Last Resistance…Last Resistance…
• Chief Joseph (1877) led his tribe, the Nez Perce 1,500 miles to Canada– Within miles of border they were captured
• Geronimo crosses U.S./Mexican border and attacks U.S. settlements– Captured in 1886– Geronimo is seen as one of last Native
Americans to not give in to the U.S. government
Chief Joseph, leader of the Nez Perce
“I will fight no more forever”
~ Chief Joseph
Geronimo – Symbol of American Indian resistance
to US expansion
What is a folk hero???
American Indian Way of Life American Indian Way of Life DestroyedDestroyed
• The Destruction of Buffalo– Importance of Buffalo
• The Skull, Horns, Bones, Hide, and Meat all used by Native Americans
– 65 Million in 1800. – 1 Thousand in 1870.
Uses of the BuffaloUses of the Buffalo• meat - roasted on the campfire, boiled, for pemmican and jerky,
sausages • hides with the hair left on - winter clothing, gloves, blankets,
robes, costumes for ceremonies or for hunting. • hides - ropes, blankets, shields, clothing, bags, tipi covers, bull
boats, sweat lodge covers, containers, drums • sinew (muscles) - bowstrings, thread for sewing, webbing for
snowshoes • bones - for making hoes, shovels, runners for sleds, pointy tools,
knives, pipes, scrapers, arrowheads • horns - spoons, cups, bowls, containers to carry tobacco, medicine
or gunpowder, headdresses, arrow points, toys • hair - rope, pillow stuffing, yarn, shields, medicine balls
Uses of the Buffalo (#2)Uses of the Buffalo (#2)• beard - decoration on clothes and weapons
• tail - fly swatter, whip, tipi decoration
• brain - used for tanning the hides (to soften the skin)
• hoofs - rattles, boiled to make glue
• fat - paint base, hair grease, for making candles and soap
• dung (manure chips) - fuel for campfires and smoke signals
• teeth - for decorating, necklaces
• stomach - containers for water and for cooking
• bladder - medicine bag, water container, pouches
• skull - ceremonies and prayer
Unfairness ExposedUnfairness Exposed
• A Century of Dishonor– Book by Helen Hunt Jackson – Exposed the broken promises of the U.S.
government– An example of early muckraking (journalism
that exposes corruption)– Targets the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
• Organization responsible for the relationship b/w government and reservations
Author of A Century of Dishonor, Helen Hunt
Jackson sought to make all aware of the maltreatment towards
American Indians
Problems w/ 3Problems w/ 3rdrd Policy Policy (Assimilation)(Assimilation)
• Assimilation – plan under which American Indians would give up their beliefs and way of life and become part of American (white European) culture
• Comprehensive attempt to alter the way of life of American Indians (clothing, education, language, lifestyle, etc…)
Dawes ActDawes ActDawes Act (1887)
– Supposed to “Americanize” the Native Americans– Broke up reservations and gave land to individuals for
the purpose of farming– Rest of land sold to settlers and money used to build
Indian schools and for farming tools– Native Americans who agreed could become
American citizens
• A great deal of money allotted to American Indians never gets to them
A comparison of American Indians lands in 1775 (top picture and
lands in 1894 (bottom)
Reservation lands today according to the BIA (Bureau
of Indian Affairs)
Carlisle School for Children
Navajo Boy: Tom Torlino
Student at Carlisle
Six Components of a Political Cartoon
1) Characters
2) Humor
3) Symbolism
4) Headings
5) Action
6) Caricature
starvation rations
American Indian / U.S. Gov’t American Indian / U.S. Gov’t Relationship TodayRelationship Today
• American Indian Movement rises in 1968 w/ the purpose of protecting indigenous people
• Challenges the BIA and calls for change
• BIA offers apology in 2000
Indigenous:
Today’s ReservationToday’s Reservation
• 550 recognized tribes
• 56.2 million acres of reservation land – Largest is Navajo reservation in Arizona
• American Indians are subject to all U.S. law, but reservation laws may be different