Clash of Cultures on the Prairie

1. Follow this link for interesting info on Native Americans:http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys-western/185/Native-Americans.html Changes on the Western FrontierChapter 5 http://www.nmnh.si.edu/naa/fletcher/gallery.htm http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/buffalobill.htm Section 1: Cultures Clash on the Prairie Section 2: Settling on the Great Plains Section 3: Farmers and the Populist Movement http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfarm1.htm http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blfarm3.htm

2. Cultures Clash on the PrairieSection 1 • Great Plains = “Great American Desert” • Whites viewed plains as having no value for farming • Whites view people who lived there as primitive savages who were uncivilized • Wrong on both counts • Plains some of the best farm land in the world • Two highly developed Native American lifestyles • East-Side: Planted crops and lived in established villages • West-Side: Nomadic and gathered food and hunted buffalo

3. The Importance of the Horse and Buffalo http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/buffalo/ls/Harry-Schaare-Buffalo-Runners-1150x752.html Click Link Below to read about the history of the Paint Horse and its importance to the American Indian http://www.best-horse-photos.com/paint-horses.html http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/buffalo/ls/Buffalo-667x740.html

4. IMPACT OF THE HORSE • Brought by the Spanish • How did it change the Native American’s way of life? • *Increased the mobility of the Indians • 1. They could travel farther in search of buffalo. • 2. They could hunt more efficiently on horseback. http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/buffalo/ls/Harry-Schaare-Buffalo-Runners-1150x752.html http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/buffalo/ls/The-Buffalo-Hunt-1890-1151x760.html

5. IMPACT OF THE HORSE • What did the increased mobility lead to? • *Tribal Wars because of competition for buffalo. • What was important about warfare for the Plains Indian? • *Gaining prestige and honor for the warrior.

6. Warfare What is “Counting Coup”? • *Practice in which a warrior touches a live enemy and escapes unharmed, rather than killing. • How does this gain honor for the warrior? • *Very brave to confront an enemy without bloodshed. • Why use counting coup instead of killing an enemy? • *Killing enemies might have wiped out the population of the warring tribes. • *Very practical adaptation for survival

7. IMPORTANCE OF THE BUFFALO • Provided basic needs (See page 207) • Food, Clothing, and Shelter • 1. Hides for tepees, clothing, shoes, blankets • 2. Meat – jerky • 3. Sinew – thread, bowstring • 4. Bones – hide scrapers, tool handles, etc. • 5. Hoofs – ground to make glue • 6. Skull – rituals • 7. Horns – bowls and spoons • 8. Everything was used http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Clipart/buffalo-clipart.html

8. Depletion of the Buffalo • Native Americans were hostile toward the white settlers because between 1860 – 1900, white hunters reduced the number of buffalo from 15 million to only a few hundred. http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/buffalo/ls/Shooting-Buffalo-with-a-Revolver.html

9. Plains IndiansFamily Life • Communal life style – lived in small extended families with close ties to other bands speaking the same language • Men were hunters • Women gathered and butchered and prepared the hides • Valued Individualism • Men trained to be hunters / warriors • Women sometimes allowed to choose their own husband • Children Trained in proper behavior and culture by the members of the tribe • Leadership done with a counsel – no one person was in charge • Land was held in common. NO Private ownership. Land was used for the good of the group.

10. The Government Restricts Native Americans • Before 1850 the American Policy was to set aside the Great Plains as a huge Indian reservation. • Scarcity of land caused people to take another look at the “Great American Desert”. • When increasing # of settlers moved in they started opening the land for settlement and signed treaties with the tribes and set boundaries. • Most tribes continued to hunt on traditional lands with disastrous results as whites and Indians clashed. See Native Americans @ http://www.hippocampus.org/US%20History%20II

11. Sand Creek Massacre • Cheyenne Tribe • Made to move to a desolate reservation in eastern Colorado • Not able to survive on the land and some warriors began to leave and raid nearby trails and settlements for supplies • Non-hostile Indians ordered to Fort Lyon • Chief Black Kettle • Told to fly American Flag and they would be safe • Colonel John J. Chivington • Attacked the camp at Dawn in Nov. 1864

12. Sand Creek Massacre • Black Kettle raised the flag of truce but it didn’t do any good. • Chivington and his men killed an estimated 150 Indians, mostly women and children along the Sand Creek encampment. • Chivington’s men paraded through the streets of Denver after their “great victory”. • Read excerpt from Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

13. Death on the Bozeman TrailChief Red Cloud’s War • Government built trail through the Sioux hunting ground. • Red Cloud appealed to government to stop settlers and miners from trespassing on their land and building forts. • The Sioux, under Chief Red Cloud, launch a guerrilla war against the government from 1865-1867

14. Fetterman Massacre • Crazy Horse • Captain William Fetterman • 1866 Crazy Horse’s warriors lure Fetterman and his men (80+) into an ambush, surround and kill all of them. • Reaction • Angered many whites • Government closed Bozeman Trail eventually • Treaty of Fort Laramie is signed

15. Treaty of Fort Laramie • 1868 • Involved Northern Tribes (Sioux) • Treaty • Sioux accept lands in the Dakotas • Hunting rights as far as Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming • Government gave up building road • Indians would receive annuities and supplies. • Similar to Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851

16. Medicine Lodge Treaty 1867 • Involved Southern Indian Groups • Cheyenne • Arapaho • Tribes accepted land in Indian Territory • Oklahoma

17. Hostilities Continue • Corrupt Bureau of Indian Affairs Agents • 1. Promised supplies were late • 2. Supplies were of poor quality • 3. Some supplies were not delivered • Not all tribe representatives signed treaties and didn’t follow the requirements • Indians left reservation land in search of food • Miners invaded the Black Hills in search of gold

18. Bloody Battles Continue • Colonel George A. Custer of the 7th Calvary was sent to investigate rumors of gold and miners and settlers rushed to the Black Hills. • Government offered to buy the land but the Sioux refused. • The battle for the land was on.

19. The Battle of the Little BigHornJune 1876 • Little Big Horn River Indian Encampment • Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull • Custer and the 7th Calvary • Custer’s Mistakes • Underestimated the number of warriors • Had driven his men and horses to exhaustion • Did not wait for other units in the area • Split his regiment into 3 parts • Custer and all of the men with him were killed in about 20 minutes. See this webpage for interesting facts: http://www.garryowen.com/

20. The Battle of the Little BigHorn http://photoswest.org/exhib/faves/bib/B122.htm http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/custer.htm http://photoswest.org/exhib/faves/bib/B59.htm

21. Aftermath of Custer’s Last Stand • The Army continued it attacks on the Native Americans until the Sioux returned to the reservation. • Sitting Bull and some of his people fled to Canada, but eventually he also returned to the reservation. • Crazy Horse eventually surrendered and was killed by an Indian guard as he resisted begin locked up. He was bayoneted in the back.

22. Government Supports Assimilation • Helen Hunt Jackson – A Century of Dishonor (1881) exposed the gov’ts mistreatment of Native Americans over the years and the many broken treaties. • Well meaning supporters pushed for a plan of ASSIMILATION : Native Americans give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of white culture. http://www.thewildwest.org/cowboys-western/373/Legendary-Women-of-the-American-West.html

23. Dawes Act • Distribute land from reservations into 160 acre lots for each adult head of the family. 80 acres for single adults. (Most land taken over by white settlers eventually) • $ from the sale of remaining land would go to buy farm implements (Native Am. NEVER saw the money) • Set up schools for the education of Indian children • Boarding schools like the one in the video (A Walk in Two Worlds) tried to take away Indian culture and replace it with the white culture

24. Ghost Dance Movement • Created by Paiute Indian Prophet – Wovoka • Addressed Problems of the Native Americans • Reduced Rations • Increase in Restrictions • Loss of Cattle to Disease • Forced Assimilation • Ghost Dance Movement Promised • Destroy the Whites • Bring back the buffalo • Bring back the Indian’s way of life http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/wovoka.htm http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/gdmessg.htm http://www.viewzone.com/wovoka.html

25. Ghost Dance Spreads • Many whites became very concerned about the movement and thought the Native Americans were planning an uprising. • Sitting Bull supported the movement • Army sent Indian Police to arrest Sitting Bull in Dec. 1890 • Sitting Bull’s body guard fired at police and in the fight Sitting Bull was killed. • Many of the fearful Sioux fled which led to the next tragic event. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/sbarrest.htm

26. Massacre at Wounded Knee • 7th Cavalry rounded up approx. 350 freezing and starving Sioux and took them to Wounded Knee Creek • The 7th Cavalry demanded the Sioux to give up all of their weapons • A shot was fired (not clear who fired), and the soldiers opened up with cannon fire. • Approx. 300 mostly unarmed Sioux Native Americans, including many women and children, were killed. • Significance- Marked an end to the Indian Wars See Indian Resistance @ http://www.hippocampus.org/US%20History%20II