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