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=Indian Policies = by Mary Jean Freeman and Michelle Gimenez (: Conflicts with Indian Peoples began with the arrival of the colonists into the New World. Conflicts over land and cultural differences led to decades full of traumatizing events, wars, and controversial policies that eventually shaped how America is today. Different policies and acts were established throughout the history of the United States to set boundaries and specific ties to the Indian People. In 1790, the **Indian Intercourse Act** was passed. This stated that the United States would regulate trade and intercourse with Indian tribes. This also declared that public treaties was the only legal way of obtaining Indian land. In 1801, President Jefferson's idea of an **Agrarian Republic** created a need for more land for farming. Also, at this time the **Louisiana Purchase** acquired more land for the United States. The acquisition of these lands led Americans to settle in Indian territories. However, the Indian nations of the Ohio Valley were determined to resist expansion that carried thousands of settlers onto their lands. On the other hand, the "**Five Civilized Tribes**" tried to adapt to the white culture. The Indian Intercourse Act states that one cannot seize Indian land unless it was ceded by treaty; however, this did not meet the realities of the quick paced expansion of the West. Commonly, Americans settled beyond the limits of treaty boundaries. President Jefferson became concerned for the western Indian peoples. **Jefferson's Indian Policy** was designed to solve the problems between the natives and the whites. His policy allowed Indians to cede their lands to pioneers, and in return the whites would teach the Indians how to farm and live like whites on **reservations**. Jefferson strongly supported the idea that Indians be educated in Christianity and in white ways. **The Society for Propagating the Gospel among Indians** created in 1797 and the **American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions** created in 1810 sent missionaries to the western Indians. Nearly every tribe was bitterly split between **accommodationists** and **traditionalists**. Jefferson offered traditionalists to settle in new lands west of the Mississippi. He claimed that these lands would be undisturbed by white settlers, however, twenty years later these lands were being settled by whites. This caused the Indians to be pushed further and further west. In the Northwest Territory many Indians chose to partake in armed resistance. Many battles and wars were fought between the resistant Indians and the American settlers. In 1805, Tenskwatawa known as The Prophet, preached a message of Indian revitalization. He said that Indians should reject all contacts with Americans. He promised that if tribes returned to traditional ways that the natives will be free to inhabit the land once again. This along with many other altercations led to the **Battle of Tipppecanoe**. American's quest for **Manifest Destiny** continued to push the natives off of their land. Indian Territory was being crossed by the **Santa Fe Trail** and the **Overland Trails** which cut Indian Territory in half. **The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854** abolished the northern half of Indian Territory. This opened the Kansas and Nebraska territories to white settlers right away. **The Nez Perce Treaty** of 1863 was signed illegally on be half of the entire tribe in which the Nez abandoned 6 million acres of land in return for a small reservation in Oregon. This led to the Nez Perce Wars which ended in 1877 with the surrender of Chief Joseph. In the midst of Indian Wars, American still continued to obtain land on Indian Territory. For example, in the **Treaty of Fort Laramie** the Sioux were granted the right to the Black Hills, as long as the land was to be maintained fertile. However, as rumors of precious metals lay beneath the land emerged, Americans soon began to take over. Due to the violation of this treaty, the tribes of these areas prepared for battle. In the battle known as "Custer's Last Stand," the defeat of the Americans led to more hatred of the Indian people. The **Board of Indian Commissioners** was established in 1869 to help mediate conflicts among the tribes that were forced to live on the reservations. Organizations began to form in protest against the treatment of Indians. One of the most influential spokesperson for Indian rights was Helen Hunt Jackson. She wrote //A Century of Dishonor// that detailed the mistreatment of the Indian people. A group known as the **Women's National Indian Association** rallied public support for programs of **assimilation**. In 1887 the **Dawes Severalty Act** divided communal tribal land, granting the right to petition for citizenship to those Indians who accepted the individual land allotment of 160 acres. In result this successfully undermined sovereignty for the Indians. This was a great effort to strip all Indian culture away from the people. Furthermore, the **Ghost Dance** was an attempt on the Indian's part to revive their diminishing culture. Wovoka, a Sioux member, envisioned that if all Indian tribes learned to love eachother, they all will hold a special place in the after life. He was also given a ghost dance, that was to be performed to help Indians that were ever lost from their lands return home and vanish all white people from earth. Obviously, Indian policies made throughout the United State's history proved unfair for the Indian people. The expansion of the West led to the removal of Indian Tribes to reservations. Indian tribes in result lost not only their land that they had for centuries, but also lost a big part of their culture.
 * The Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1866** assigned reservations in existing Indian territory to the Comanches, Plains Apaches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, Arapahos, and brought these tribes together with the Sioux, Shoshones, Bannocks, and Navajos. This lead to mo[[image:FortLaramieGrandCouncil.jpg width="212" height="138" align="right"]]re than 100,000 people competing intensely for survival. This also ultimately established the reservation system.

 Time Line
 * The Indian Intercourse Act of 1790
 * Indian Removal Act of 1830
 * Kansas- Nebraska Act of 1854
 * Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1866
 * Nez Perce Treaty of 1863-
 * The End of Nez Perce Wars 1877
 * Treaty of Fort Laramie 1868
 * Board of Indian Commisioners established in 1869
 * Congress declares the end of the treaty system in 1871
 * Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
 * Ghost dance 1890
 * Wounded Knee 1890 - massacre of Lakota Sioux

Glossary
 * Accommodationists**- One that compromises with or adapts to the viewpoint of the opposition
 * Agrarian Republic-** Jefferson's idea that America's economics should revolve around farming.
 * American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions** - first group established to send missionaries to Indian tribes in efforts to convert them into Christianity.
 * Assimilation** - The process whereby a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the[[image:400px-Five-Civilized-Tribes-Portraits.png width="220" height="205" align="right" caption="The Five Civilized Tribes"]] prevailing culture
 * Battle of Tipppecanoe**- Bloody Indian Battle led by Tecumseh against the Americans.
 * Board of Indian Commissioners -** a program that lobbied Indian problems to congress through assimilation
 * Dawes Severalty Act**- authorizes the President to survey Native American tribal land and divide the arable area into allotments for the individual Native American. It says that a Native American family may receive 160 acres if they are to farm, 80 acres if they are to raise cattle and 40 acres for any normal living purposes.
 * Five Civilized Tribes**- The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Chocktawes, Creeks, and Ceminoles tribes that made efforts to change into white ways.
 * Ghost Dance**- Either of two group dances associated with a messianic religious movement among Native American peoples of the Southwest and Great Plains in the late 19th century. Ghost dance prophets foretold the imminent disappearance of whites, the restoration of traditional lands and ways of life, and the resurrection of dead ancestors.
 * Indian Intercourse Act** - States that the United States would regulate trade and intercourse with Indian tribes.
 * Indian Removal Act of 1830**- Legislation signed by Andrew Jackson that granted the access of the land belonging to the "Five Civilized Tribes"
 * Jefferson's Indian Policy**- Idea that natives should convert to aspects of white culture
 * Louisiana Purchase**- An area bought for $15 million from the French that more than doubled the size of the United States.
 * Manifest Destiny** - The 19th-century idea that the United States had the right and duty to expand throughout the North American continent.
 * Reservations** - A tract of land set apart by the federal government for a special purpose, especially one for the use of a Native American people.
 * The Society for Propagating the Gospel among Indians**- Group established to convert Indians into Christianity by sending missionaries to Indian Territories
 * Traditionalists** - one who adheres to traditional views
 * Treaty of Fort Laramie**- Treaty that ended Red Cloud's War. Granted the Black Hills to the Sioux Indians.
 * Women's National Indian Association**- An association who's aims were for Christianization and assimilation of American Indians

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Sources Faragher, John. __Out of Many, A History of the American People__. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002. 