2.3 US policy towards Plains Indians and its impacts Flashcards
In return for move Plains Indians onto reservations, what did the US government promise Plain Indians?
- that they won’t lose any more land
- they will be protected from attacks by whites
- they will be given yearly payments (in money, food, livestock, clothing and farming equipment)
Why did Plains Indians move to reservations?
Because there was no other way for the tribe to survive:
- White American expansion resulted in dwindling food supplies
- US government promised protection for their land, that they will be well cared for on reservations, with regular supplies of food and the opportunity to continue hunting on hunting grounds
- tribes desperate for food would sign treaties in order to get something to eat
What happened when it became clear to Plains Indians that the government rarely carried out these promises?
other tribes resisted reservations by either refusing to move to them or not staying on them.
The US army was used to force Plains Indians to move to reservations or return to them if they left
What were the impacts of the reservations? (5)
- reservations showed no understanding of Plains Indian cultural values
- challenges of farming on the plains were even worse for Plains Indians than for white settlers
- the management of reservations was the responsibility of the Bureau of Indian Affairs: these men were often corrupt and cheated the tribes in order to make themselves wealthy
- reservations were often reduced in size which broke treaties and made it even harder for the tribes to survive
- conflicts arose because of the problems faced in reservations = government used them as an excuse to take more land from the tribes
Elaborate on why reservations showed no understanding of Plains Indian cultural values
- chiefs had no authority to make bands or brotherhoods stay on the reservations
- reservations were sometimes a long way from the tribe’s sacred places and traditional enemies were sometimes placed on the same reservation (e.g. apache and Navajo)
elaborate on why challenges of farming on the plains were even worse for Plains Indians than for white settlers
- reservations often had very poor farming land (that whites did not want) and some tribes had no traditions of farming at all
- when crops failed the Plains Indians had to be supplied with food by the government: they were overeliant
Why were reservations were often reduced in size?
because white settlers were angry at the size of some reservations and complained that the Plains Indians were being treated better than they were
the government used any excuse to reduce the size of reservations
When did President Grant put out the peace policy?
1868
Why was President Grant’s Peacy policy established?
President Grant saw that problems on the reservations led directly to conflicts between desperate Plains Indians and the US Army.
the policy aimed to calm tensions by improving the management of the reservation system
What were the features of President Grant’s peace policy?
- replaced corrupt reservation agents with religious men, specifically Quakers who had a strong reputation for fairness, justice and peace
- appointed Ely Parker, American Indian, as the commissioner of Indian Affairs
- the US government put forward a budget of $2 million to ensure that Plains Indians already living on reservations were cared for, and to set up reservations for tribes currently roaming free
- Plains Indians who refused to go to the reservations were to be treated as hostile and would be attacked by the army
What did Ely Parker do as the commissioner of Indian Affairs?
what were his views?
pushed for a further change in government policy :
- instead of negotiating treaties with tribes, he argued that Plains Indians should be treated as “helpless and ignorant wards
- the government should decide what was best for the Plains Indians
What did Ely Parker’s views result in?
the Indian appropriations Act of 1871 which declared:
plains Indians nations or tribes would no longer be recognised as ‘an independent nation, tribe, or power’. Instead, the act stated that Plains Indians should be treated as wards of the state.
