The Jim and Vanita Oelschlager
Native American Ethnographic Collection
1740 to 1890:
Horse, Buffalo, and the Great Plains
By 1800 major social and political changes had occurred in Native American life. European diseases had killed about one-third of the indigenous population. In the eastern part of the continent, political shifting and war defined a new nation, the United States. But in lands west of the Mississippi most tribes were still free and had relatively little contact with settlers.
The horse became a major cultural tool of the Plains tribes. The horse allowed the Plains Native Americans to accumulate more wealth, in both horses and material possessions, such as tipis of twenty to forty feet. The horse also could provide transport for the elderly, children, and material goods when the camp was moved.
With horses, Natives could hunt buffalo more efficiently and thus have a better food supply. Horses became a sign of wealth and prestige; they were honored as companions in battle and celebrated at ceremonies. With the horse the Plains tribes had larger and more varied trade networks, allowing for more political and social exchange, and horses were an advantage in battle. Much of Plains tribal life incorporated the horse until about 1890. Buffalo were used for food, and for their hides, hooves, horns, bones, and internal organs.
1890 to 1920:
A Trail of Broken Treaties
By 1890 Native American life had changed dramatically. Most tribes had gone from being independent and free, where they participated in trade and diplomatic affairs using their own tribal customs, to being forced off their traditional lands and restricted by American political power. They were forced to abandon traditional subsistence patterns in order to farm, and coerced to become Christians. Their customary work and ceremonial roles within the cultures were gone or highly altered. This was especially true for the men who could no longer hunt for food. The federal government made and broke treaties frequently. Reservations were the federal government’s answer to a number of pressing issues such as settlers’ demand for land and the question of what to do with the Indians.
Andrew Jackson’s solution was to move five tribes from the southeast to Oklahoma, thus freeing land for European and American settlers. The Trail of Tears was that six-hundred-mile forced march. The government wanted the Sioux and other tribes to agree to allot their reservations into small family farmsteads and then the government could sell the remaining land for non-Native homesteading. By restricting the Native Americans to smaller reservations or allotting the reservation the government could open more land for settlers in the Midwest or, as in the Black Hills of South Dakota, to explore for gold.
Since the government wanted the Natives to learn to farm in the European four-field manner, they tried to teach those farming techniques. The government chose to ignore the poor land and growing conditions of the land left for the tribes.
To help keep the Native Americans on the reservations in the Plains, the government hired hunters to reduce the buffalo herds, thus decreasing the chances of Natives hunting off the reservation. Colonel R .I. Dodge told a visiting British hunter in 1867, “Kill every buffalo you can find. Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.” By 1900 buffalo were near extinction.
Treaty conditions included the government’s pledge to provide some food for the reservations, until Native Americans could grow their own crops. Children were to be sent to boarding schools, and restricted to speaking only English.
A revitalization spiritual movement called the Ghost Dance began with Wovoka, a Paiute, who had a vision from God. They were to dance continuously, like a community prayer, for the return of the buffalo and a return to Europe of
the white people.
In 1890, the government agent at Pine Ridge Reservation recommended the rations be cut so as to make the Natives more agreeable to reservation rules. This rationing prompted protests that inadvertently led to the terrible Battle of Wounded Knee in South Dakota where the United States Army fired on an encampment and killed many women and children as well as the Native men.
1920 to 2000:
Slow and Positive Change
In the early 1900s, both the public and government began to question Native American policy, resulting in shifting more power to the tribes, beginning with the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. Although many tribes resented the government model for elected officials, many found ways to adapt to the structure. Over the years, with more native influence, the education policy was changed, and laws were passed to protect religion, children, land, and resources. By 2000, thanks to a number of social movements and new laws, Native American tribes had more control over their lives. In 1900 the population had dropped to about 2,500 Natives in the United States; by 2000 there were 2.5 million and growing.
A depression era program, the Indians Works Progress Administration (IWPA), helped build infrastructure on some reservations.
Native Americans participated in all branches of the service in WW II, the most famous as code talkers. Between the military experience and work in war related industries, nearly one- hundred thousand Native Americans experienced life off-reservation.
Education programs are restructured to appreciate Native cultures. More Native Americans studied in higher education and helped form young Native organizations.
The government decided to “terminate,” or take away reservation status from some more advanced tribes, causing an increase in poverty and loss of resources. It was a terrible idea. It was deemed a way to “get out of the Indian business.” About fifteen reservations were affected, especially those with large timber holdings such at the Klamath in Oregon. The law was rescinded in 1972 and since 2000 all the reservations have been restored to treaty status.
Relocation, a program operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, helped hundreds of Native Americans to move to cities across the country for education and jobs. In Cleveland in 1970s, there were five thousand Natives who had been relocated, representing thirty-three different tribes. Most returned to their home reservations to retire.
Native Americans participated in all types of civil rights protests and created their own movements, such as the American Indian Movement. “Red Power” became a rallying point. Effective protesting and political advocacy was successful in having land returned to tribes, and in passing laws related to religions freedom, adoption of Indian children, and gaming on reservations.
Ten years ago the Museum of the American Indian was built with other Smithsonian museums in Washington DC. It is a cultural center for all Native Americans. Today American Indian colleges and art schools continue to educate and raise awareness of Native cultures.
Native Americans still have to endure the negative stereotype of sports logos and mascots. Wahoo is still with us.