The Plains Indians

1. The Plains Indians

2. 1871 to 1880 -the US supported the extermination of 11 million buffalo. 1880

3. Destruction of the Buffalo Herds The near extinction of the buffalo.

4. US INDIAN POLICY • If you take away the food source from the Native Americans they will be forced to submit and go to the reservations.

5. Te Original Native Americans Indian tribes retained only a few reservations set aside by the U.S. government

6. Pyramid Lake Indian Wars in 1861 *

7. Discovery of gold was often on Indian land. • Some of the key battles fought were around the mining areas.

8. ColoradoGold Rush (1859)

9. Colonel John Chivington Kill and scalp all, big and little!Sand Creek Massacre (CO)November 29, 1864

10. FettermanMaccacre - Dec 21, 1866 The Sioux Indians led the Americans under Fetterman into a trap and defeated them. It was the worst defeat of the US Army on the Plains (until Little Big Horn). The Bozeman Trail was closed and the Sioux were moved to a reservation.

11. Treaty of Ft. Laramie (1868) • The Treaty ended Red Cloud’s war. • The Sioux were promised ownership of the Black Hills in SD and hunting rights in WY and MT.

12. BUT….In 1874 Gold was found in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory!

13. There goes the neighborhood! • The US government tried to purchase the land, but the Sioux refused. • Gold fever - miners refused to respect Sioux land….. • Conflict erupted!

14. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse • Sitting Bull (Sioux) and Crazy Horse (Cheyenne) were two chiefs who refused to sign the treaty. • They defiantly left the reservation. • "One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk" Crazy Horse

15. Little Big Horn River, Montana - 1876 • George Armstrong Custer was sent to force the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho back to their reservations. • He was in command of the 7th Calvary. • June 26, 1876

16. The Battle of Little Big Horn 1876 • He was heavily outnumbered and trapped. • Custer & all 220 of his men died. • “Custer’s Last Stand” outraged Americans and led to govt. retribution. • The Sioux and Cheyenne were crushed within a year.

17. Chief Joseph I will fight no more forever! Nez Percé tribal retreat (1877)

18. Ghost Dance Movement

19. Ghost Dance 4 GHOST DANCE Telegram to Washington, D.C. Nov. 15, 1890 "Indians are dancing in the snow and are wild and crazy. I have fully informed you that the employees and the government property at this agency have no protection and are at the mercy of the Ghost Dancers. ... We need protection and we need it now ...nothing [short] of 1000 troops will stop this dancing." Dr. Daniel F. Royer, Agent, Pine Ridge Agency

20. The Ghost Dance Movement -1890 • The Ghost Dance movement spread to Sitting Bull and the Sioux • They religiously danced even after they were told to stop by reservation authorities. • The US military went to arrest Sitting Bull, where he was killed. • Many Sioux followers left the reservation and became hostile

21. Battle of Wounded Knee – Dec.1890 • 7th Calvary rounded up starving and freezing Sioux and took them to Wounded Knee camp. • They attempted to confiscate all weapons.

22. Battle of Wounded Knee – Dec.1890 • Violence erupted, 300 Indians and 25 whites lay dead. • This is the last of the Indian conflicts. Chief Big Foot

23. Map 13 of 45

24. Attempts at Reform

25. Helen Hunt Jackson A Century of Dishonor (1881)

26. Dawes Act (1887)

27. “Kill the Indian, save the man” Col. Richard Pratt

28. There was an effort to assimilate Native Americans into “white culture”

29. Assimilation Policy Carlisle Indian School, PA

30. Indian Reservations Today