Boyles 1

Allura Boyles

Professor Colvin

English 1201

21 March 2019

Indigenous Peoples Struggles Through History

In the past many atrocities were committed against the indigenous peoples of the

United States. Disease, numerous wars and conflicts, and you cannot forget the mass

killings that were the norm starting when Columbus arrived in 1492. These all became

more prevalent during the American-Indian Wars between 1622 till 1924. What started

out as a battle for land turned into a genocide against the Native population. There were

an estimated five to fifteen million Native Americans living in North America in 1492 and

by the end of the American Indian wars there were less than 300,000 left (Fixico). One

would think that in this modern age there would be no more conflicts with Native

Americans and their land but that would be wrong. Since the end of the American-Indian

Wars there have been countless times that the US government or people in general

have tried and usually succeeded in gaining the upper hand over Native Americans.

The American population needs to know more about what occurred during the American

Indian Wars and realize that there are still recurring consequences even today.
 Boyles 2

An argument that is still discussed among historians is if what occurred would be

classified as genocide. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum the

definition of genocide is “violent crimes committed against a group with the intent to

destroy the existence of the group.” While many agree that what happened would be

classified as genocide there are some that argue that the main point of the definition is

not met, and that would be that the US government did not have the intent to destroy

the natives. Instead they wanted them moved or not in the way. When reading these

arguments both sides have valid points but if the definition for genocide needs to

include the intention of destroying then what happened to the Native Americans is

considered genocide. They used means to forcefully remove and kill them in the attempt

to take their lands and resources. That itself is the intent to destroy.

A term that is used is “ethnic cleansing” (Anderson). While this term does

describe the actions of the US government it does not fully encompass all that

happened. Also, the arguments that Anderson gives about genocide not being the

correct term are that it could not be genocide because there are still Native American

groups living, along with the fact that “moral restraints prevented it”. These are not

supported enough as there are instances where it was the intent of the government to

make the natives sick. One being when they began giving the natives blankets that

were contaminated with the smallpox virus. And while it is not known if it worked there

are sources that say it wiped out an entire tribe, the intent is clear that they were trying
 Boyles 3

to get them sick and possibly kill them. This leads into what diseases white settlers

brought and infected natives with.

One of the main reasons so many were killed were because of the highly

contagious diseases that were spread. The deadliest being smallpox, others being

measles, scarlet fever, typhus, and cholera to just name a few. In the article “Were

American Indians the Victims of Genocide?” they estimate that a total of 75 to 90

percent of the deaths were results of disease (Lewy). Reasons for the quick spread

would be that they lived in close quarters with each other and did not have access to the

same medical treatments that the white population did. Domesticated animals also lived

very close and diseases that were spread through animals were easily caught and

spread among tribes. When you add in the factor that many natives had never been

exposed to the sicknesses being spread it is no wonder that so many were killed so

fast. Entire tribes were wiped out and with so many being killed at once others in the

tribe were forced to starve. After the spread of smallpox, the Mandans were almost

completely wiped out while other tribes dealt with similar losses. An interesting to point

to make here is that the US government in 1801 ordered smallpox vaccinations to be

given to the native population though this was met with resistance (Lewy). Today the

leading diseases that are found are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and

tuberculosis.

Forced Removal was another major struggle that the Native Americans were

forced to go through. Millions of acres of land were taken from the natives when they

signed treaties with the US government. While this sounds like it was done fairly as
 Boyles 4

treaties were made it actually was not. Many signed because they thought they would

be able to keep most of their land or they were trying to stop the harassment from white

settlers (PBS). Many were also not well versed in English and signed the treaties

without knowing that their land would be taken. In 1830 Jackson made the Indian

Removal Act that affected those east of the Mississippi River. Some peacefully moved

west but many decided to stay and they to fight the act. This caused more wars and

soon they too were forced out. The well-known Trail of Tears occurred after a treaty was

signed by individuals not in leadership positions within the Cherokee Nation. The

government still ratified the treaty and 16,000 Cherokee Indians were forced from their

homes at gunpoint and had to march over 1,000 miles to their destination west. Over

4,000 were killed during the march from disease, starvation, and the cold (PBS).

Not only did disease and removal kill hundreds of thousands but wars that were

fought killed thousands more. A few of the major wars would be the Battle of

Tippecanoe and The Creek War. During the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 Tecumseh, a

Shawnee war chief was away recruiting warriors when Governor William Harrison

brought troops to destroy Prophetstown, an Indian capital. After Tenskwatawa,

Tecumseh’s brother decided to ignore the ceasefire and attempted to attack Harrisons

troops leading to the Natives defeat. Soon after they were forced to abandon

Prophetstown and Harrison torched the town. Tecumseh was later killed in 1813 during

the Battle of the Thames (Fixico). During the Creek War or also known as the Red Stick

War of 1813-1814 skirmishes sprung up between the Red Sticks and the whites. These

lead to several attacks on settlements. The main being when Peter McQueen attacked
 Boyles 5

Fort Mims and massacred 400-500 people. There was a retaliation to the earlier Creek

victories and killing at Fort Mims when General Andrew Jackson gathered troops and

marched on Tallushatchee and massacred over 100 Mvskoke Creeks. During this battle

Creek mothers killed their children to keep them from being butchered by the soldiers.

General Jackson went on to win the Red Stick War after defeating the natives at

Horseshow Bend (Fixico). Intertwined with these battles there were many massacres of

native tribes and white settlements.

Massacres on both sides had been happening from the beginning when tension

began to run high. While there are hundreds to choose from the following are some of

the main ones. These are examples taken from both Geni and Fixico. During the

Gnadenhutten massacre in 1782, 96 Delaware Indians were killed by protestants in

Ohio after being blamed for attacks on settlements.1791 at Fort Recovery over 700 of

the estimated 1,500 white soldiers were killed by Miami Indians. Fort Mims was

attacked and between 400 to 500 white settlers. 490 settlers, many of those were

women and children, were killed during the Little Crow War of 1862 after some Dakota

Sioux tribesmen began raiding white farms for food. This then led to over 300 of the

Dakota Sioux men to be put to death. In 1864 at Sand Creek John Chivington lead

volunteers again a village of Arapahos and Cheyenne. They killed almost 200 people

which were mainly women and children. Nearly 200 ghost dancers were killed at

Wounded Knee in December 1890. Many of the massacres were led by white men

killing innocent natives or seeing retaliation against them for something that they had

done. There are still plenty more that happened to white settlements and farms. A trend
 Boyles 6

that is common in the massacres were that women and children from both sides were

not given any mercy.

It was not until almost a hundred years later that Native Americans were given the right

to citizenship in 1924. Even after gaining citizenship and having their reservations given

tribal sovereignty, they still must deal with the United States trying to use land around

them in ways that can harm them. There is also startling number that are being

incarcerated or live in poverty. Within states that have a native population like South

Dakota, they only make up 9% of the population but 29% of those incarcerated (Brave).

It is like this is many states and this can be contributed to how they are put to trial. Many

of those who commit a crime deal with a double trial, one in tribal court and another in

federal court as there are overlapping jurisdictions on the reservations. Because of this

when they are tried in the federal court there are harsher sentences which put more

behind bars. “From 1999 to 2014, the number of AIAN jail inmates increased by an

average of 4.3% per year, compared to an increase of 1.4% per year for all other races

combined (BJS).” Almost a quarter of those are violent crimes, which is a problem within

the reservations for those who are violent that are not in prison as there is a lot of abuse

towards others, mainly women.

They are also faced with difficulties getting jobs and poverty. Poverty is a

problem that is affecting a lot of those in reservations. “27 percent of all self-identified

Native Americans and Alaska Natives live in poverty” (Brave). Standing Rock Sioux is

located between North Dakota and South Dakota. IN 2014 they had a poverty rate of

43.2 percent, while the unemployment rate was over 60%. This is a common number in
 Boyles 7

a lot of the reservations in the Dakotas as a few of the poorest counties in the United

States include ones where the Sioux reservations are (Lachman). They have the

second lowest number of individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher along with the

second highest amount of high school dropouts (Krogstad, Fig 1).

Fig 1. Native American comparison chart (Krogstad)

In many of the reservation’s families must pool their recourses together to meet

their needs. Many of the jobs they can get are government and federal or off the

reservation which means that they need the family to help with the children. Lack of

housing is also a problem, many of the houses are missing basic accommodations and

some just do not have a house to begin with.

 Boyles 8

Land is being taken from them and there is little that they can do to stop it. It is a

repeat of the past, but it does not include the killings, only forcing them out of their

homes. Between 1982 and 2017 there was an ongoing battle for land in the Lewis and

Clark National Forest. The Blackfeet tribe claimed the land as sacred and only after a

35-year battle did they stop development for the national resources that were in the

area. These battles are not always won by natives and there are instances where the

government or supreme court steps in and allows for development to continue. When

this happens, it can ruin once sacred land and harm those that live near the

developments. When you put in pipelines near reservations you run the risk of

contaminating the drinking water of reservations downstream. If oil were to leak from the

pipelines it would contaminate the main drinking water for reservations, one pipeline

being the Dakota Access pipeline that runs under the Missouri River north of a Sioux

reservation.

The senseless killings and wars between the whites and natives should not have

occurred, but when both sides are territorial and do not want to change the way they live

there is no other way to get what they want. After everything the Native Americans were

forced to deal with, there should be no reason for the government to still be forcing

change upon them. They are dealing with the consequences of being looked at as a

secondary race, because of this they have higher than average poverty rates, and living

conditions that are not acceptable. They are still living with the consequences of what

happened over a hundred years ago and today are still fighting for the right to live.
 Boyles 9

Work cited

“American Indian and Alaska Natives in Local Jails, 1999-2014.” Bureau of Justice

Statistics (BJS), www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6066.

 Boyles 10

Anderson, Gary C. Ethnic Cleansing and the Indian: The Crime That Should Haunt

America. Univ Of Oklahoma Press, 2015.

Fixico, Donald L. “When Native Americans Were Slaughtered in the Name of

'Civilization'.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2 Mar. 2018,

www.history.com/news/native-americans-genocide-united-states.

“Indian Massacres Genealogy Project.” Geni, www.geni.com/projects/Indian-

Massacres/26608.

“Indian Removal.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,

www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html.

Kiger, Patrick J. “Did Colonists Give Infected Blankets to Native Americans as Biological

Warfare?” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 15 Nov. 2018,

www.history.com/news/colonists-native-americans-smallpox-blankets.

Krogstad, Jens Manuel, and Jens Manuel Krogstad. “One-in-Four Native Americans

and Alaska Natives Are Living in Poverty.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research

Center, 13 June 2014, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/13/1-in-4-native-

americans-and-alaska-natives-are-living-in-poverty/.
 Boyles 11

Lewy, Guenter. “Were American Indians the Victims of Genocide?” History News

Network, Sept. 2004, historynewsnetwork.org/article/7302.

NoiseCat, Julian Brave, and Julian Brave NoiseCat. “13 Issues Facing Native People

Beyond Mascots And Casinos.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 31 Aug. 2015,

www.huffpost.com/entry/13-native-american-

issues_n_55b7d801e4b0074ba5a6869c.

“What Is Genocide?” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States

Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/confront-genocide/defining-

genocide.