Introduction
My name is James Rocky, I am a non-native. I have came into the west with my fellow settlers. I don't particularly agree with taking land from the Indians, we came into their land that they preserved for their tribes and we destroy it. Such as the incident at the Black Hills, and they brought minors in that later destroyed the land the tribes lived on. There were many issues, and many solutions that did not help. We have to put a stop to this.
In 1890 in the American West, there are many issues with the U.S Government vs. the Native Americans. The conflicts included problems with land, who was considered citizens, also promises made by the government during the Dawes Act that they thought would solve everything. I am a Native, in the tribe Cherokee. I am considered a U.S citizen because of the adopted elements we had from the White Europeans. Yet my blood is still with all tribes, I don’t agree with these issues that are being stirred up. This affects me and my family because what if the government turns their back on us, what if my tribe becomes unprotected just how the others are. We will lose everything we have; land, food, and protection from the settlers trying to come in and take land for themselves.
problems in depth:
The problems during this time include white settlers moving into land that the natives had. They came into this mess because they moved West. This wasn’t fair to the tribes that had lived here and set up reservations for themselves. This caused issues with the separation of land between the two, the natives and settlers.
They each found land named the Black Hills, where later the government brought miners in where they found gold in the area. By the end of all the conflict the government brought Sioux chiefs to discuss and persuade them to relinquish the Black Hills.
Another problem was the promises made by the American government on land and citizenship to the natives. Between 1887 and 1933 the Dawes Act was created to sell small land off to natives, the deal was that if they except the little piece of land that they would be made citizens of the U.S. This caused the issues of the Supreme court to make decisions for the government to dispose of Indian land without getting consent. The promises including US citizenship and ‘adopted habits’ and also the start of civilization of the native children to get education in boarding schools, these did not happen, which caused conflict between natives and whites after being promised did not help the separation of land and what belonged to who. The white Americans needed a reason to control the tribes and gain more land.
We can tie together the promises with Native American cause the promises made by the government was that the Indians would adopt ways of the white settlers, and be free with a voice in the government. The whites tried many options to offer civilization for the Natives yet they wanted to destroy them. The promises did cause issues between the two, and killed many Indians. It caused the Tragedy at Wounded Knee. During 1890 a chief of one of the tribes, Red Cloud gave a speech to other Indians about the issues and explaining what the government has done. He says “We looked forward with hope to the time we could be as independent as the whites, and have a voice in the government”. The Natives didn’t want problems and to fight for land. They wanted to be protected and civilized in the US. Yet instead of them adopting and learning ways of being civilized, as promised by the congress, “great efforts were made to break up our customs, but nothing was done to introduce us to customs of the whites; Everything was done to break up the power of the real chiefs” (speech).
Evaluation:
Reservations was one solution for the Natives to have their own land and freedom. But the Americans wanted more natural resources so they took over responsibility on the reservations. They forced assimilation on the Natives, the lands resources could be further taken over with minimal cost and effort. Later the reservations were considered a controlled environment, therefore the Indians no longer had their land for themselves.
Solution:
I think coming from a non- native, that the Native Americans have had a hard life. Of many being killed, land taken from them, and resources taken, that they deserve to be as equal as the whites because we are sharing this land. A solution that would work is that all Indians be considered civilized and share the land with whites. That they would build a strong community and government between the two. I think since they are sharing their land and resources, that everyone pays taxes to the government.