Chapter 13, Section 2

Native Americans Struggle to Survive

p. 458-463

As settlers pour into the West, Native Americans struggle to maintain their

way of life.

People of the PlainsMain Idea: Native Americans of the Plains rely on buffalo to meet many basic needs.

• European arrival transforms lives

- Horses & guns allow nomadic life- Migrate with buffalo- Carry belongings on travois -sleds- Live in tepees - cone shaped tents

made of buffalo skin

• Buffalo big part of life & survival

FOOD, CLOTHING, & SHELTER• Division of labor - Women manage

village life: food, clothes, kids…– Men are hunters & warriors

• Buffalo hunting devastates the Native American way of life– One white hunter might kill 2,000

buffalo in a month.

Map of the Plains Native Americans

Broken TreatiesMain Idea: Treaties to protect Native American lands are quickly broken and wars break out.

Fort Laramie, Wyoming

• Fort Laramie Treaty (1851)– U.S. promises to respect

Native land claims– Native Americans promise

safe passage for American settlers traveling to Oregon

• U.S. breaks treaty when GOLDGOLD is discovered at Pike’s Peak, Colorado.

• This ignites an era of WAR…

Sand Creek Massacre (1864)

• After some resistance, Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle promises to keep the peace.- Flies a white flag

• U.S. Colonel John Chivington orders the attack at Sand Creek, Colorado– Chivington ignores a white

flag, “Kill and scalp all, big and little,”

– “I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from infants up to warriors ... By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops ...” - Soldier John S. Smith testifying before Congress, 1865

Massacre at Sand Creek, CONov 29, 1864

John Chivington

Buffalo Soldiers• Among the most feared U.S.

soldiers• African-American regiment

forms in 1866– Veterans of the Civil War

• Elite of the U.S. Army– Serve on the Plains for over 20

years– Earn 19 medals of honor during

Indian Wars– Fight under “Black Jack”

Pershing in Spanish/American War

Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th U.S. Cavalry

Buffalo Soldier monumentFort Leavenworth, Kansas

General George Armstrong Custer

• Hero from Civil War– Finishes dead last in his West

Pt. graduating class (1861)– Amassed a record-total of

726 demerits– Becomes a General at 23– Defeats J.E.B. Stuart at

Gettysburg• Arrogant & glory-seeking

– Becomes a Western Legend in death

• His death, along with his men, becomes a rallying cry to exterminate Native Americans.

General George Custer (1839-1876)

Last Stand of Custer and the SiouxMain Idea: Warfare continues even as some Native American nations try to adapt to life on reservations

• Sioux forced onto a reservation– land set aside for Native Americans to live on

• Gold discovered in the Black Hills, S.D. reservation (Deadwood)– Miners pour into area

• U.S. Army 7th Cavalry sent to secure Black Hills for white miners– 600 U.S. Soldiers vs. 2000 Sioux Warriors at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, MT

• Custer and ALL 268 of his men are slaughtered– Custer attacks even though he knows his troops are out numbered almost 10 to 1

“Custer’s Last Stand”

Sitting Bull

• Sioux religious leader– The Sioux call themselves the

Lakota

• Leads Sioux, along with Crazy Horse, against Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn

• Even though Little Bighorn was a great victory, Sitting Bull knew the Sioux could not win the war.– No European help since the

War of 1812

The Ghost Dance• Religious movement to

bring back Native American way of life

• Praying for 3 things:1. Return of buffalo2. Return of ancestors3. Whites to disappear

• Sitting Bull & the Sioux become involved

• Fearing a Sioux uprising, Sitting Bull is killed while being arrested.

The Ghost Dance

THE GHOST DANCE

How would you react to the Ghost Dance How would you react to the Ghost Dance and the death of Sitting Bull if you were:and the death of Sitting Bull if you were:

The U.S Government?The U.S Government?The Sioux?The Sioux?

Table Question:Table Question:

Battle (Massacre) at Wounded Knee December 29, 1890

• Sioux flee reservation, get to Wounded Knee Creek

• U.S. Army catches up & confronts fleeing Sioux- 200 are slaughtered- Only 30 Cavalry are killed(Some from Custer’s 7th Cavalry)

• All large scale organized resistance against the U.S. ends at Wounded Knee Creek, SD

The frozen Body of Chief Spotted Elk, (aka. Chief Bigfoot), left in the snow after the Massacre at Wounded Knee

Other Efforts at ResistanceMain Idea: Efforts by Native Americans to preserve their traditional way of life did not succeed.

• Chief Joseph & the Nez Percés (Northwest) attempt to escape to Canada, – Captured and forced back onto

the reservation

• Navajos raid white settlements in the Southwest– Defeated by U.S. Army and sent

on the “Long Walk”– Suffer years of hunger & disease

• The Apaches– From the Southwest– Their most famous leader…. “I shall fight no more forever.”

- Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces

Geronimo

• Apache warrior fights against the U.S. & Mexico in Arizona– Captured many times, but

escapes every time

• Thrives in conflict and fighting against his enemies

• Finally surrenders in 1886– Sent to reservation in OK

The Failure of ReformMain Idea: The Dawes Act encouraged Native Americans to become farmers, but it failed.

• Calls for Reform: many spoke out for Native American rights

• Dawes General Allotment Act: hoped to improve Native Am. life– Promises each family 160 acres of

land– Promises single adults 80 acres – Promises U.S. citizenship to all

Indians living on the reservation• Federal government sells off all

unassigned lands– Citizenship never issued

• Federal gov. claims more land through the Dawes Act than all of the Indian Wars combined

Senator Henry Dawes

Helen Hunt Jackson

Native Americans Move to Reservations

p. 461

BROKEN PROMISES

Why do you think our government broke Why do you think our government broke so many treaties?so many treaties?

Table Question:Table Question: