What led to the Tragedy at Wounded Knee? ( look in notes)

And the effect of Western Settlers

  Nomads- roamed vast distances, following their main source of food- buffalo.  Family Structure: -Extended family, close to nature -Women- domestic tasks: raising children, cooking and preparing hides. -Men- hunting, trading and supervising military  Tribal Structure: -Divided into bands of 500 people - A governing council headed each band -Religion- based on spiritual power of the natural world Plain Indians

  Who are the Native Americans new neighbors? miners ranchers farmers  Deprived Native Americans of hunting grounds  Broke Treaties  Forced them to relocate to new territories  Native Americans resisted by riots and conflicts New Neighbors

 Riots, battles and treaties

  Annuities- payments to reservation dwellers made by the government  were given 5 to 30 cents an acre, but most ended up in the hands of American traders.  Little Crow- led starving Dakotas to an uprising. 38 Dakotas were executed.  Those that fled the reservation settled in the Dakotas Dakota Sioux

  Were led by Red Cloud, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull  Crazy Horse- religious and war leader led troops into a deadly trap.  Captain Fetterman and 80 soldiers were led into an ambush and the whole detachment was destroyed.  Army suffered a loss Lakota Sioux

  Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian tribes had tensions with the miners and migrants  Bands of Native Americans began raiding wagon trains and stealing cattle and horses from ranches.  John Evans ordered the Native Americans to surrender at Fort Lyon and they would be given food and protection.  Chief Black Kettle- brought Cheyenne to the fort to negotiate, and was told to make camp at Sand Creek.  Col. Chivington and the Colorado Volunteers attacked the Cheyenne at Sand Creek. 600 Died. Fetterman’s Massacre

  Created 2 large reservations : One for Sioux and one for other southern Plains Indians.  Agents from Bureau of Indian Affairs ran the reservation. Army was responsible to deal with those the refused to report or remain  The plan failed  The Dakota Sioux faced poverty, despair and corrupt practices on the reservations Indian Peace Commission

  Native Americans leaving reservations because they preferred to hunt buffalo  Buffalo rapidly disappearing. Migrants crossing the plains had killed thousands. Professional buffalo hunters killed for hides to sell. Other hunters were doing it for sport.  Army encouraged killing of buffalo to try to force Native Americans onto reservations.  Led to:  Battle of Little Big Horn  Tragedy at Wounded Knee Last Native American Wars

  Lakota Sioux in South Dakota ( Black Hills) were being overran by miners.  The Sioux felt that since Americans were violating the treaty, they left the reservation to hunt in the Bighorn Mountains.  Government sent an Army force under Lt.Col. George A. Custer  Custer planned a three prong attack in broad daylight  2,500 Cheyenne & Lakota attacked the Calvary and killed Custer and the other 210 soldiers  Custer was perceived as the victim of a massacre  Sitting Bull who led the charge fled to Canada, the other members were forced to return to the reservation Little Big Horn

Battle of Little Big Horn Lt. Col. Custer and 210 cavalry soldiers are killed

  Native Americans resisted the federal authority to stop the ‘Ghost Dance’.  ‘Ghost Dance’- a ritual that celebrates a hoped-for- day of reckoning when settlers disappear and to reunite with the deceased ancestors. ghost dance  Sitting Bull- returned from Canada and was killed in the exchange of gunfire while he and supporters were resisting the police.  Native Americans fled the reservation and U.S. troops went after them. A battle at Wounded Knee occurred where 25 U.S soldiers died and 200 Lakota men, women and children were killed. Tragedy at Wounded Knee

Wounded Knee 25 U.S Soldiers and 200 Lakota Men, Women and Children are killed

  Assimilation - to bring into conformity with the customs, attitudes, etc., of a group, nation. - absorbed into American society as landowners and citizens  Allotments - breaking up reservations into areas where families could be self-supporting Assimilation

  People believed that the situation would improve if Native Americans would assimilate into American society.  Dawes Act was a plan of assimilation that gave Native American families individual allotments.  Head of household- 160 acres, Single Adults- 80 acres,Children- 40 acres  Remaining land sold to American settlers and placed in a trust for Native Americans  The plan failed because they knew very little about farming or ranching and had little motivation to pursue that lifestyle  The Plains Indians were doomed because they depended on the buffalo for food, shelter, fuel, and clothing and the herds were becoming wiped out. Dawes Act

How were the Native Americans of the Plains affected by the Americans migrating west?