H. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee PDF

Preview

Summary

notes over battle...

Description

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

As you read each of the corresponding documents fill out the information below and be ready to discuss in class. Document The Dawes Act (A)

Summary -

Chief Red Cloud’s Speech (B)

-

Sec. of Interior’s Report (C)

-

Divided tribal land into 40-160 acre plots to distribute among individuals. Sought to make Natives self-supporting instead of group oriented to coordinate with American ideals and to force assimilation. Led to the most fertile lands sold to white settlers and Natives losing ⅔ of the land originally attributed to them. Chief of Oglala Teton Sioux. Opposed white encroachment but promoted peace and didn’t support violence of Crazy Horse. Talks about how Natives originally made treaties with the government was their ways of life were being destroyed and saw treaties as a way to preserve it and they longed to be as free as whites. But these treaties were repeatedly violated as the government took care of themselves and the white man over Natives. Also talks about the public degradation and propaganda against Natives. View it as imperative that Natives learn and use English in order to become true citizens which is the main purpose of Native education. View English as the ideal language in unifying Americans. Believe unity cannot be present if multiple languages are used. Despite protest that it degrades Native rights, English will be the only tongue taught at Native schools.

How does the Dawes Act of 1887 compare to the federal government’s previous Indian policies? What do you think prompted this change? The Dawes Act focused on Natives as individuals rather than whole tribes. This change was due to reformers fighting for the Dawes Act. The Dawes Act was similar to other treaties in that it was dishonored by the U.S. government and ended up making Natives more dependent on the government with less rights and land to themselves.

In what ways did the Dawes Act spell doom for the Indian tribes of the West and the Plains? The Dawes Act decreased Native land by ⅔ leading to more economic dependence on the government. The Act also split tribes into individuals, an ideal diametrically opposed to Native’s ways of life taking away their cultural identity. Account of Wounded Knee Black Elk (D)

Summary -

-

President Benjamin Harrison (E)

-

Flying Hawk (F)

-

Heard about Standing Rock fight and Sitting Bull being killed. Big Foot + 400 people (100 soldiers) were coming down after running from Standing Rock and white soldiers were trying to find them. Night before Wounded Knee Knee, Black Elk saw white soldiers near Big Foot and knew something was gonna happen. Next morning, he heard shots from a cannon and him and his men rode in the direction of the fighting. There, he saw cavalrymen falling, cannons going off, and women/children running away. Also, saw women/children murdered after being trapped in a gully. That evening, they drove soldiers back and looked over the hill at the creek and witnessed the massacre that had happened and Black Elk wished he had died so he didn’t have to see. That night, a blizzard buried the innocents who had been murdered. Complaints over Native land loss drove soldiers to the area in the first place. Viewed the Sioux as a naturally warlike tribe and the massacre as protecting the settlers with “least possible loss of life”. Saw massacre as bettering the Native population through justice and security of citizenship. White soldiers were prepared to battle and wanted to round up all the “hostiles”. The government army chasing Big Foot led Big Foot into trap prepared on Wounded Knee Creek. While the Natives were camping, gov soldiers surrounded them in a ring and trained cannons up them leaving no room for escape. The Natives were starving and weak so the gov army went to take their weapons, by force if necessary. A shot was heard and blamed on a Native. Gov. army gave order to fire and after a few minutes, over 220 Natives were dead. A blizzard came the next day burying them together.

Which of these accounts is most believable? Why? Flying Hawk’s, he gives an account of the U.S. army trapping the Natives and surrounding the Native camp and told of the physical condition of the Natives at the time. He also tells of the U.S. gathering weapons and a shot (possibly by a Native) leading to the U.S. to fire unrelentingly on the camp. His account also matches most of the details in Black Elk’s account including the blizzard and positioning of the murdered. Which of these accounts is least believable? Why? President Benjamin Harrison’s, he blames the “naturally warlike” Sioux when generally Natives didn’t attack, they only protected themselves when needed. He also stated that the least possible loss of life occurred when it had been a massacre. Lastly, he saw the battle as helping the Natives despite the fact that many were murdered. In your opinion, what really happened at Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890?

I believe Flying Hawk’s account as it seems plausible that the U.S. led Black Foot and other Natives into a trap and after one shot was heard, chaos erupting ending with 220 murdered including women and children....