Native American Encyclopedia Fox To Indian Territory
6 Gadsden Treaty Gadsden Treaty or Gadsden Purchase signed between Mexico and the U S in 1853 settled border arguments after the Mexican-American War The U S wanted a southern rail route connecting the East with the West James Gadsden who owned shares in the railroad picked to build the line negotiated the treaty with Mexico The Gadsden Treaty made changes in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo the original peace agreement after the war Gadsden promised ten million dollars for southern New Mexico and Arizona Though the U S only delivered six million dollars Mexico bitterly agreed to the treaty to avoid a renewal of a war they could not afford This bitterness and mistrust lasted for many years Gall 1840-1894 also known as Pizi meaning man who goes in the middle was a Hunkpapa Lakota chief whose name refers to his fearlessness in battle He led warriors in Red Cloud’s War and in 1868 signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie to end it In 1876 Chiefs Sitting Bull Gall and Crazy Horse led warriors to victory at Little Bighorn Gall followed Sitting Bull to Canada but later returned to the U S settling on the Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory preferring to farm in peace instead of continued war See also Little Bighorn Battle of and Sitting Bull Games of athletic skill and chance were popular in Native American life Every tribe had its own variations of games In hoop and-pole players tried to toss or slide a pole through a rolling netted hoop California Indians like the Maidu and Plains peoples like the Hidatsa passed the time with this game The game of lacrosse went beyond just having fun It served as a kind of medicine to bring players and nations a sense of well being It settled arguments that could not be resolved by discussion The winner of the game also won the argument Many tribes played lacrosse including the Iroquois tribes the Cherokee Creek Choctaw California Indians and Santee Sioux Native American lacrosse games sometimes involved hundreds of players The Inuit played a kind of soccer keep away with a leather ball stuffed with caribou hair Unlike soccer kicking goals wasn’t the object of this game Instead a
genocide 7 General Allotment Act of 1887 also known as Dawes Allotment Act ordered the division of reservation lands to Native Americans in 160-acre 64 hectare shares According to the law heads of households would receive the land The United States government could sell any leftover land Supporters of the act claimed it would force Native Americans to assimilate into mainstream American culture by moving them from community landholding to individual ownership The main result of the act however was to strip Native Americans of much of their land and ruin them financially The law held until 1934 when Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act Genocide is the intentional murder of a certain category of people particularly those of a certain race or set of beliefs Cultural genocide means erasing a way of life Throughout history Native American culture including language the importance of community spiritual practices and beliefs and clothing and shelter was constantly under attack words to know assimilate uh-SIHM-uh-layt to blend in with the surrounding ruling culture negotiate nuh-GOH-shee-ayt to bargain or talk over problems in order to come to an agreement Native Americans made game balls out of stone clay wood or animal skin stuffed with hair team won by keeping control of the ball the longest Kutchin athletes participated in wrestling matches Again a chief might suggest a wrestling match to settle a disagreement between two tribesmen Games sometimes prepared players for adult life such as battle games like the Mandan played Mandan boys split into two teams each coached by an experienced warrior They practiced battle moves and strategies and then held a battle game For the Choctaw highly competitive song contests among villages of the same tribe entertained everyone Many tribes enjoyed indoor games such as a string game similar to cat’s cradle dice games and betting Players made dice out of wood stone bone shell and even seeds Gamblers bet on running races or horse races in addition to guessing games and other games of chance See also batey and lacrosse
8 George Chief Dan George Chief Dan 1899-1981 was the leader of the Salish people of British Columbia from 1951 to 1963 Though he did not begin his acting career until he was 60 years old he played roles in many films and won an Academy Award nomination for his role in the movie Little Big Man He attempted to promote understanding of First Nations peoples beliefs and values and wrote several books on that subject Meet Geronimo Geronimo 1829-1909 also known as Goyakla and Goyathlay meaning one who yawns acted as a Chiricahua Apache military and spiritual leader in the American Southwest He rose to power in the 1870s during the last efforts of the western native peoples to keep their traditional lands The United States Army with support from pioneers and Mexicans pushed the Chiricahuas onto the San Carlos Reservation in southeastern Arizona territory an area of harsh desert Those who refused to go escaped with Apache leaders Geronimo and Juh for a life on the run in the mountains of northern Mexico Over the next ten years the U S Army tracked and captured Geronimo and returned him to the reservation where he would once again escape In 1886 Geronimo and his band of 18 warriors and their families agreed to surrender to General Nelson Miles and his army of 5,000 soldiers This represented the end of Indian resistance The government sent Geronimo and his band to Florida prisons along with members who had settled on the San Carlos Reservation years earlier Many prisoners died The government sent the band’s children to Indian boarding schools The government later moved Geronimo to an Oklahoma reservation near Fort Sill and banned him from ever returning to his homelands in Arizona Geronimo remains a hero and his deep responsibility to protect his people has become legendary 1858 Mexican army attacks Geronimo’s camp and kills many including Geronimo’s wife children and mother 1876-1886 Repeatedly flees San Carlos Reservation with followers 1886 Surrenders to United States Army and sent to prison 1904 Appears at St Louis World’s Fair selling autographs and souvenirs
Ghent Treaty of signed in Europe on December 24 1814 ended the War of 1812 fought between the United States and Great Britain The war did not produce a clear winner and both sides wanted peace The two countries agreed to release all prisoners and give back to each other lands taken during the war The news of the treaty did not reach America for several weeks General Andrew Jackson in the meantime was able to defeat the British in the battle for New Orleans on January 8 1815 Fighting ended with news of the treaty but the last battle helped Andrew Jackson later win the presidency of the United States Ghost Dance practiced as part of the Ghost Dance movement especially among Plains peoples in the late 1800s first surfaced in 1869 in today’s Nevada A Northern Paiute named Wodziwob had a dream about the future In his dream the Supreme Ruler came to the people along with the spirits of their dead They would renew the land life would never end and all people would live in peace Wodziwob taught his people the dance that went along with the ritual a type of traditional round dance Over time the ritual died out The Ghost Dance was brought back in the 1880s This time the movement spread rapidly promising a return to old ways and the disappearance of nonnatives It required tribes to give up alcohol live in harmony with each other and turn away Ghost Dance shirts 9 from the ways of nonnatives The Lakota added the idea of Ghost Dance shirts The Bureau of Indian Affairs banned the Ghost Dance fearing a return of fighting and violence Ghost Dance shirts were sacred clothing worn by both Lakota men and women while performing the Ghost Dance ritual The Lakota made the shirts from white muslin a kind of plain lightweight cotton cloth The Lakota believed the shirts protected the wearer from bullets The Lakota decorated Ghost Dance shirts with fringe symbols and animal drawings words to know movement MOOV-mihnt a group of people with the same beliefs who are working together to accomplish certain goals ritual RIH-chew-uhl a ceremony with a certain set of steps to perform in a certain order
