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III. Native Americans: Cultures and Conflicts

At a Glance The most important ideas for you are: ◗ Over time, the native people of the Great Basin, Plateau, and Plains cul- ture regions had developed cultures that were adapted to the environ- ment and shared similar cultural traits and characteristics. ◗ The coming of changed the way of life of the Native Americans. ◗ The federal government established the in 1824 to “safeguard” the well-being of Native Americans. ◗ From the 1860s to 1934, the Bureau of Indian Affairs forced Native Americans onto reservations, broke up tribal holdings, and attempted to impose a policy of assimilation. ◗ Between the 1850s and 1890, the army, settlers, miners, and ranchers fought a series of battles with the Native Americans that became known as the Plains Wars.

What Teachers Need to Know Background Anthropologists have categorized Native American peoples into culture regions in order to study and understand them. A culture region is a geograph- ic area in which different groups have adapted to their physical surroundings in similar ways, and share similar cultural traits and characteristics, such as language, beliefs, customs, laws, dress, and housing. However, even within cul- ture regions, groups still retain certain individual group characteristics. For the purpose of presenting information to your students, the diversity of the groups within areas is not discussed. For the most part, the emphasis in this lesson is on generalizations that apply to large numbers of peoples and nations within a culture region. In what is today the , there are eight Native American culture regions, namely, Eastern Woodlands, Southeast, Plains, Great Basin, Plateau, Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and California. This section deals with some of the Native Americans west of the Mississippi—the Great Basin, Plateau, Northern and Southern Plains, and Pacific Northwest. These were the Native Americans whose lands stood in the way of European Americans on their mission to extend the United States from sea to sea. At the points in history that are discussed here, native-born citizens and immigrants alike believed that Native Americans stood in the way of progress. They believed that these people, who lived in buffalo-hide tents instead of wooden or brick houses and who wore animal skins instead of cotton clothes, did not understand the value of the land or of hard work and were keeping enterprising Americans from actualizing that value. Today, many people feel that the United States’ treatment of the native peoples was unfair and unjust.

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It is important in teaching this unit to try to help students see how the pursuit of “” studied in earlier sections of the curriculum looked very different to the native peoples who were driven from their ancestral lands.

A. Culture and Life There is no definitive way to know how many people were living in the Americas when Columbus first landed in the Caribbean. Various recent studies suggest that some 5,000,000 lived in what is today the contiguous United States and another 2,000,000 in Canada and Alaska. According to the 2000 United States Census, there were about 3,000,000 Native Americans living in the United States. Today, they live mostly in , California, Arizona, , and Alaska. Beliefs According to Alvin M. Josephy, “The life of almost all Indian societies was colored by a deep faith in supernatural forces that were believed to link human beings to all other living things. . . . [E]ach manifestation of nature had its own spirit with which the individual could establish supernatural contact.” Along with these beliefs was the sense that there was a balance, or harmony, in nature that people should respect. Disturbing this balance resulted in sickness, pain, and death. Cross-curricular Common to many Native American cultures are the hero and the trickster. Teaching Idea These characters are the subjects of stories passed down orally from generation to generation, even to the present day. One character is the hero, who was responsi- You may wish to introduce students to ble for teaching the people their way of life. The other is the trickster, often in the Morning Star and Scarface: the Sun form of Coyote, who gets himself into all sorts of trouble. Dance (a Plains legend, also known as “The Legend of Scarface”) as well Lifestyles as some Native American trickster stories as discussed in the Language Students may have a stereotypical view of Native Americans as mounted buf- Arts section, “Myths and Legends,” falo hunters. However, only the Plains Native Americans and those from the Basin on pp. 70–71. 27 28 29 30 and Plateau areas, who acquired horses and moved onto the Plains to hunt buffa- lo, fit this description. Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric horses in North America, but the horses may have died out thousands of years ago for the same reason that mastodons died out. They were hunted to extinction, as they were a source of food, clothing, tools, etc., to early inhabitants of the continent. Horses reappeared in the 1500s with the Spanish, who brought herds with them from Spain. As the Spanish moved across Mexico and north of the Rio Grande to found colonies, they went on horseback. By the 1600s, Native Americans were raiding Spanish settlements for horses, which they traded to other groups in a wide network. By the early 1700s, horses had reached Native Americans in the Plateau and Great Basin areas and greatly changed their ways of life. For example, the (’s people) moved into the Plains and became buffalo hunters rather than farmers. The turned from fishing and hunting to raising horses and trading them to hunting peoples. On the Plains, some groups that had been farmers, such as the Teton , turned to hunting

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for their main source of food. The horse, which didn’t become widespread on the Plains until the early- to mid-18th century, made it possible for a number of tribes living as agriculturalists along the rivers and fringes of the Plains to venture out onto the Plains following the herds.

Name Date Culture Areas Native American Culture Review Fill in each blank with the correct term from the list below. Plateau Ute totem pole Dakota ceremony Chinook Great Basin carving buffalo unjust knee

1. Another name for Sioux is Dakota . • Intermountain lowlands (from Rocky Mountains to , across 2. Atotem pole is designed to represent spirit beings of the Northwest. Utah and Nevada and parts of Idaho, Oregon, Arizona, California, and ceremony 3. The is an example of a . ); very dry and rocky with desert in places 4. One of the Native American culture regions is thePlateau . 5. The current view is that policies toward Native Americans were • Hunting small game unjust . 6. An armed conflict occurred at Wounded Knee . • Gathering seeds, nuts, plants, and roots 7. A tipi is a cone-shaped structure used as a home. 8. Many Cheyenne were massacred at Sand Creek. • Seminomadic groups that traveled on a regular cycle from lower lands to carving 9. A totem pole is made by wood. higher elevations in search of food 10. TheUte lived in the Great Basin region. 11. About 80 percent of theChinook died during a outbreak. • Wickiups, cone-shaped houses made of poles covered with brush, bark, or 12. Buffalo was an important resource for many Native Americans. grass mats

Purpose: To review concepts and vocabulary relating to Native Americans Copyright ©Core Knowledge Foundation Copyright ©Core Master 37 Grade 5: History & Geography • Animal skins for clothes Sandals made of plant fibers Use Instructional Master 37. Basketry hats for women • Believed in what dreams told people • Shoshone Acquired horses Moved into Plains to hunt buffalo from horseback Took on traits of Plains peoples, such as using buffalo skins for clothing Today, some 12,000 live on reservations • Ute Acquired horses Moved into Plains to hunt buffalo from horseback Today, some 7,000 live on reservations and farm or raise cattle Plateau • Plateau of the Columbia and Fraser river basins in the area between the Rocky and Cascade Mountains (including Canada); changes of season with accompanying rain and snow; full rivers and lush forests • Fishing, especially salmon, as major food source Gathering of plants and berries Hunting game • In winter, round houses covered with earth In summer, poles tied together and covered with bark or reeds • Clothing made of animal skins Wove mats and baskets from grass • Believed that each person could acquire a guardian spirit for life, which could be the spirit of an animal, a force of nature, such as the wind, or a thing, such as rock 302 Grade 5 Handbook CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 303

• Nez Perce Acquired horses in the 1700s and developed large herds; bred Appaloosas Turned from fishing for their main food source to hunting buffalo on the Plains on horseback Continued to live in the Plateau but traveled to the Plains to hunt Lost much of their land in the 1800s Today are farmers on an Idaho reservation Plains Teaching Idea • From Canada to central Texas and from the Rocky Mountains to the Plains native peoples, like most other Mississippi River; all changes of season with heavy to moderate precipita- Native Americans, did not have a tion written language. They sometimes • Hunting buffalo and small game along with plant gathering on southern used pictures, or pictographs, to Plains record their stories. Warriors had Also seminomadic agriculture among some groups on northern Plains: their exploits painted on their tipi farming corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers part of the year and hunting covers or on buffalo robes. part of the year Give students sheets of brown construction paper and crayons or • Tipi: cone-shaped structure made of poles and covered with buffalo hides markers. Invite them to create their • Clothing made of animal skins, moccasins own pictograph histories of some • Vision quest in which a young man or woman fasted alone away from the place they’ve been or something village in the hope of dreaming of a spirit who would guard him or her for they’ve done. Students should first life fold their sheet of construction paper into the shape of a tipi and mark • Blackfeet where the overlap falls so that they Dyed their moccasins black, hence the name don’t draw and paint on the part that Relied on the buffalo for their way of life will not show. Many deaths from smallpox, lack of food when buffalo died out, actions Once students have made their of whites drawings, they can form the paper Today, some 10,000 live as farmers and ranchers on reservations into the shape of a tipi and staple or • Crow tape it to hold. Allied with white soldiers in Plains Indian Wars of 1800s (frequently fought the Sioux) Scouts for General Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn Today, around 5,000 on a reservation in • Sioux: three branches known as Dakota (Santee Sioux), Lakota (Teton Teaching Idea Sioux), and Nakota (Yankton Sioux) Once students have studied the Allies of the British in the American Revolution and War of 1812 Native American groups, have them Fought as allies of Cheyenne at Little Bighorn research any Native American tribe Massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee in 1890, end of Native American or other culture group that once lived resistance in your area of the country. Have stu- Treaty giving Sioux the ignored when gold found dents compare the experiences of the 56-year court case (1923–1979) awards Sioux $105 million for Black Hills group with that of the groups studied • Cheyenne in Grade 5 by creating a Venn dia- Once friendly toward whites gram or a chart. Fought white encroachment on lands and massacre of Cheyenne at Sand Creek With Sioux, massacred General Custer and his soldiers at Little Bighorn Today, more than 7,000 on reservations History and Geography: American 303 CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 304

III. Native Americans: Cultures and Conflicts

• Teaching Idea Fought white encroachment and joined with Cheyenne to avenge Sand Use Instructional Masters 38a–38d, Creek Native American Culture Regions, Today, some 5,000 on reservations as farmers when discussing this topic. Pacific Northwest • Narrow strip of coast in what is today the United States and Canada from Prince William Sound to northern California; area with high annual rain- fall and lush forests • Fishing: salmon, halibut, shellfish, cod Hunting whales Hunting game Gathering berries • Rectangular houses made of wooden planks • Clothing generally of shredded cedar bark In cold weather, animal skin robes Woven cone-shaped hats with wide brims to protect against rain • Spirit beings of the animal world: eagle, beaver, raven, bear, whale Use the spirit beings as design motifs in their carvings, especially in totem poles and masks Use Instructional Masters 38a–38d. Developed a hierarchical society in which social status was important; the potlatch confirmed one’s rank in that social structure Practiced the potlatch ceremony, in which a wealthy member of the community gave away all his belongings to show how wealthy and important he was Cross-curricular • Kwakiutl Teaching Idea Noted for their fine carving of animals in wood, slate, and shell Have students do research online and About 15,000 when whites arrived in print to find out more about the vari- Only a few thousand fishermen and farmers today ous native peoples of the regions stud- • Chinook ied in this section, namely, the Plateau, Flattened children’s foreheads to show social rank Great Basin, and Plains. About 80 percent died during an outbreak of smallpox in 1829 Student reports could take the form Yakima of oral presentations, written papers, or • Originally lived on rivers in the Pacific Northwest and were primarily art or music projects. Encourage stu- salmon fishers dents doing oral and written reports to Today, about 7,500 live on the Yakima Reservation and earn a living illustrate them with copies of photos or through forestry artwork. After the reports and projects have Plains Native Americans and Extermination of the been completed, discuss with students Buffalo the great variety and great commonali- The coming of the railroad and the influx of Easterners and European immi- ties among the groups in each culture grants onto the Plains in the latter half of the 1800s changed the way of life of region. Plains Native Americans forever. Up until the 1860s, the northern and southern Plains had few European-American settlers. But the Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged settlement by giving 160 acres of land to any citizen or immigrant willing to live on and cultivate the land for five years and pay a modest process- ing fee. That land was home to Plains Native Americans, whose way of life depended on hunting buffalo. 304 Grade 5 Handbook CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 305

Before the arrival of the white settlers, buffalo were plentiful on the . Native Americans killed buffalo, but not in such numbers that the animals were endangered. The Native Americans generally used every part of the animal. They ate the meat for food and turned the skins into teepees, clothing, and stor- age vessels. Bones were used as utensils and tools. Muscle and sinew were used for sewing pieces of hide together. When the European-American settlers arrived, Native American hunters provided them with buffalo hides in exchange for man- ufactured goods. Later, European-American hunters killed buffalo themselves to feed the construction crews that built the transcontinental railroads across the plains and to supply hides to tanneries to be made into leather goods. Much of the killing was done between 1870 and 1883, and by 1890 less than a thousand buffalo hide buffalo remained. Some hunters also killed for sport, shooting buffalo from trains. Some scholars estimate that as many as 15 million buffalo were killed during the 1800s. By the turn of the twentieth century, the buffalo were gone in many places Teaching Idea and the animal had become an endangered species. It is thought that there were The decimation of the buffalo popula- only 34 buffalo left on the northern Plains. The combination of the land-taking tion during the is a sad and the extinction of the buffalo brought major changes to the lives of the Native chapter in American history. Americans. However, students may be pleased to know that the buffalo has recently B. American Government Policies made a comeback. You can find details on the web. Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was set up in 1824 by the United States Government within the War Department and transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior in 1849. The BIA’s avowed purpose was to safeguard Teaching Idea the welfare of Native Americans. However, in practice, the BIA implemented poli- The BIA’s title was changed to the cies to remove Native Americans to reservations and to promote native accommo- Indian Service and still remains an dation and assimilation into European culture, which often meant destroying agency of the Interior Department. Native American culture and values. During the 1800s, there was a Have students do research on the European tradition of imposing Christianity and middle class morals and values Internet and in newspapers and news on native peoples worldwide. This tradition was also practiced in the United magazines to find out what the Indian States. Service manages today. Forced Removal to Reservations In 1871, the federal government passed the Indian Appropriation Act. Under the provisions of the law, the United States government withdrew recognition of separate Native American peoples as sovereign nations and stated that it would no longer enter into treaties with any Native American group. Treaties that were in force would be honored. That, however, proved to be a hollow promise when- ever gold or silver was found on Native American lands or when American set- tlers wanted more land. (Native Americans were not granted U.S. citizenship until 1924.) The Plains Native Americans were forced onto reservations. Although they were hunters, not farmers, the federal government tried to turn them into farm- ers. Not only did they not know how to farm, the reservations they were forced to live on were often not particularly suited to farming. The BIA’s purpose was to oversee the reservations and provide food, clothing, and other necessities to the Native Americans. However, greed and corruption

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often guided the actions of government agents in the BIA and the Native Americans saw little of the aid that was meant to sustain them in their new lives. Teaching Idea The history of the treatment of Native Attempts to Break Down Tribal Life Americans by the United States may be Corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs became so widespread that by the disturbing to students. Explore it in the the protests of Native Americans and their supporters could no longer be context of earlier European attitudes ignored. In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes Act, which broke up the land hold- toward Native Americans and Africans. ings on the reservations. The land was divided into parcels of 160 acres, and each Consider also the concept of manifest head of a household received a parcel. Any land that was not disposed of in this destiny if the class has studied Section way could be sold to non-Native Americans. Native American families had to I of American History and Geography hold the land for 25 years, at which time they could sell it. Many did sell their for Grade 5. It is important that students land, and then had nothing to live on when the money was gone. By 1932, 96 mil- be able to see how westward expan- lion acres of the 138 million acres set aside for Native Americans in 1887 no sion must have looked to native peo- longer belonged to them. ples as well as white settlers. One of the reasons that advocates believed the reservations should be broken up was because they believed that the “communal life” of Native Americans—that is, living in and sharing with a large extended group—kept individuals from developing a sense of ambition and becoming more like white Americans. In breaking up the reservations, reformers believed they were trying to encourage personal initiative. As part of the Dawes Act, federal funds were to be used for educating and training Native Americans and encouraging them to adopt the habits of what western Europeans and white Americans considered “civilized life.” These included owning land, settling in one place as opposed to moving around on a seasonal basis, farming or doing other kinds of modern labor, wear- ing European-style clothing, speaking English, learning to read and write, and accepting the Christian religion. The Dawes Act also made considerable quanti- ties of land available in . The goal was to assimilate the Native Americans to the American way of life, in much the same way immigrants were assimilated. Indian Schools Well-meaning Americans set up schools to “civilize” and assimilate Native Americans. This experiment had been tried even in the colonial era. Benjamin Franklin recorded the results of one such attempt in which it was proposed to send several Native Americans to the College of William and Mary in Virginia in the 1740s. A chief wrote back to refuse the white man’s offer: We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those Colleges, and that the Maintenance of our young Men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, that you mean to do us Good by your Proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are wise must therefore not take it amiss, if our Ideas of this kind of Education happen not to be the same as yours. We have had some Experience of it. Several of our young People were formerly brought up at the Colleges of the Northern Provinces: they were instructed in all your Sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were bad Runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods. . . neither fit for Hunters, Warriors, nor Counselors, they were totally good for nothing. We are, however, not the less oblig’d by your kind Offer, tho’ we decline accepting it; and, to show our grateful sense of it, if the Gentlemen

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of Virginia will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take Care of their Name Date Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them. Native American Reservations, 1890 Study the map. Use it to answer the questions below.

After the Indian Wars in the West, similar efforts were made to educate young CANADA Washington

Montana North Dakota Native Americans for success in American society. The Carlisle Indian School in Little Big Horn Oregon MinnesotaMinnesota Idaho Wisconsin WoundedWounded KneeKnee Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was one of 106 day and boarding schools for young Native MassacreMassacre Wyoming Iowa Nebraska Americans run by the federal government. Carlisle was founded by Captain Nevada Illinois Ind. Utah California Territory Colorado Kansas Missouri Richard C. Pratt, who had fought in the Indian Wars and led a group of buffalo Ky.

r Tenn. e v Indian i Arizona R

Territory Arkansas i Territory p p New Mexico i s

Territory s

i i

soldiers. Pratt’s approach to educating Native Americans was summarized in a i

s s

s MississippiMississippi

s s s

i i i

M M PACIFIC M OCEAN Texas well-known phrase: “kill the Indian and save the man.” That is, he wanted to kill N LouisianaLouisiana MEXICO W Major Native American E reservations, 1890 S Battle/massacre site 0 150 300 miles Gulf of Mexico off the “Indian” ways of thinking and living in order to create men and women 0 150 300 kilometers

1. In 1890, which state or territory had the largest area of reservation lands? who he believed could prosper in American society. Pratt explained his philoso-

2. In what state was the Battle of Little Bighorn fought? phy as follows: Montana

3. How do you think the Native Americans felt about being forced to live on reservations?

The Indians under our care remained savage, because forced back e Knowledge Foundation Answers will vary.

Purpose: To read and interpret a U.S. map featuring Native American reservations in 1890 upon themselves and away from association with English-speaking and Copyright ©Cor civilized people, and because of our savage example and treatment Master 39 Grade 5: History & Geography of them. . . . Use Instructional Master 39. We have never made any attempt to civilize them with the idea of taking them into the nation, and all of our policies have been against cit- izenizing and absorbing them. . . .We invite the Germans to come into our country and communi- Teaching Idea ties, and share our customs, our civilization, to be of it; and the result is Indian schools like the Carlisle immediate success. Why not try it on the Indians? Why not invite them School raise important questions into experiences in our communities? . . . . about national identity, assimilation, It is a great mistake to think that the Indian is born an inevitable sav- and diversity. How much assimilation age. He is born a blank, like all the rest of us. Left in the surroundings of must take place for a nation to remain savagery, he grows to possess a savage language, superstition, and life. a unified nation? To what extent is it We, left in the surroundings of civilization, grow to possess a civilized important that the people in a country language, life, and purpose. Transfer the infant white to the savage sur- have the same culture, language, roundings, he will grow to possess a savage language, superstition, and ideas, and ways of life? To what habit. Transfer the savage-born infant to the surroundings of civilization, extent is it important that a nation not and he will grow to possess a civilized language and habit. . . . be totally homogenous, that there be As we have taken into our national family seven millions of Negroes, diversity of thinking and various and as we receive foreigners at the rate of more than five hundred thou- subcultures? How much do we have sand a year, and assimilate them, it would seem that the time may have to have in common to prosper as a arrived when we can very properly make at least the attempt to assimi- nation? These questions are still very late our two hundred and fifty thousand Indians . . . much debated today, and students in The school at Carlisle is an attempt on the part of the government to Grade 5 can be introduced to the do this. . . . Carlisle fills young Indians with the spirit of loyalty to the argument. stars and stripes, and then moves them out into our communities to show by their conduct and ability that the Indian is no different from the white or the colored, that he has the inalienable right to liberty and opportunity that the white and the negro have. Carlisle does not dictate to him what line of life he should fill, so it is an honest one. It says to him that, if he gets his living by the sweat of his brow, and demon- strates to the nation that he is a man, he does more good for his race than hundreds of his fellows who cling to their tribal communistic surroundings. . . .

Richard H. Pratt / “The Advantages of Mingling Indians with Whites”, pp. 260–271. From an extract of the Official Report of the Nineteenth Annual Conference of Charities and Correction (1892), pp. 46–59. History and Geography: American 307 CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 308

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At the Carlisle School Native American children as young as seven years of Teaching Idea age were sent to become Christians and English speakers. They were to forget Pictures of students at the Carlisle their traditional ways and embrace the values of mainstream society. The school School, as well as documents describ- taught both academic subjects and preprofessional skills. Students learned read- ing the school, are available on the ing, writing, and arithmetic. Boys studied carpentry, tinsmithing, and black- web. Student may also be interested in smithing. Girls studied cooking, sewing, and baking. The boys wore uniforms learning about Jim Thorpe, a champi- and the girls wore Victorian-style dresses. Long hair was cut short. Shoes were onship runner educated at the Carlisle required and no moccasins were allowed. Students were not allowed to speak School. their native languages. All of this was well intentioned, but in the attempt to assimilate children to a new culture, the educators at Carlisle were also systemat- ically destroying the culture into which their students had been born. C. Conflicts The Plains Wars The period from the 1850s to the 1880s on the narrowing frontier saw a num- ber of conflicts between settlers and soldiers and the increasingly desperate and dwindling Native American population. These conflicts are sometimes called the Plains Wars. It was not surprising that some Indians resisted westward expansion. As United States General said: We took away their country and their means of support, broke up their mode of living, their habits of life, introduced disease and decay among them, and it was for this and against this that they made war. Could any- one expect less? Sand Creek Massacre In the 1850s, the Arapaho and Cheyenne in Colorado had been forced to accept a small area of land near Sand Creek for their reservation. Within ten years, gold had been found on the reservation and settlers and miners wanted Sand Creek. A conflict began and scattered fighting continued for three years until Chief and his band camped near asking to negotiate for peace. In November 1864, militia under the command of “Colonel” John Chivington, a Methodist minister, led an attack against Black Kettle’s camp. Chivington and his men claimed to be seeking revenge on the Native Americans for an earlier attack on white miners. They attacked Black Kettle and his camp even though it was flying both a U. S. flag and the white flag of truce. Chivington and his force carried out their attack on a camp of sleeping men, women, chil- dren, and elderly. It is estimated that up to 500 Native Americans were killed (and in some cases mutilated) by Chivington’s men. Some Americans applauded Chivington’s actions, but many others were dis- gusted. A Congressional committee investigated the attack and ultimately con- demned Chivington’s massacre. Crazy Horse (Ta-sunko-witko), a chief of the Sioux, was one of the strongest leaders of the Native American resistance on the Great Plains. During the 1850s, he acquired a reputation as a great warrior, based on the bravery he displayed in conflicts with other groups of Native Americans. Later, Crazy Horse would turn these skills against the white men. 308 Grade 5 Handbook CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 309

In the 1860s, Crazy Horse refused to remain on the reservation assigned to his people, insisting instead on venturing out to hunt buffalo. He also led attacks on the army and white settlers. In 1866 he led a party of roughly 1,000 warriors in an attack on soldiers near Fort Kearny in the . Crazy Horse led a decoy party that drew the commander and some soldiers out of the fort. The soldiers were then ambushed by a large Native American force and 80 soldiers were killed. The defeat, known as the Fetterman Massacre, was the worst defeat the army had suffered at the hands of the Native Americans up to that point. In the 1870s, Crazy Horse led additional attacks on railroad workers and the army. He and his followers helped destroy the troops of George A. Custer at the famous battle of the Little Bighorn. After Little Bighorn, the army pursued Crazy Horse more intensively. He was forced to surrender in May 1877. Later that year, he was killed during a tussle with a guard. A memorial to Crazy Horse is current- ly under construction in South Dakota. Sitting Bull (Tatanka Iyotake) was the Dakota Native American chief who led the Sioux tribes in their efforts to resist American expansion. As a young man he gained a reputation for bravery and skill in battles against the Shoshone and other tribes, which gave the Dakota more land on which to hunt. Sitting Bull began a long career of resistance to the U.S. Army and the white man in 1863. Along with Crazy Horse, he became a chief leader of Native American resistance. In 1868 the Sioux made a peace treaty with the U.S. government that gave the Sioux a reservation in the Black Hills (current-day South Dakota). In 1876, the government ordered the Sioux onto reservations when gold was discovered in the area and white miners wanted to prospect for gold. Sitting Bull and others did not comply. The noncomplying Native American chiefs camped in the valley of the Little Bighorn River. Sitting Bull performed a ritual known as the and entered into a trancelike state. He reported that he saw the defeat of army soldiers, which foretold the defeat of General Custer and his men at the Battle of Little Bighorn. After Little Bighorn, the Army applied additional pressure. By this point the buffalo population, on which the Sioux depended, was rapidly waning. Many of the Sioux suffered from hunger, and growing numbers began to surrender. Sitting Bull and other Sioux who continued to resist the government went to Canada and lived there from 1877 to 1881. He continued to lose followers to starvation and finally was forced to surrender. For some time Sitting Bull was confined to a reservation. Then, in 1885 he was allowed to join ’s Wild West show. He was paid $50 a week for rid- ing around the arena and he gained a popular following; however, Sitting Bull remained with the show for only four months. Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance was a ceremony associated with a movement that began among the Paiute [PIE-oot] in western Nevada in the 1880s. It was led by Wovoka [woh-VOH-ka], a Paiute mystic. He claimed that if the Ghost Dance was performed often enough, in time the settlers would disappear, the buffalo would reappear, dead Native Americans would be reborn, and land would be restored to the Native Americans. History and Geography: American 309 CK_5_TH_HG_P231_324.QXD 2/13/06 1:56 PM Page 310

III. Native Americans: Cultures and Conflicts

The Ghost Dance conveyed a powerful message, inspiring hope in its believ- Cross-curricular ers. Word of the Ghost Dance was picked up by other bands and found its way Teaching Idea onto the Plains. The government had the army break up the religion, fearing new You may wish to introduce students to outbreaks of violence just as the Plains Native Americans seemed to be subdued. “I will fight no more forever,” by Chief Government officials gave orders to arrest Sitting Bull, one of the most important Joseph as discussed in the Language native leaders on the Plains and a supporter of the Ghost Dance. A scuffle broke Arts section, “Speeches,” on pp. 83–90. out as officials were trying to arrest him, and Sitting Bull was accidentally killed. (1840–1904) was born in Battle of the Little Bighorn the Wallowa Valley in what is now northeastern Oregon. His tribal name The Battle of the Little Bighorn is also known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” The was Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, or Little Bighorn River flows through southeastern Montana. It was on its banks, on Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain. June 25, 1876, that Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and part of his Seventh After succeeding his father as leader of Cavalry were completely destroyed. Sioux and Cheyenne, led by Chiefs Crazy the Wallowa band of Nez Perce in 1871, Horse and Gall, carried out the attack. Chief Joseph refused to allow the U. S. The stage had been set for the battle when, in 1874, Custer invaded the Black government to force his people from Hills. This land was sacred to the Sioux and had been ceded to them in a treaty their tribal lands. However, Chief by the government. (See p. 309.) Custer already had a bad reputation among Joseph was unable to resist the Native Americans. He had earlier led a raid on a peaceful Cheyenne village at government and later died on the Washita, killing many of the inhabitants. Colville Reservation in Washington. On his expedition in 1874, Custer wanted to find out whether there was gold According to his doctor, he died of a in the Black Hills. When the rumors of gold turned out to be true, word spread broken heart. 32 quickly and miners soon followed. The Native Americans protested the encroach- ment of people into the land, but the army seemed unable to remove the tres- passers. In an effort to keep peace, the federal government offered to buy the Black Hills from the Sioux. The offer was refused because the Sioux felt they Teaching Idea could not sell land that was sacred to them. As you are discussing the various con- The government then ordered the Sioux onto reservations by February 1876. flicts listed in this section, create a Sitting Bull and many others did not comply, and the federal government sent the chart that will help students track army out looking for them. Custer was in charge of an advance party of 600 offi- them. Include the name, date, location, cers and enlisted men. There is debate about whether Custer misunderstood or and key facts. Then, once all the con- ignored his orders, but when his scouts sighted a Native American village, he took flicts have been studied, students can part of his regiment and attacked. Unfortunately for him and his 236 men, they summarize what they learned in para- had located a small part of the major Sioux and Cheyenne encampment that graph form. housed 2,500 warriors. Custer and his men were surrounded and killed within minutes. His remaining troops narrowly escaped to the main army. 65 The army gave chase and by winter 1876–77, most Sioux either had fled into Canada or, seeing no hope of outrunning and outlasting the army, had surren- dered. Those who surrendered were sent to reservations. In 1881, Sitting Bull and his band returned from Canada to reservation life. Wounded Knee After the death of Sitting Bull, a group of Sioux joined Sitting Bull’s half brother, Big Foot, and left the reservation. Like his half brother, Big Foot was a strong supporter of the Ghost Dance. About 500 U.S. Army troops set out after Big Foot’s group, which included 100 warriors and 250 women and children. Big Foot was persuaded to lead his people to Wounded Knee, in what is today the Pine Ridge in southwestern South Dakota, where they were to be disarmed and led to a reservation. When the army attempted to disarm the

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Native Americans, many refused to surrender their weapons. A young warrior raised a rifle above his head and declared he would not give it up. A scuffle broke out and the warrior’s rifle went off, probably accidentally. The frightened soldiers opened fire. By noon, 300 Native Americans, including Big Foot and many women and children, lay dead. The army suffered 25 dead and 39 wounded, though many of these were probably victims of friendly fire. The Battle of Wounded Knee—some prefer to call it a massacre, not a bat- tle—put an end to the Ghost Dance movement and, although scattered Native American resistance continued, is widely seen as mark- ing the end of the Indian Wars, one of the saddest chapters in American history.

The Big Idea Review in Review Below are some ideas for ongoing assessment and review activities. These are Native American cul- not meant to constitute a comprehensive list. Teachers may also refer to the tures were disrupted, Pearson Learning/Core Knowledge History & Geography series for additional infor- displaced, and profound- mation and teaching ideas. ly altered by the west- • Consult with local universities or libraries to see if there is a Native American ward expansion of the specialist (such as a professor, exchange student, or librarian) who can come to United States and the the class and give a presentation on an aspect of Native American culture and his- government’s policies in tory. Before inviting the speaker, have students write personal letters to introduce the 19th century. themselves and ask a question that they would like answered. Deliver these let- ters to the specialist prior to the presentation. • Have students choose a Native American group from this section and write a short research paper about that group. Have students focus on how the group’s culture reflected where they lived. Students should consult three outside sources and then present their papers to the class. They may choose to also include a visu- al aid with their presentation. Check that students follow correct format for writ- ing the short paper. • While studying this section, focus on the concept of conflict and what caus- es conflict. Use other aspects of history to discuss this with the class, such as the Civil War and westward expansion. Have students reflect in journals about what we can learn about historical conflict and read those entries aloud. How will they apply what they have learned about history as they grow into adults? • Work with your school media specialist and compile a classroom library of Native American myths written as picture books. Have each student choose a book, read it, and share a summary with the class. Then, meet with a kindergarten class while they are studying Native Americans and have book buddies share the Native American myths. • Have students study an aspect of a Native American culture and write their own myth to describe the culture. After writing the myths, have students illus- trate them and create a class book of Native American myths. • You may also ask the following questions after completion of this unit of study.

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