Native Americans

Question 1

indian reorganisation act

Answer 1

1934

Question 2

advantages of indian reorganisation act (6)

Answer 2

Led to a better quality of life for some NAs as new deal money spent on reservations with hospitals, schools etc

Native women gained a somewhat better place in society as they were involved in cooperatives and the promoting of Native culture

Vocational education and university - western culture

Bureau of Indian affairs gained some more Native control

Tribes organised into legal bodies who could vote and adopt their own policies – political independence with some federal input and governance from bureau of indian affairs

Tribes could make their own governments and ask for funds from bureau if they had three/fifths popular vote

Education of Indian culture

Question 3

disadvantages of indian reorganisation act (7)

Answer 3

Collier had not consulted any NA’s, or the ones he did he had failed to convince of his bill as they had already been partially/fully assimilated also didn’t understand them eg tried to impose democracy instead of councils

75-245 tribes voted against the act showing it didn’t have overwhelming support

Western states criticised the act saying it regressed more than progressed, trying to reverse assimilation and was too idealistic

Congress changed Collier’s bill greatly, not including renewal of Indian culture and leading to less self-governing of tribes

Stopped sale of land to individual buyers

Navajo tribe (biggest tribe) voted against it as it stopped grazing rights

Lots of Collier’s bill was rejected by congress and he faced lots of opposition (White missionaries/Christians, White taxpayers

Question 4

situation in 1850

Answer 4

250,000 plain indians, there was no direct action by congress but instead violence instigated by settlers
no sense of coexistence or integration
land wanted for agricultural settling

Question 5

horse creek treaty

Answer 5

1851

Question 6

impact of the civil war on NA’s

Answer 6

many governmental troops were taken out of the west to fight in the civil war
johnson wanted to exploit the West for gold
beginning of ‘peaceful conquest’ and takeover of land
California militia replaced troops, 1865 - 20,000 soldiers

Question 7

battles during the civil war

Answer 7

NA lifestyle disregarded and this caused (mainly local violence)

battle of adobe walls November 1864 apaches attacked whites and Kit Carson was leading and he defeated all thre tribes (navajos, apaches, kiowas)

Sand creek massacre 1864
Cheyenene and Apacho tribe were promised protection when they were banished westwards but local militia slaughtered them

Sioux war 1862 Minnesota
NA’s were not provided with their supplies so they attacked and captured 1000 Americans. Led to 38 being hung.

Question 8

overview of NA culture and how it was different to Western culture

Answer 8

polygamy
tribal/communal living
councils which took decisions as opposed to secret elections
nomadic
relied off buffalo
lived in teepees
defined gender roles and children were brought up learning how to live in the tribe

Question 9

attitude of Johnson

Answer 9

peaceful approach
wanted to exploit the west for gold
set up bureau of Indian Affairs

Question 10

Indian Citizenship Act

Answer 10

1924
NA’S stopped being defined as wards
impact wardship had on NA’s:
- every aspect of their lives was controlled, state had leverage over them
- they didnt pay taxes so therefore were reliant on the state for food and supplies
As part of the effort for assimilation

Question 11

Great Sioux War

Answer 11

1876
sitting bull opposed white encroachment
NA’s were recieving poor supplies from the state
the north pacific railroad was advancing onto their land
minors were going into indian territory for gold

Question 12

Dawes Act

Answer 12

1887
started a policy of reservations and allotments which completely destroyed Native culture.
Aim: assimilation/americanisation of NA’s into American culture

Question 13

impact of ww1

Answer 13

codebreakers
soldiers
became more civilised
army regiments not segregated unlike African Americans
17,000 Indians served in the armed forces
1919, Indian veterans of the war were granted citizenship
led to the creation of the ICC

Question 14

battle of the little big horn

Answer 14

1876
one of the best victories in the planes war

Custer’s army outnumbered, convinced Lakota/sitting bulls tribes were retreating when they went over hill.

Question 15

effect of the Dawes Act

Answer 15

Between 1887-1900 NA reservation land was reduced from 150 million to 78 million which showed that it was unsuccessful and white settlers were trying to buy the land
Curtis Act 1898 - included 5 tribes which had been exempt from the act, they were no longer self-governing

• land impossible to farm on
• land neglected when tribes travelled to meet up
• ## natives didnt know skills needed to tend to crops

Question 16

Fort Laramie Treaty

Answer 16

1868

Established the Sioux reserve

Question 17

life on reservations

Answer 17

1880’s- drought affected crops
Corruption of Indian Agents
epidemics of influenza, whooping cough and measles
Starvation
Severe drop in the number of Native Americans
Not allowed to practice their own religion
Children removed and put in boarding schools
substandard quality of life and extreme poverty

Question 18

education on reservation

Answer 18

boarding schools, mostly unsuccessful
children punished if they spoke in their native language
taught maths and english

Two vocational schools were successful:
Virginia - Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute
Pennsylvania - Carlisle Indian Industrial School
focused on construction and domestic service so was very limiting

removal from culture which was unsettling for Native children

• hair cut
• uniforms
• forbidden to speak native language
• harsh punishments

Could be employed in the Indian agency offices or become interpreters or Indian scouts to the army. eg. some jobs available

Question 19

wounded knee

Answer 19

1890
slaughtering of native american tribe sioux
wounded knee creek south dakota
lakota tribes land had been systematically removed from them

Question 20

beginning of termination

Answer 20

1953

Question 21

did termination work?

Answer 21

• Almost half moved back to reservations
• Set up self-help groups and spoke their own languages (trying to maintain normality)
• Ghettoization
• Young NA’s grew more militant
• 1961 National Indian Youth Council
• led to red power movement

Question 22

negatives of termination, social (6)

Answer 22

• Traumatising to move to the city
• Ghettoisation
• Accommodation in the cities did not provide for large families or the elderly
• 1953 essentially saw them not being recognised as who they actually were anymore and being forced to comply with the American way of life.
• Impossible for them to just adapt, high rates of poverty, disease and illiteracy (migrants)
• Life expectancy was 20 years below national average, 44 years
• 25% beneath the poverty line
• 42% illiteracy in 1968

Question 23

positives of termination (social)

Answer 23

• led to red power which raised awareness of struggles of native americans
• Skills learnt in the war could be utilised in urban employment
• Nixon ordered the end of termination
• 1960, 60,000 NA in cities
• A small number of NA assimilated into the middle classes
• It was easier for women to get used to urban culture as some married white men and there were more job opportunities in the service economy and clerical occupations (less competition)

Question 24

siege of alcatraz

Answer 24

1969

Question 25

negatives of termination economic (3)

Answer 25

• native americans not welcomed in work forces and factories so very high levels of unemployment
• Funding from the new deal for reservations was stopped, so when people returned they had nothing
• Little support was offered except ICC, end to large reservations. Showed American government essentially accepting that the NA didn’t exist anymore and shunning their lifestyle

Question 26

ICC

Answer 26

Indian Claims Commission

• Provided financial compensation to NA’s as it allowed them to file petitions and make claims
• Recognition of the NA war effort
• 1946-78 (was only meant to last 5 years) therefore showed it was popular and needed

Question 27

dates of govermental policies

Answer 27

reservation policy 1871-87
allotment policy (dawes act) 1887-1934
termination 1953-69

‘Americanisation’
‘assimilation’
‘manifest destiny’

Question 28

attitude of the supreme court (earlier)

Answer 28

upheld the belief that congress would act in the best interests of Native Americans therefore they could not appeal or protest for their own rights
for example
lone wolf vs hitchcock 1903
comanche and lone wolf’s tribe kiowa had signed a treaty in 1863 protecting their land from absolute and undisturbed use and occupation however it was removed
Cherokee nation vs Hitchcock 1902
the Secretary of the Interior exclusive power over oil, coal, asphalt and other minerals in Cherokee land

Question 29

native american pressure group,

Answer 29

SOCIETY OF AMERICAN INDIANS, 1911 - for assimilation and reforms - improved health care on reservations, citizenship, and a special court of claims for Indians
NARF - Native American rights fund (established to protect cultural rights which had been undermined due to urbanisation and development as well as assimilation. eg. fishing, right to worship freely
NCAI- established in 1944, wanted to integrate native americans and make them not dependant on the government
NIYC - national indian youth council 1961 , wanted to protect native american fishing rights in the north west, soon expanded to protect basic human and cultural rights on Native Americans

Question 30

supreme court cases after termination

Answer 30

Fisher vs Montana

Oneida vs Madison Counties 1974 (Oneida tribe sued and received their land back)

Fisher v. Montana 1976 – secured the right for tribal courts to decide on all cases relating to the adoption of Indian children

1980 – US v. Sioux Nation of Indians (Sioux won compensation for their land but dismissed this as they wanted the actual land back

Seminole Tribe vs Butterworth 1981 (allowed to run casino on their land even though it was banned in the rest of the state)

Charrier vs Bell 1986 - social (remains dug out from NA land were returned to them as they were ruled to belong to them)

Question 31

buffalo

Answer 31

1870 – Buffalo herds had by this point diminished to a crisis point for Plains Indians

Question 32

indian appropriation act

Answer 32

March 1871 (Grant)
This Congressional Act specified that no tribe thereafter would be recognized as an independent nation with which the federal government could make a treaty. (From 1778 to 1868, 371 treaties were ratified the US government.) 

Made them wards of the government as they had no control over their land and couldn’t make treaties with government, but rather would be determined by passing Congressional statutes or executive orders.

showed them not being accepted as American citizens and also caused local militia violence with encroachment on land and violence due to NAs not being provided with supplies

Question 33

grant’s presidency

Answer 33

1869 – 4 March 1877

• reservation policy
• peace policy,

Question 34

education policies

Answer 34

1891 – Indian Education Act
1861 - first boarding school established on the Yakima Indian Reservation in the state of Washington
1880 -, the U.S. operated 60 boarding schools for 6,200 Indian students
Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania (East)

The Indian Education Act 1972 – closure of boarding school and the building of schools of reservations
1978 - Indian Childwelfare act (parents had the right not to send their children to boarding school)

Question 35

Johnson presidency

Answer 35

1865-1869

Question 36

meriam report

Answer 36

1928 - The Meriam Report “The Problem of Indian Administration.” - The report, commissioned by the Department of Interior in 1926, focused on the poverty, ill health, and despair that characterized many Indian communities

Question 37

impact of ww2

Answer 37

comanche and navajo code breakers
25,000 NAs participated in the war
Ira Hayes - raised the US flag over Iwo Jima. Became a famous and iconic image

Question 38

vietnam war

Answer 38

1965-1973
43,000 NAs fought
showed their assimilation into society and contribution to the war effort

Question 39

indian civil rights act

Answer 39

1968
states had to consult tribes before they sold/interfered with/any legal jurisdiction their land ..giving them more control over their land

Question 40

LBJ

Answer 40

1964-1969

- indian civil rights act

Question 41

red power key dates / info

Answer 41

1968 AIM formed (american indian movement)
siege of alcatraz 1969 (led by richard oakes)
1971 - occupation of mount rushmore (protest against reversal of the fort-laramie treaty)
1972 – Trail of Broken Treaties
1972 - siege of bureau of indian affairs
1973 - occupation of wounded knee ( 200 Lakota NAs seized the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation)
1975 – Pine Ridge Reservation Shootout
fish in in washington state

Question 42

acts to reverse negatives from reservation/dawes act

Answer 42

indian civil rights act 1968
indian education act 1972 (providing adequate education to NAs)
Indian self determination and assistance act 1975 (government agencies could enter into contracts and give grants to NA tribes)
native american religious freedom act 1978 (preserves traditional and cultural rights)
indian child welfare act 1978 (nas in foster families)

Question 43

nixon

Answer 43

1969 - 1974

Question 44

key native american figures

Answer 44

standing rock (battle of littlebig horn)
Gladys Tantaquidgeon (first NA to gain a degree, in anthropology, Pennsylvania 1930)
Ira Hayes (flag bearer in ww2)
Sacheen Littlefeather (1973, gets oscar for Marlon Brando)
Richard Oakes (led the siege of Alcatraz)

Question 45

aims of AIM and Red Power

Answer 45

GAINING BACK LOST LAND - MAIN AIM
better treatment by police and authorities
group established to patrol streets
awareness of their culture and treatment (literature, music, media coverage)
worked through the supreme court to regain rights and land

Question 46

carter

Answer 46

1977-1981

Question 47

synthesis points NA movements / opposition

Answer 47

NA opposition and movements continually failed to have an impact until much later in the period

• warship and absolute control from the federal government
• too divided between different tribes (eg. navajos and farming) and geographically
• NA lifestyle relied on listening to elders who lived traditionally therefore wouldn’t want to engage in extreme/radical and direct action
• however, after failure of termination recognition that more needed to be done for NA lifestyle and land, provoked by black power

Question 48

IRA synthesis point /depth study

Answer 48

The IRA was the first time the federal government had actively tried to support the NA culture and lifestyle, however it set up a legacy of failing to provide for NAs and their way of living and ultimately failed as an act

• too idealisitic and reversed the few positive changes that the dawes act had implemented eg navajos tribe. congress disapproved of most of the acts and opposition from missionaries/christians
• didn’t understand the NA lifestyle and only 1/3 of NAs adopted the constitution (democracy and closed elections)
• economically it did help somewhat, provided funds for schools, raised awareness of culture

Question 49

supreme court synthesis point

Answer 49

the supreme court always gave priority to American society and values when ruling in NA court cases

• seminole tribe vs butterworth 1972
• sioux nation vs us

The supreme court merely relied on the policies of the federal government

• cherokee nation vs hitchcock 1902
• fisher vs montana (indian education act)
• charrier vs bell

As a wholly American establishment it was impossible for the supreme court to support the rights of NAs due to their conflicting interests

• sioux vs united nations
• lone wolf v hitchcock

did improve their attitude later in the period
- oneida vs madison county

Question 50

federal government synthesis point

Answer 50

Federal government continually failed to understand the lifestyle and culture of NAs despite its efforts

• reservation / dawes act, extreme poverty
• IRA
• termination
• native capitalism

Originally the Federal government were too focused on the construction of America to help NAs, however later in the period they understood the need to rectify these changes

• homestead act/pacific railroad act and plains wars
• wardship and slaughter of buffalo
• religious freedom act 1978 / Indian self determination and assistance act 1975

Federal government experimented with many different policies to accomodate/assimilate the NA culture, which saw some successes

• navajo tribe farming
• gladys tantaquidgeon
• vocational schools
• codebreakers
• ira hayes, loans/education
• ICC and ww 1
• red power movement led to changes in land eg. oneida vs madison county

Question 51

impact of WWs synthesis point

Answer 51

the WWs represented a turning point in the assimilation of NAs into society

WWs forced the federal government to value the contribution of NAs to american society

• weren’t on reservations anymore
• codebreakers eg. comanche and navajo / ira hayes
• inspired termination
• led to the true integration of NAs into society and encouraged the red power movement
• native capitalism