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Native Americans & the Gilded Age - Coggle Diagram
Native Americans & the Gilded Age
The Navajos adapted to new farming methods and built up a thriving pastoral enterprise of 10.5 million acres and 1.7 million sheep & goats - tribal numbers invreased from 8000 to 22000
Much of the reservation land was of poor quality for agriculture
Reservations provided the opportunity for some tribes to establish farming communities
Education made NAs more employable - eg as Army scouts, translators and working for the Indian Agency
NAs won a stunning victory over Federal troops at Little Bighorn (1876) - this convinced some Americans that a change in policy was needed
Off-reservation boarding schools provided boys with vocational training and girls with skills for domestic service
Reservations provided better healthcare, which was important as many NAs experienced disease and low life expectancy
Reservations allowed tribal life to continue, protecting their culture and perpetuating a sense of belonging
The Dawes Act granted NAs land and gave some full rights as citizens
Being forced onto reservations denied NAs their rights and freedoms
The promised subsidies and rations were insufficient and often cut due to other demands on Federal resources
The massacre at Wounded Knee (1890) showed the hostility that many tribes faced and represented the end of a traditional way of life - 'A peopel's dream died there'
Educational provision on the reservations was poor, and planned and delivered by white Americans and was designed to assimilate NA children
The majority of NAs experienced discrimination and limited employment opportunities
Many NA children were forced to abandon their tribal customs and language - leading to their alienation from other NAs
Many NAs received poor quality land, were unable to adapt to agriculture, or were cheated out of their land by white settlers, therefore falling into poverty
Issues such as heart disease, alcoholism and depression increased on the reservations
The Dawes Act resulted in significant loss of NA land - two-thirds, or 90 million acres, was taken by 1934 - deemed as surplus and sold or brought under Federal control
Many tribes were moved on as reservation land was deemed to have value to settlers eg for mining or forestry
1871 Indian Appropriations Act NAs as 'wards of the state'and made it easier for the Federal govt to deny them their rights
1883 Religious Crimes Code outlawed religious practices and ceremonies - also known as 'Dance Orders'
Federal defeat at Little Bighorn led the govt to invest millions of dollars in crushing NA resistance
Between 1860 and 1900 the Plains population fell from 240,000 to 100,000 -
NAs did not want to own land or achieve citizenship - they wanted self-determination and the restoration of tribal hunting grounds