1. US History: Spiconardi

2.  The government had treated Indians as a foreign nation  By the 1870s, the government began to treat Indians as they did African-Americans & immigrants  Wanted to Americanize and “civilize” through education

3.  Reservations  American believed the best way to civilize the Indian was by forcing him on a reservation  Reservation  land set aside by the federal government for Indians to live on  Government promised to protect from white encroachment  Government agreed to provide food, clothing, and other necessities.

6.  The Sioux Wars 1865 Federal government decides to build a road through Sioux territory. Sioux warriors resist violently, sparking Red Cloud’s War. 1867 Red Cloud’s War ends. Sioux agree to live on reservation in Dakota Territory. 1875 Federal government allows miners to search for gold on Sioux reservation. A war ensues. Chief Sitting Bull leads many Sioux off the reservation. 1876 At the Battle of Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull’s warriors destroy Gen. Custer’s army. In response, federal government sends more troops to the region. Most Sioux agree to live on reservations 1890 At the Massacre of Wounded Knee, American soldiers open fire on unarmed Sioux, killing 200.

7. Chief Sitting BullGen. George Custer

8. Video

9.  The Dawes Act  US reversed reservation policy  Federal government would grant individual Indians 160 acres of land and citizenship (after 25 years), if they abandoned tribal ways  An attempt to further assimilate Indians  In essence: Give up your culture for land  Very few Indians accepted the terms of the Dawes Act

11.  Schools were set up to teach Indian children American values  Most children returned to reservations demoralized

12.  Indians who refused to live on reservations were forced to sell their lands  Indian land holdings decreased from  138 million acres in 1887 to  52 million acres in 1930  Indians lost identity  Life on reservations  High unemployment  High rates of alcoholism  High crime and poverty rates