Introduction

2. Introduction • The plight of the Native Americans in North America since the arrival of the European people has been a tragic story. • The various tribes who had lived for thousands of years in their native lands were conquered and forced to relocate hundreds of times to lands that they were unfamiliar with. • Eventually, when these people were pushed from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast, there was very little land left. • These once proud tribes of people were forced to live out their existence on reservation lands. • How do we as the people of the United States now look back into our history and make sense of what our ancestors did? • Can your awareness make things right or can your knowledge and understanding help to prevent another attempted genocide in the future as you are faced with choices of how you interact with people of a different race?

3. European Invasion • Once the first ship landed in North America and returned, word spread quickly about the abundance of natural resource and easy wealth • The King, various companies, investors along with the multitude of opportunists found their way into North America. • As we recall the European brought with them a new technology reflected in power and weapons. • They brought with them an arrogant imperialistic attitude that all they could see was theirs by Divine Nature. • They were cunning, they were aggressive and they held to this idea of ofborders or boundaries. They had to be able to draw a line around what was their theirs. They had difficulty sharing. • They also brought with them a naive sense of the impact of disease and immunities. The native people became sick and died for an ecological and bacterial reasons, not by Divine Intervention.

4. Jamestown: A Case in Point The mystery of Jamestown is why they were able to prevail over the forces of the Powhatan tribe. • Although Jamestown was nearly defenseless, the Powhatan didn't attack. • For the first year or two of the colony's existence, the natives and the colonists co existed • The Powhatan leaders just ignored their presence. • The attitude was that these strange people were not equipped to survive in the harsh environment. and that they . • Clearly the Indians were more numerous and understood the land. There was no immediate threat for confrontation.

5. Jamestown: A Case in Point • This passive approach of the Powhatan was their ultimate demise. • Unfortunately, it can been seen as the demise of the entire Native American nation. • It was the Native American belief that these European foreigners were going to self-destruct. They could not survive! • Year after year, many European died, which caused the Native Americans to believe that these people did not know how to survive in America. • Yet through persistence, shiploads of new people just kept coming. • The Native American leaders did not understand the implications of the dense population in Europe. • New colonists would keep coming, no matter how many died. • By the time the Native American realized this it was too late. .

6. Colonial Aggression • As the European people came across the Atlantic in droves, the Native Americans who held to a different perspective of the earth and sharing allowed themselves to continually resettle west of the European frontier. • These people were not passive and did not resettle without conflict. • There were several well known battles and attacks on the European communities. • However, in all situations the Europeans overwhelmed the Native American Tribes by sheer force, numbers and weaponry and forced the Native people farther west. • Keep in mind that the history we have received, the history that was written down is that of a European perspective. • “We” were right in doing what we had to do! God gave us this land, we conquered you, we will continue to conquer you, therefore you will live where we tell you to live! This is now “our” land!

7. Colonial Aggression • So, after each altercation the Indians either died for their cause or moved. • Overtime, these long standing tribes started establishing alliances with long standing tribal enemies just for existence. • The battles just became more intense and led to more death and more treaties. • Finally the Native American people realized their fate, that there was another ocean to the far west. The opportunity to keep moving would not be an option. • Keep in mind that as tribes were forced to relocate farther west, there were already tribes who had preexisted on these land. • Compound the existing tribes, with the new tribes and the possibility of the American people wanting all the land. • How would this end?

8. The French and Indian War and the Treaty of Paris 1783 • The French and Indian War was caused by the clash of colonial aspirations between the imperial powers of Europe. The war was fought for control of the North American continent. Friction between local French and English settlers for control of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains helped start the war. • The Treaty of Paris, formally ending the War. In the treaty, the British cede all of their North American territories south of Canada and east of the Mississippi River to the United States. Former agreements between the British and the Indian occupants of these territories ended. The United States then claimed all Indian lands east of the Mississippi River by right of conquest. • The primary impact of the War was the establishment of English military and governmental control in most of North America. The British victory in the War spread the English language and cultural customs across the continent. • The defeat of the French and their Indian allies meant the end of French cultural and political influence in America. The French interacted more peacefully with the Indians. The loss of French dominance paved the way for English-American westward expansion.

9. Treaty of New York 1790 • The Treaty of New York was the first treaty between the United States and Native Americans not held in Indian controlled lands • Negotiated by Secretary of War Henry Knox and Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray, the treaty aims to place Creek-American relations on a more positive footing than that established by the Treaty of Paris. • The Creek leaders ceded a significant portion of their hunting grounds to the United States and agreed to turn runaway slaves over to federal authorities. The Creek leaders clearly stated though that convincing their people to honor the new boundary lines or return African American slaves would be difficult at best. • The United States also promises to provide the tools and livestock needed to transform the hunting Creeks into farmers. • There is also a secret arrangement to designate McGillivray an army officer with an annual salary of $1200.

10. Battle of Fallen Timbers • The Battle of Fallen Timbers was a decisive victory over the Northwest Indian Confederation. This Battle ending two decades of border warfare in the former Indian territory of Ohio. Mad Anthony Wayne’s expedition of more than 1,000 soldiers represented the third U.S. attempt to stop the resistance posed by the Northwest Confederation, comprising the Miami, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Iroquois, and other tribes • Encouraged by promises of British support, more than 2,000 warriors gathered on the Maumee River in Ohio, awaiting a confrontation with the U.S. Army. Wayne directed his well-trained troops against the Indians, who were gathered behind a protective tangle of fallen trees. The army’s assault was successful, and the Indians broke in less than two hours and fled. • The Indians’ morale was shattered by failure to receive help from the British. • The Battle of Fallen Timbers ended with the Treaty of Fort Greenville when the Chief Little Turtle, ceded to the United States most of Ohio and parts of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. • The treaty led to greater westward movement and settlement of those areas. • Within the next 25 years additional Indian lands north and west of the treaty line were also ceded to the United States.

11. Cherokee Nation – 1800’s Cherokee Delegation Major Ridge and a delegation of Cherokee leaders travel to Washington, D.C. to talk with President Jefferson. The Cherokee delegation rejects government proposals to relocate west of the Mississippi River but promises to continue on the path toward "civilized life“. Cherokee Constitution The Cherokees adopt a national constitution completing a decade of political development. Modeled after the United States Constitution, with three branches of government and an abbreviated bill of rights. Georgia Sovereignty Law A bill is introduced to the Georgia state legislature asserting the sovereignty of state government over all land and people within its geographical boundaries, including the Cherokees. Indian Removal Act Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the president to pursue ownership of all Indian lands east of the Mississippi River. Under the act, the Indians will be compensated with new lands drawn from the public domain west of the Mississippi River

12. Trail of Tears Treaty of Echota - Dec 29, 1835 A small group of about 500 Cherokees signs a second agreement with the United States government agreeing to the sale of their lands and removal west of the Mississippi River. The United States Senate ratifies this Treaty of Echota on 18 May 1836. Trail of Tears - Apr 5, 1838 The first party of Cherokees that had resisted removal begins the march westward to their new lands in present-day Oklahoma along the later-named Trail of Tears. Sand Creek Massacre - Nov 29, 1864 US Cavalry led by Colonel John Chivington slaughter at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho (largely women and children) in what becomes known as the "Sand Creek Massacre" in Colorado Territory.

13. The Indian Wars • In the mid 1800’s onward, there was ongoing warfare between the various Native American tribes and the Westward adventures. • Several bloody battles between the US Calvary and the tribes were the results • These Indian Wars were mainly fought in Texas, Arizona Territory, New Mexico, Utah, Oregon, California, the Dakotas, and Washington. • Forts providing protection for white migrants and a base for the U.S. military included Fort Laramie, Fort Kearny, Fort Huachuca in Arizona; Fort Sill in Oklahoma; Fort Smith in Arkansas; Fort Snelling in Minnesota; Fort Union in Montana; Fort Worth in Texas; and Fort Walla Walla in Washington. • Conflicts occurred between white settlers and the Shoshone and Ute of the Great Basin; Nez Perce of Idaho; Sioux, Arapaho, Crows, and Lakota of the Northern Plains; Apache and Navajo of the Southwest; the Comanchesof Texas; and Cheyenne of the Great Plains.

14. Introduction Custer's Last Stand - Jun 25, 1876 Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull lead an army of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians to a massive victory over General George Custer and the Seventh US Cavalry at the battle of Little Big Horn. Custer's force is part of an intended three-pronged assault against the Indian coalition that has harassed miners and homesteaders crossing their lands following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874. Partially because he badly underestimates the size of the Indian encampment along the Little Big Horn River, Custer chooses not to wait for the other units led by Generals John Gibbon and George Crook before launching his attack. Within hours, Custer and his entire detachment of 210 men are dead.

15. The Conflict Rages On Murder of Sitting Bull - Dec 15, 1890 Sioux chief Sitting Bull is killed by Indian police attempting to arrest him under orders from the territorial Indian agent, who fears that the hero of the Little Big Horn will unite Indians incited by the Ghost Dance to launch a war against white settlements and federal authority in the Dakota Territory. In the aftermath, Sitting Bull's followers flee the camp to seek protection under Chief Red Cloud at the Pine Ridge Agency. Wounded Knee Massacre - Dec 29, 1890 Having intercepted Sitting Bull's followers the previous day, a battalion of the Seventh Cavalry opens fire on the Sioux camp on the Wounded Knee Creek, killing 300 people—two-thirds of them women and children. The "Wounded Knee Massacre" effectively marks the end of armed Indian resistance to white western expansion in the nineteenth century.

16. Has the Conflict Ended? Have we resolved our Past? Russell Means (American Indian activist) was once quoted as saying: “We were enslaved as American Indians, we were colonized as American Indians, and when we gain our freedom as American Indians we will then decide on what to call ourselves”!