...The Wounded Knee Massacre: Critique edition History is the very thing that molded our country to what it has become today, however we rarely realize how much of history we have not been introduced to. When reading “Pressing the Issue at Wounded Knee” by Randy Hines, a reader would learn about the tragedy that caused Soldiers of the American soldiers directed at the Sioux tribes in South Dakota. Giving the reader a chance to understand what was truly happening between these two groups of people. In the article, it starts by attempting to give some background to what began the unsettling events between the blue coat soldiers and the Sioux. Hines mentions: “Historians often cite mistakes and misunderstandings as the reason for the bloody clash...
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...Jordan Alexander Tuesday 6-8:50 History 1846- Present Document Analysis According to Black Elk, what atrocities took place at Wounded Knee? Black Elk as described it as just that a massacre that just destroyed a town/civilization, with no remorse whatsoever towards the people. Black Elk went into more detail about the whole fight and how it happened as to the others schemed over it. It was like a planned attack of these people and it wasn’t safe for any human being at that time. Kids, adult’s men and women, and babies that some were still attached to their mothers while dying. Overall just an unbelievable sight to see and vision as lives were taking and just left there like trash as a storm comes through and covers the bodies. As Black Elk stated at least they were in a better place for as the older children and adults but the babies were more innocent than anyone else. How did President Harrison describe these atrocities? The President described this as a way for the Sioux tribe to maybe test the waters on the laws that were being handed down to them by the government and engage with these issues. He also describes them as a turbulent group almost warlike in actions so they were excited to see what would go on. Harrison says because of their hostile ways, that this massacre could have be determined as to the result of them being so violent. Whom did Black Elk blame/ whom did Harrison blame? Like I stated in the previous question, Black Elk put more of the blame...
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...Christina Greene Professor Sample AMH 2020 27 January 2015 Essay 1: Battle of Wounded Knee The Battle of Wounded Knee resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Sioux Native Americans and 25 United States soldiers (Wikipedia 2015). With the possibility of using a Time Machine, the following steps would have prevented this tragedy from happening. Forcing relocation, miscommunication of the Ghost Dance, and the seizure of Sioux weapons all lead to the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890. Tensions have been rising between the European settlers and Native Americans for hundreds of years before this battle. When the Ghost Dance movement came along, the Indians thought it was a peaceful end to white expansion. A holy man named Wovoka founded the Ghost Dance. “When you get home you must make a dance to continue five days. Dance four successive nights, and the last night keep us the dance until the morning of the fifth day, when all must bathe in the river and then disperse to their homes. You must all do in the same way” (Wovoka 1891). This piece of the message from the messiah shows that the Indians were doing the ghost dance as a way to get their homelands back and in no way had the intent to be violent. The Indians believed that it would free the area of white men so they could return to their original lands and live freely. Wovoka preached nonviolence, however, whites feared that the Ghost Dance would lead to an Indian Rebellion (Education Portal). This excerpt from Harper’s Weekly...
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...Discrimination has been around as long as humans have been in existence. It has enslaved millions and millions it has forced entire tribes to migrate from state to state. It has locked up countless number of innocent people and it stripped the right to vote for many, even when it was promised to them. It even denied entry into this country. Skin color, gender or even social class greatly affected the way one was treated. But during the 1800s it was mainly skin color that determined how you were going to be treated. If you were white then you were always treated with great respect. Equality is a very simple concept but why doesn’t everyone always get it? My mother always used to stress this to me “Treat others the way you want them to treat you”. We all want to live in a world of perfect harmony and interaction. But for equality to truly exist everyone has to sacrifice some of there pride and present respect in the same manner they wish to receive it in. As simple as the concept of it may be, the meaning of it however never seems to be exact not to even mention unachievable. Whenever philosophers, lawyers or professors elaborate on the “principle” of equality, no conclusion can ever be drawn. If you were to compare two toy dolls from the same make and the same exact model, they both will look similar or equal in proportion. However in reality there is no such thing because every object however similar they seem, can be perceived from a different angle because the objects or...
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...In the Book Wounded Knee 1973: Still Bleeding, Stew Magnuson writes about the 44th annual Dakota conference that happens in 2012. Stew Magnuson informs the reader of the situation that happened in the Dakota conference and the situation that happened at Wounded Knee. Wounded Knee 1973: Still Bleeding by Stew Magnuson talks about the situation that happened at the 44th annual Dakota conference in 2012. Problems occurred when members of AIM and former members of the FBI attended a conference about the situation that occurred in Wounded Knee in 1973. The American Indian Movement or AIM was an organization created to help Indians gain their civil rights and to be treated fairly. The FBI and American Indian Movement choose to attend a conference which would talk about the situation that occurred at the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973. At the conference, a young man who had just graduated from College gave a speech about race and perception about what happened at the Wounded Knee occupation in 1973 and gave his thought about it. The FBI and AIM, both who played the two major roles in this...
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...“traditional” Anglo-Saxon Protestant American saw the Irish as a threat or conspiracy by the Catholic Church. The Irish began to be viewed as a nuisance and undesirable. The Irish filled prisons where were innocent. Riots and crowds of people protested the influencing Irish… who left Ireland to escape the same intolerance from Great Britain. Since the arrival of Europeans in Jamestown and Plymouth who came for religious freedom there has been a constant disrespect for Native Americans. Entire tribes were forced to relocate to lands that were completely different from the ones in which they had no knowledge of. Tribes such as the Lakota Sioux were stripped of their firearms, which they needed for survival. The US Army relocated the Sioux to Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. Hundreds of women and children were surrounded by US forces and slaughtered after an accidental gun discharge. This type of injustice was a result of hundreds of years of prejudice. German Americans were discriminated in the US between the years of 1914 and 1945. From the beginning to end of both World Wars Germans were labeled as bloodthirsty “Huns” or “Krauts”. A friend of my grandfather...
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...trials and tribulations which she had to experience and how it shaped her into one of the most influential American Indians of her time. One of the most significant themes within the book relates back to what I mentioned previously in that the family traditions of the Sioux tribes goes deeper than many can even fathom. Mary Crow Dog was a part of the “Burned Thigh”, the Brule Tribe, and explains early in the book how generations and generations of heroes and the significant ideologies shared amongst their close, and not-so-distant relatives, made a bond around the Reservation which brought them together in the toughest of times. Sharing stories together about significant American Indian events, such as the Battle of Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee, created an atmosphere throughout all of the tribes that imbedded the values of determination, sacrifice, and hard work deep...
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...The interactions between white Americans and Native Americans were costly and devastating. White Americans viewed Native Americans as objects rather than people and treated Native Americans without any respect, similar to that of African Americans during this time. White Americans stripped Native Americans of their dignity and traditions by creating laws such as the Dawes Act of 1887 and killing hundreds of Native Americans in massacres such as Sand Creek and Wounded Knee. These interactions and acts all caused the Native Americans to submit to white authority which continues to this day. The Massacre of Sand Creek took place on November 29, 1864 and was the tipping point to cause many Native Americans to submit to white authority. The Sand Creek massacre took place on the Great Plains of Colorado between the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Native Americans and Colonel John Chivington’s troops. Leading up to the massacre was disputes over land, various treaties, and the treatment of Native Americans. The day before the massacre Black Kettle along with other chiefs to meet with the governor of Colorado John Evens. Black Kettle...
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...Oregon Treaty are both examples of movements that support Manifest Destiny. Many people question whether this movement should be called Eastward Encroachment or Westward Expansion. The movement should be called Eastward Encroachment because of it causing assimilation, massacres, and negative impacts on native people. This movement should be called Eastward Encroachment because of all the negative impacts it has had on natives. In module 6.4 (War on the Plains) it shows how thousands of Natives died because of the movement, including soldiers, women, and children. 6.4 War on the...
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...1837 Great Financial Crisis In 1837 the Eastern USA suffered an economic collapse. Many people lost their jobs, and as Banks went bust they also lost their savings. People were bankrupted and factories and businesses closed. The Mormons, whose Bank also collapsed ruining many non-believers, became one of the more popular scapegoats for the ruin. This resulted in many Mormons choosing to move West in the face of increasing violence. The increasing population had made land hard to come by. This combined with the desperation and increasing crime in the East forced people to consider moving West. The Crisis became a big PUSH factor in encouraging people to migrate westward. 1844 Joseph Smith Died As the Prophet and founder of the Mormon Church he was the leader of many thousands of believers. He led them in a desperate search for a safe haven for the community to settle. Smith would not lead his Mormons West as he thought it unfit to build the Zion for the coming of Jesus. Smith was shot dead in 1844 as he tried to escape from jail. Brigham Young was the new leader of the Mormons and chose to lead them West, to Great Salt Lake where they settled successfully. This was an important turning point for the Mormons. 1848 Gold Rush 1848!! Before Gold was discovered in 1848 by James Marshall, around 5,000 people per year were drifting west across the Great Plains. However with the discovery this increased tenfold by the following year.The 50,000 miners were hunting for...
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...Additionally, the U.S. government had taken much of the Indians land, and they feared that the Indians would eventually retaliate. From March 4, 1889, the U.S. government, with the aim of securing free homes under their beneficent laws, had taken more than “23 million acres from Indian reservations” (Turner 78). The U.S. government thought that this act would have produced rebellion from the natives, hence, the attack of the Native Americans at Wounded Knee, which was a measure of preventing a much more fatal attack on the “white settlers” (Walker 297). Thus advancing Harrison to state that the attack brought the hostiles into subjection with the least possible fatalities on either...
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...Without the buffalo their very essence of life was taken away, and they would be forced to move somewhere else (hence the loophole). This caused them to become dependent on the government for food and supplies. This in turn led to them making the trek across the Plains in the fall and winter to Montana, with a majority being captured or killed. The “Battle” of Wounded Knee (1890), which in all reality was a massacre, took place on December 29th when soldiers went with the intention of relieving the Lakota of their weapons. Of course there are multiple versions of why the massacre took place. One such account states that when a soldier tried to disarm a deaf Indian, who didn’t know what was going on, the gun went off and firing on both sides ensued. Resulting in some of the 7th Cavalry shooting some of their own because of all the chaos. Most of the Lakota that survived and attempted to flee were tracked down and...
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... 2 “Go West Young Man” (Greeley, H. 1865) and West is where we went. Which marked the beginning of the end of the American Indians way of life. A life that was once peaceful and prosperous for the Sioux Indians was about to change drastically. Throughout history, the Sioux Indians, had to fight physical and emotional battles, in trying to retain their land and dignity. Following a time line, the American Indians were treated unjustly, as I will show starting with the Bozeman Trail and continuing on with The Great Sioux Reservation, Custer’s expedition, Battle of the Little Big Horn, Ghost Dancers, Wounded Knee, Citizenship Act of 1924, The Indian Reorganization Act, and The American Movement(AIM). The terrains were rough, being brutal and forcibly tough, especially for the new settlers who came west, when there was talk of gold. John Jacobs and his partner John M. Bozeman established in 1863 a trail that went through Wyoming and Montana that connected the Oregon Trail. The Bozeman trail was much shorter and more direct, even though, it was a much better wagon road, however it had its flaws. It just happened to pass through the Lakota and Cheyenne’s hunting grounds. The Indians had warned the first wagon train against crossing. While some did...
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...Sand Creek Massacre: Genocide? The World English Dictionary defines the term “genocide” as “the policy of deliberately killing a nationality or ethnic group.” Though the term “genocide” was not coined until 1944, acts of genocide have been committed throughout history. While some historians believe the killing and acts of violence toward Native Americans is considered genocide, others argue that genocide is an act of intent and does not describe the colonization experience. It is debated, then, whether one of the most heinous acts of violence against Native Americans, known as the Sand Creek Massacre, is considered genocide. The Sand Creek Massacre occurred on November 29, 1864. It stands as one of the cruelest acts against the Native citizens of the United States. In the early dawn of that morning, Colonel John M. Chivington and his army, known as the Third Colorado Volunteers, brutally attacked a Cheyenne and Arapaho village along Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado. With more than seven hundred well-armed men, Chivington attacked the village of six hundred peaceful Native people. Two-thirds of the village was comprised of women, children, and the elderly. The younger men in the village were out hunting buffalo at the time, so they were not present when the massacre occurred (Brown). Black Kettle, the chief of the Cheyenne tribe, met with Major Anthony at Fort Lyon a short time before the massacre, and was assured by him that if he and his people camped at Sand Creek they...
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...Tina Stratton ETH/125 Professor Knight September 28, 2014 Historical Report on the Native American The history of the Native American goes as far back as 1492 when Christopher Columbus first came in contact with Native Americans in Bahamas. “The name “indian” was given to them from Christopher Columbus who mistakenly thought he had landed in the “Indies”. (History.com Staff, 2009) How the attitude and image of the Native American people would change with the induction of the early settlers in Virginia in 1607. With the increase in immigration of settlers and the greed of the “white man” to lay claim to Indian lands, violence erupted in their conquest. After the American Revolution, Britain released all of its North American holdings to the United States. The claims of Native Americans were completely eradicated by this action. For a short time, United States regulated under the presumption that the Indians were overthrown, and therefore, had no rights or claims to the land. On May 28, 1830 Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, allowing the president to pursue ownership of all Indian lands east of the Mississippi River. Under this act, the Indians would be paid back with new lands drawn from the public land west of the Mississippi River. President Andrew Jackson was relentless during the 1830s, despite Supreme Court rulings in favor of the Indian Nation, to remove all eastern Indians to land west of the Mississippi River. ...
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