Journal 1: Compare and contrast the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
Comparison:
Although the Treaty of 1851 and the Treaty of 1868 both dealt with the same issues, there were some substantial differences in their approach and contents. Both of them were located at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and both came in response to small-scale conflicts. Both provided land to the Native Americans in exchange for peace "to perpetuity," land reservation, and financial incentives. Both included large numbers of Native American tribes, and both had any number of tribes that refused to come. Finally, both created a short period of peace, followed by a renewal of hostilities between the two cultures.
Contrast:
The Treaty of 1868 differed substantially from the first Treaty in the number of participants. Fewer tribes were included (for example, the Cheyenne and Crow did not attend) but more representatives from each tribe signed the treaty. Also signing the Treaty of 1868 was Major General W.T. Sherman, who was noted for his "total war" approach to dealing with Native Americans. More representatives from the United States, including some soldiers, signed the 1868 Treaty than the 1851 Treaty. In content, the 1868 Treaty was more inclusive, giving provisions for free education and health care for those Native Americans who became farmers, as well as setting up BIA agents on the reservations. Also, no right of passage was mentioned in the Treaty of 1868.
Journal 2: What happened on December 28-29, 1890? How did this event shape history, both from a U.S. Government and Native American perspective?
On December 28, 1890, the United States' 7th Cavalry troops under Major Samuel Whitside, responding to the flight of the Minneconjou Chief Big Foot towards the Pine Ridge Agency, had intercepted the band of fugitives and ordered them to encamp on the banks of the Wounded Knee Creek. The next day, the 29th, the decision was reached to disarm the nearly 120 men among the 350-400 Native Americans at the site. The Native Americans, starving and freezing, put up some resistance, and a shot rang out. The nervous Army troopers opened fire with the four Hotchkiss repeating guns that surrounded the encampment as well as their small arms. At the end, hundreds of Native Americans, including women and children, lay dead or dying in the snow. 25 troopers also died, and 40 were wounded, mostly by friendly fire. Adding to the carnage was a blizzard that came that night, killing many of the wounded. The next day, troopers buried the bodies beside the creek.
The Incident at
Wounded Knee , known both as a battle and as a massacre, was a turning point in the relationship between the Native Americans and the White men. In one sense, it was an ending—it marked the death of the last major Native American leader, Sitting Bull, who was killed while resisting arrest two weeks earlier. It also marked the end of armed resistance by the Native Americans to the policy of forced relocation onto the reservation. After
Wounded Knee , Native American resistance would take different forms, marked particularly by passive cultural resistance and working within the U.S. legal system. The Reverend Simon Looking Elk described it this way, "We not only had the loss of life at Wounded Knee, which is most important, but also the expressions, the manifestations of the culture of the old Lakota people were destroyed as well." (Wounded Knee Museum) For the United States, it marked the end of the Plains Wars between the tribes and the U.S. Army, and the end of the frontier. Finally, years later, Wounded Knee would serve as the catalyst for a critical reassessment of United States policy when Dee Brown wrote his book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This book, and the approach of reappraising the role and motives of the United States in their treatment of the Native Americans, has reinvigorated the debate over Wounded Knee and its consequences to this day.
Journal 3: Based on the Cleary & Peacock readings or other sources, develop a chart of cultural differences between traditional Native American culture and mainstream culture.
