims, much of the settler-Native American interaction was one of conflict. Europeans and American Indians had vastly different concepts of land ownership and in some cases, what the land should be used for.

As we have learned so far in the class many Native Americanas in the east were gradually moved, often by force, further and further west. At the time of the Civil War, the Great Plains and desert areas of the Southwest were the only areas where American Indian people groups controlled large areas of land. Over a period of about 25 years, this too changed. A series of wars were fought as farmers, ranchers, and prospectors moved into the West. Despite putting up a strong resistance, American Indian tribes were eventually forced onto reservations and one of their main sources of resources, the buffalo, were hunted to near extinction.

Some reformers, such as Helen Hunt Jackson, brought to light some of the abuses that had occurred toward the native people. However, the reformers answer was often to encourage and force Native Americans to adopt the ways of "white civilization". It was not until the 1930s when efforts were begun to restore limited control of their own affairs to Native Americans and allow for a stronger preservation of native culture.

Examine these 5 documents, as well as this timeline Links to an external site., and then answer the questions that follow. You can also download a pdf copy of the documents here. Links to an external site.

 

Document 1: a description of the Sand Creek Massacre One [infantry] battalion...left Fort Lyon [Colorado] on the night of the 28th of November, 1864; about daybreak on the morning of the 29th of November we came in sight of the camp of friendly [Cheyenne and Arapaho] Indians...and were ordered by Colonel [J.M.] Chivington to attack the same, which was accordingly done....Going over the battle ground the next day I did not see a body of man, woman, or child but was scalped, and in many instances their bodies were mutilated in the most horrible manner

Document 2: Custer at Little Big Horn, 1876

Document 3: President Chester Arthur on past and proposed future Indian policy It was natural, at a time when the national territory seemed almost illimitable and contained many millions of acres far outside the bounds of civilized settlements, that a policy should have been initiated which more than aught else has been the fruitful source of our Indian complications. I refer, of course, to the policy of dealing with the various Indian tribes as separate nationalities, of relegating them by treaty stipulations to the occupancy of immense reservations in the West, and of encouraging them to live a savage life, undisturbed by any earnest and well directed efforts to bring them under the influences of civilization. The unsatisfactory results which have sprung from this policy are becoming apparent to all. As the white settlements have crowded the borders of the reservations, the Indians, sometimes contentedly and sometimes against their will, have been transferred to other hunting grounds, from which they have again been dislodged whenever their new--found homes have been desired by the adventurous settlers. These removals and the frontier collisions by which they have often been preceded have led to frequent and disastrous conflicts between the races.... The government has of late been cautiously but steadily feeling its way to the adoption of a policy...to introduce among the Indians the customs and pursuits of civilized life and gradually to absorb them into the mass of our citizens, sharing their rights and holden to their responsibilities....

Document 4: from the Dawes Severalty Act (1887) The President of the United States be...authorized...to allot; the lands in said reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon in quantities as follows: To each head of a family, one--quarter of a section; To each single person over eighteen years of age, one--eighth of a section; To each orphan child under eighteen years of age, one--eighth of a section.... Sec. 6. That upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and every member of the respective band or tribes of Indians...shall...be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the State or Territory in which they may reside.

Document 5: Big Foot’s Camp after Wounded Knee, 1890

Questions

  1. Massacres and atrocities were committed by both Native Americans and soldiers. How was the Sand Creek Massacre particularly brutal?
  2. How was the result of the Battle of the Little Big Horn different than many other large scale conflicts between the U.S. military and Native Americans?
  3. What policies does President Arthur see as a failure? What does he propose?
  4. What did the Dawes Act promise to Native Americans? What did it expect them to do?
  5. What last major conflict of the Plains Indian Wars took place after the Dawes Act was passed?

Answer the questions on your own paper or word processing document.

 

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