The Ghost Dance

CHAPTER 8:(NATIVE AMERICANS)

From Conquest to Tribal Survival in Industrial Society

Contents

• Introduction

• Native American Cultures

• Reservations

• Native American Resistance

• Secondary Structural Assimilation

Introduction

• Contact period started at Jamestown in 1607 and lasted nearly 300 years

• Conflicts spread across the continent west; each newly encountered tribe was conquered and subordinated in turn

• *By the 1890’s, surviving Native American tribes had become minority groups

(C) Native American Cultures

• Hundreds of different tribes with their own language and heritage

• Within this diversity are widely shared cultural characteristics– the universe is a unity– humans are simply a part of a larger reality– living in harmony with the natural world

(C) Native American Values:

• No private property (land)

• Tribe/ clan oriented

• Intermingling of the physical and spiritual worlds

• Egalitarian values stressing the dignity and worth of every man, woman, and child

(C) Conflicts with Western Culture:

• Land development

• Commercial farming

• *Bending the the natural world to the service of humans

• Differences in values placed them at a disadvantage when dealing with Anglo Americans

(R) Developments After the 1890’s:

• Indians nations were defeated and forced onto reservations

• Minimal political power– *non-citizens-14th Amendment (1868)– small populations separated by language,

culture, and geography– dependent on the government for basic needs--

food, shelter, clothing, other necessities

(R) Bureau of Indian Affairs

• Paternalistic social systems

• Controlled reservation budgets

• Controlled criminal justice systems

• Controlled schools

• Superintendent controlled food and communications to the outside world

• *Determined tribal membership

A Certificate of Degree of Indian or Alaska Native Blood (CDIB) certifies that an individual possesses a specific degree of Indian blood of a federally recognized Indian tribe(s). A deciding Bureau official issues the CDIB. We issue CDIBs so that individuals may establish their eligibility for those programs and services based upon their status as American Indians and/or Alaska Natives. http://www.doi.gov/bia/ots/cdibfedreg.htm

Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood

(R) Forced Americanization

• Cultures attacked

• Languages and religions forbidden

• Institutions circumvented and undermined

• Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 divided Native American lands into individual plots

• 90 million of 140 million acres acquired by dominant group (Oklahoma)

• Native American boarding schools

(R) The Ghost Dance

• Resistance to Americanization

• 1890 vision by Wovoka (Paiute)

• Non-violent dance to rid the world by flood of white society

• Cross tribal movement

• Feared by the government

• Death of Sitting Bull & Massacre at Wounded Knee (Dec 1890)

(R) Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

• FDR and the New Deal

• Rescinded the Dawes Act

• Opportunities to expand tribal holdings

• Financial aid for economic development

• Reorganized schools

• *Western style elections– elected leaders sold off tribal assets--mineral

resources, farmland, water rights

(R) “Termination” Policy of 1953

• Canceling special relationships and treaty obligations

• Decertifying tribes• Return tribal lands and resources to private

ownership• About 100 tribes were terminated; most

ceased to exist • Repealed in 1975

(R) Advantages of the Reservation

• Native Americans are the least urbanized minority group (75%)

• Reservations provide:– government services– closeness to kinfolk, friends, religious services,

and tribal celebrations– opportunity for political participation

• *It’s not as tough to live on the reservation

(W) Protest and Resistance

• National Congress of American Indians (1944)– preserving the old ways– preserving tribal institutions– protecting Indian welfare

• Red Power Movement (1961)– self-determination– pride in race and cultural heritage– restore Native American rights

(W) Native American Activism

• National Indian Youth Council– “Fish-in” in the State of Washington (1965)

• American Indian Movement (1968)– *Occupation of Alcatraz Island (1969)– Trail of Broken Treaties March on Washington

(1972)

• Goal: To find a way to be a part of the larger society on their terms

(W) Continuing Competition

• *Natural resources (ironic)– 3% oil, 15% coal, 55% uranium deposits– water & fishing rights, woodlands, wilderness

• Attracting industry to the reservation– low taxes, rents, low-wage labor pool

• Legal Action to recover lands

• Gaming (Indian Casinos--not taxed)

(C) Assimilation and Pluralism

• Retaining their language

• Retaining their culture

• Native American Church

• Native Americans function as a group

• *Reservation system has helped preserve traditional languages and culture

Secondary Structural Assimilation

• Population Increase– 250,000 in 1900 to 2,000,000 in 1993– social and political phenomenon– predominantly in the western states

• Health– poverty, rural isolation,substandard housing,

lack of health care on the reservation– alcoholism (related to 33% of all deaths)

Secondary Structural Assimilation (Cont.)

• Education– 400% increase in high school grads since 1970– 20% increase in college grads since 1976

• Jobs and income– 35% to 85% unemployment on the reservation– median income of $20,500 (68% of majority group)– 32% of households fall below the poverty line

(1991)

Conclusions

• Better– increased population– increased pride in heritage and ancestry– increased political power

• Just Different– core group continuing language and traditions– grater assimilation & urbanization– pan-tribalism