Westward Migration Bellwork What was the Homestead Act

Westward Migration Bellwork What was the Homestead Act? Gave 160 acres to anyone willing to work it for 5 years What are two reasons that exodusters moved west? Economic Opportunity and fleeing Jim Crow Oppression Who was the primary workforce that built the transcontinental railroad? Irish and Chinese Immigrants

Objective WWBAT: Discuss causes of tensions between the US and Great Plains Indians gather information on conflicts of the Indian Wars

Native Americans and Expansion Many Native Americans lived on the Great Plains for hundreds of years A number of them, such as the Sioux and Cheyenne, had lived on the Plains for hundreds of years

US Expansion Policies Many of the Plains peoples moved very often, following the Buffalo that roamed the plains The buffalo served as a living grocery store for the Plains Indians

US Expansion Policies • As the settlers moved for the West the United States promised to protect the Native hunting grounds • The United States Government broke promise after promise, which made the Natives very angry • Indian wars spread across the Great Plains in the attempt to reclaim lands and resist further expansion

US Expansion Policies In 1851, the Federal Government met with the Indian nations near Fort Laramie in Wyoming The Government asked the Indians to stay in a limited area. In return, they promised money, domestic animals, agricultural tools, and other goods. The Native American leaders agreed to the government’s terms in the Fort Laramie Treaty Settlers continued to trespass on Indian lands and break the agreement.

US Expansion Policies Government would move all Plains tribes into 2 large reservations One in Indian Territory(Oklahoma) and the other in the Dakotas Bureau of Indian Affairs was responsible for distributing land, making payments, supervising the shipment of supplies DID A TERRIBLE JOB!

The near-extinction of the bison Buffalo were hunted for sport, for their valuable furs, and as an intentional way to hurt Indian tribes that relied on the animal for survival.

In 1865, ~15 million By 1875, fewer than 1000 Buffalo Skulls at the Michigan Carbon Works, 1895

In 1858, gold was struck at Pikes Peak in Colorado. The gold strike brought miners onto the land the government promised to the Indians. In 1860, the Indians were forced to give up the land around Pikes Peak. Native Americans refused to give up their land. They attacked trains, burned, and killed many soldiers and common people. Colonel John Chivington, of the United States Army, attacked the Indians. When the Indians surrendered he ordered his men to destroy the village and take no prisoners. He slaughtered about 150 Indian men, women, and children. This was called the Chivington Massacre.

Plains Indian men were generally responsible for protecting the women, children and elders. They passed their valuable skills to the boys. They supervised the spiritual life of the community by leading religious ceremonies. They provided military leadership and waged war to fight or extend a territory. The most successful warriors gained great respect from the members of their nation.

Plains Life Bellwork What was the most important thing for the Native Americans in the Plains? Buffalo Where did the US government create Indian Reservations? Dakota and Oklahoma

Objective WWBAT: Discuss the Dawes Act and its impact on Native Americans in the late 1800’s

NATIVE AMERICAN TERRITORY IN THE WEST, 1890

The Dawes Act of 1887 split up reservations held communally by Native American tribes into smaller units These units were distributed to individuals within the tribe The goal was discourage unity and to encourage Native Americans to adopt small scale agriculture

Dawes said he wanted the government to “put [the Indian] on his own land, furnish him with a little habitation, with a plow, and a rake, and show him how to go to work to use them. … The only way [to civilize the Indian] is to lead him out into the sunshine, and tell him what the sunshine is for, and what the rain comes for, and when to put his seed in the ground. ”

The Dawes Act The government held lands in trust for 25 years, until the recipients could prove themselves selfsufficient farmers If a family failed at farming, the land reverted back to the federal government for sale, usually to white settlers The Dawes Act reduced Native American landholdings from 138 million acres in 1887 to 78 million in 1900

The Dawes Act The law also changed the legal status of Native Americans from tribal members to individuals, subject to federal laws and dissolved many tribal affiliations Essentially the act made it so tribes once viewed as sovereign nations were now under the control of the U. S governments

Boarding Schools The Dawes Act also set now infamous boarding schools on and off reservations In another attempt to force Native Americans to assimilate to “civilized” life children were forced to attend government funded boarding schools

Boarding Schools Children were forced to have their hair cut Children were washed in cruel ways Children were forced to dress in a new outfit that closely resembled white Americans- military uniforms for boys, and Victorian dresses for the girls

Boarding Schools For the first few years most boarding schools focused on academics and religious teachings By the early 1900’s most boarding schools abandoned academics and focused on vocational trainings and Christian conversion This would prove to be detrimental to native populations as time went on because of the limited attention paid to essential academic skills

Boarding Schools Children were beaten for speaking their native language Children were forced to stay and do manual labor during the summers Most schools were woefully unmaintained and provided poor health care and food

Boarding Schools Boarding schools wouldn’t see significant improvements until the late 1930’s From 1935 to 1966 most boarding schools closed Those that stayed upon were taken over by tribal governments which were able to make their own curriculum

“The real aim of this bill is to get at the Indian lands… if this were being done in the name of Greed it would be bad enough; but to do it in the name of humanity is the worst inhumanity. ” Colorado Senator Henry Teller

"It makes little difference, however, where one opens the record of history of the Indians; every page and every year has its dark stain. The story of one tribe is the story of all. " --Helen Hunt Jackson

Interactive Notebook Setup 3/29/2018 US Native Relations This will be one page