Native Americans Flashcards
What does BERT WHIP stand for in terms of Native American culture?
Buffalo - essential to NAs nomadic lifestyle. Exposure - if you fall you are left behind Roles - everyone has one Tipis Warfare - Gain honour or steal resources Horses - currency Indian Religion Polygamy - sign of dominance
What was the Native Americans religion like (culture)?
Believed in ‘Great Spirit’ called Waken Tanka.
Their sacred land is the Black Hills of South Dakota, worshipped.
Believed in vision dances to gain identity and wisdom, land is like their mother. No one can own land.
What was Manifest destiny?
Belief that whites should conquer and civilise the whole continental USA.
What was the impact of westward expansion?
Manifest Destiny 1840s
Settlement of plains (settlers encouraged to move onto it)
Forced migration - Indian removal act 1830
Homestead Act 1862
Loss of subsistence lifestyle.
What was the impact of the civil war?
Plains war
Uneasy relationship with army as army built on plains
Treaties - further loss of land
Loss of food supply - Buffalo
Govt treaties offered aid but not forthcoming
What did the deterioration of relations with the army from the civil war lead to?
Sand Creek Massacre 1864
What were reservations?
Areas where whites forced Native Americans to live - very small areas of land
What was the reservation policy?
The first step governments took in trying to control Native Americans, designed for their ‘safety’.
Idea was to remove food source (Buffalo) and break down their way of life to assimilate them.
What three things did the reservation policy aim to do?
Avoid conflict - by separating Indians from homesteaders and ranchers (cowboys).
Teach Indians American way of life - Expected to live like farmers but given land and not taught how to be farmers
To make Indians dependent on US govt - After conflics of 1860s+70s Indians lost right to leave reservations and hunt for buffalo.
What did the Battle of Little Bighorn prove?
Indians were unwilling to be confined to reservations. The Indians left the reservation’s and refused to return. so General Custer sent to return them to their reservations (sioux tribe), didn’t wait for hs full force to arrive so him and 200 men defeated and killed - led to victory for Indians.
When did the reservation policy start?
1850s
When was the Battle of Little Bighorn?
1876
How was the reservation policy successful to an extent?
Successful in it reduced the amount of lands NAs had and limited their way of life which is what the government wanted. Made the Indians ‘Wards of the State’
What did it mean that Indians were ‘Wards of the state’?
Meant they were treated like children as US govt had to look after and provide for them. Tribes broken up and tribal structure was broken down, no longer any need for a chief or structure as decisions were made for them.
What was the reservation policies impact on Indian culture?
Enormous - by 1880s/90s culture was hard to maintain
What did Corrupt Indian Agents do?
Increased starvation and poor conditions by selling food destined for the Indians.
How did the government attempt to assimilate Native Americans through Education and Young People?
Indian children were forcibly removed from reservations and sent to boarding schools to be taught the American way.
Given new names, clothes, occupations,long hair cut off - against their tradition and insisted they spoke English.
This broke down tribal bond + culture with the aim the next gen after them will be American.
How effective were the government at trying to assimilate Native Americans through the education of young people?
Very, by 1900, most didn’t recognise what it was like to live outside a reservation as the next gen were brought up with American traditions and values.
What was the Dawes Act also know as?
The Dawes Act or the Allotment Act.
When was the Dawes Act?
1887
What did the Dawes Act do?
Provided for each head of an Indian family to be given a certain amount of land to farm, granted Native Americans citizenship rights. A way to civilise them, break up tribal structure and then they were regarded as individual Americans not as a group.
What was the Dawes Plan a result of?
The failure of the reservation policy.
What was Alice Fletcher a leader of?
‘The Friends of the Indians’ 1889
What did Alice Fletcher do?
Told the Indians the law must be obeyed and went about setting up new boundaries on the reservations but tried dividing the land up fairly. for 4 years fighting off whites trying to persuade her to save the best land for them.
What did the Dawes Act give Native Americans the chance to become?
American citizens, although they were not allowed to vote.
What did the Dawes Act do to Native Americans?
Broke down their culture, no longer ‘wards of state’ so govt did not need to deal with them, division and splitting in these native tribes. Negative effect, some refused it meaning still ‘wards of the state’ but a lot of those who accepted ended up giving it up/selling it to whites as had no idea how to farm. Turned to alcoholism. It was intended to help them but devastated them instead.
How much of NA land was gone after 20 years under the Dawes Act?
2/3
How effective was the Dawes Act at assimilating Native Americans?
Very - broke up tribal structure while removing their control and land.
Did the reservation policy assimilate NAs?
No, it did not show any real assimilation or action.
How effective was assimilation of NAs by 1900?
Removal of self determination Reservations deprived + disease ridden 140,000 NAs who had lived on plains in 1865 had left one way or another No distinctive identity Land taken Prejudice against them So very effective.
When was the Homestead Act?
1862
What was the Homestead Act?
Offered 160 acres land to any American citizen over 21. Aimed to aid fulfilment of manifest destiny.
How did the Homestead Act effect NAs?
Negative - their land taken away
What theme does the Homestead Act come under?
Land
When was the End of the American Civil war and what impact did this have on NAs?
1865 and much of the war was fought on the plains, forts built to support soldiers and relations between soldiers and NAs were uneasy but some trading did take place.
Overall negative impact on NAs
What theme does the end of the American Civil War come under?
Land
When was the Indian Appropriation Act?
1871
What was the Indian Appropriation Act?
Allowed to determine how Native tribes organised on the reservations, ended treaties between individual tribes and govt, making them ‘wards of the state’. No independent Indian nation was recognised.
What was the impact of the Indian Appropriation Act on NAs?
Negative - they were forced to live in certain places removing self determination.
What was a turning point of the early period?
The Dawes Act
What theme did the Indian Appropriation Act come under?
Self Determination
How did the Dawes Act affect NAs?
It did give them some self determination from the citizenship which was good but it also took it away as they could only gain this by owning land. A lot od them didn’t know how to farm and it was a result of failed reservation policy and failure of the ‘battle of little bighorn’ destroying all culture and meaning they lost their rights.
Why was the Dawes Act an early turning point?
Negative one, when they first lost all their rights an their culture had been destroyed - from then on they were trying to regain it.
What theme does the Dawes Act come under?
All of them but specifically land.
What involvement did NAs have in WW1?
10,000 of them fought, not segregated and could integrate with white Americans (unlike NAs). A small number of NA families were sponsored by the government to work in defence industries and it sparked the first urbanisation of NAs.
What theme does WW1 come under?
Culture - Religion/education/social
What impact did WW1 have on NAs?
Positive and negative. Positive as small numbers but relatively significant amount fighting, meant NAs started going into cities as opposed to being put onto reservations. But negative as Indians were more voluntarily removing themselves from their cultural background, moving towards Americanisation and assimilation but did not necessarily want that.
When was the Indian Citizenship Act?
1924
What was the next turning point after the Dawes Act?
The Indian Citizenship Act but it was not as important as the Dawes Act was.
What was the Indian Citizenship Act?
It was an act intended to promote assimilation but it did not guarantee state voting rights and government policy did not lend itself to the increasing number of Native American voters.
How did the Indian Citizenship Act affect NAs?
Negative - they were forced to join in with American voters, prohibited use of NA voting. They were forced to conform to the system yet they were not fully integrated into American system (didn’t want to be) but it was a meaningless gesture made to look like integration.
When was the Leavitt Bill?
1926
What was the Leavitt Bill
It was bill so never fully went through but also known as the Dance Order and it banned NAs from traditional, ritual dances which was seen as an attack on their civil and religious rights.
What did the Leavitt Bill lead to the creation of?
Led to the creation of American Indian Defence Association (AIDA) which prevented the passing of the bill.
What does AIDA stand for?
American Indian Defence Association.
What was the effect of the Leavitt Bill on Native Americans?
Attempt to destroy their cultural heritage but it was stopped so positive effect for NAs as indicates there is some support for the bill otherwise it would not of been put forward but not total support because led to creation of AIDA.
When was the Meriam Act(report)?
1928
What was the Meriam Act?
Report promoted the reform movement of the 1920s. It condemned the allotment policy which had failed to provide economic support for NAs. Also described the poverty, lack of ed, healthcare + the corruption of officials who diverted government funding. It recommended the government took urgent steps to deal with the crisis, however, it did not condemn assimilation.
What did President Hoover do as a result of the Meriam Act (report)?
Appointed Charles Rhoads Indian Commissioner and reform package put together to focus on education and health care.
What was the effect of the Meriam Act on NAs?
None of it was asked for or from NAs - it came from white people/settlers thinking they know best. The report investigates everything to do with NA social life (Negative) but… did show some degree of interest in NAs and some public sympathy which led to the appointment of the Indian Commissioner - championed their heritage.
When was the Indian Reorganisation Act?
1934
What is the Indian Reorganisation Act also known as?
The Wheeler-Howard Act (The Indian New Deal)
What was the Indian Reorganisation Act?
It was brought in after John Collier appointed commissioner for Indian Affairs, seen as significant step in allowing NAs more control over administration of reservations and cemented their rights to practice their own religion, assert cultural heritage + overturned ban on ceremonial dances and celebrations, also curtailed sale of unallocated Indian Land.
What was the impact of the Indian Reorganisation Act ?
Marked a significant step forward. Positive impact as stopped any Indian land being sold on any further. However the positive progress was all as a result of white support for them as NAs still did not quite have ability to campaign for themselves.
What theme did the Indian Citizenship Act come under?
Self determination
What theme did the Leavitt Bill come under?
Cultural - Religion/Education/Social
What theme did the Meriam Act come under?
Cultural - Religion/Education/Social
What theme did Indian Reorganisation Act come under?
Cultural (Religion/Ed/Social) + self determination.
What role did NAs play in WW2?
NAs used extensively as messengers utilising their native languages. 10,000 left reservations with 75,000 moving to urban areas. 25,000 served in army. NA war veterans not granted same privileges as whites and were forced back onto reservations.
What was the effect of WW2 on NAs?
Not a positive outcome as they wanted to be able to govern themselves - didn’t want to integrate and they were just used by the government - didn’t gain anything.
