By: Jorge N., Jerrica G., Lizbeth M.,
Loretta B., Virginia R., Kayla K. and
Ruadhan W.
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1890, shortly after Christmas, the last
massacre took place at Pine Ridge between the
US Calvary and the Indian Police
The leader, Sitting Bull of the Sioux Tribe had
been assassinated by Indian Police
The Indian Police were paid off by the United
States
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Sitting Bull
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Born in Grand River, South Dakota in 1831
Holy Man who led his people as a tribal chief
during years of resistance to the US and the Indian
Police.
The Indian Police attempted to arrest him and
prevent Ghost Dance movement.
Assassinated by Standing Rock Indian (Reservation)
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120 men and 230 women and children were
surrounded by the US cavalry with two Hotchkiss
Guns, capable of hurling shells over two miles, on
a rise overlooking the camp.
Shortly after, the troops ordered the Indians to
turn over their weapons, one of them fired his rifle.
Soldiers then let loose with their carbines and big
guns on the hills shelling the tepees.
Between 200 and 300 out of the original 350
Indians died.
Only 25 soldiers died.
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Allotment Act of 1887
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Tried to break up the reservations into small plots of
land owned by individual Indians to turn them into
American-type small farmers.
John Collier was in charge of the bureau of
Indian Affairs.
During the New Deal, the Indians had a friend in
John Collier
 There was an attempt to restore tribal life.
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As the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements
developed in the 1960s, Indians were already
gathering energy for resistance, thinking about
how to best change their situation.
They began to approach the US Government about
the topic of treaties.
It amused the Indians to watch how much Pres.
Lyndon Johnson and Pres. Nixon spoke about
America’s “Commitments” while they failed to
respect treaties.
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The US Government had signed over 400 treaties with the
Indians and violated every single one.
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For instance, during George Washington’s
administration’s time, a treaty was signed with
the Iroquois of New York:
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“The United States acknowledges all the land within
the aforementioned boundaries to be the property of
the Seneca Nation…”
In the early sixties, under Pres. Kennedy, the United
States ignored the treaty and built a dam on this
land, flooding most of the Seneca reservation.
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Resistance took shape in various parts of the
country.
In Washington, there was an old treaty which took
land from Indians but allowed them the right to
fish.
This didn’t please the white population because
they wanted the area for themselves.
In 1964, state courts closed river areas to Indian
fishermen.
Indians had “fish-ins” on Nisqually River, in
defiance of the court orders, some went to jail in
hopes of making their protest public.
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Not only did Indians fight with physical
resistance, but also with artifacts of white
culture; books, words, newspapers, etc.
In 1968 members of the Mohawk Nation at
Akwesasne, began a remarkable newspaper,
Akwesasne Notes, which included new,
editorials, and poetry which flamed the spirit
of defiance.
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A local judge stated that the Puyallup Tribe
didn’t exist and it’s members couldn’t fish on
Puyallup River.
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Policemen raided Indian fishing groups, destroyed
boats, slashed nets, manhandled people, and
arrested seven Indians.
In 1968 the Supreme Court confirmed the
Indians rights under the treaty in which a state
could “regulate all fishing” if they didn’t
discriminate against Indians.
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States continued to arrest Indians and were
doing with the Supreme Court ruling what
whites in South had done with the Fourteenth
Amendment for a number of years… ignoring
it.
Many protests, raids, and arrests continued
into the early seventies.
Many Indians that were involved in the “fishins” were veterans of the Vietnam War.
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On November 9th, 1969 a dramatic event took place.
Protests had occurred and it was declared to the whole
world that the Indians still lived and would fight for
their rights.
Before dawn, 78 Indians landed on Alcatraz Island in
San Francisco Bay and occupied the island.
In 1964, young Indians had occupied the island to
establish an Indian University but they were driven off,
there was no media coverage of this event.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4PpSQ-A8
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Their group was now led by Richard Oaks, who was
known as a Mohawk, who directed Indian Studies at
California State University – San Francisco and other
locations.
Population with Indians increased as more and more
landed on the island. By the end of November nearly
600 Indians, representing over 50 tribes, were living on
the island.
People living on Alcatraz called themselves “Indians of
All Tribes” and issued a proclamation, “We Hold the
Rock.”
With this they offered to buy Alcatraz with glass beads
and red cloth, the price they were paid for Manhattan
Island over 300 years earlier.
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In the months that followed, electricity, water and
phones were cut off due to making the island for
Native American studies for Ecology.
Many Indians had to leave but others insisted on
staying.
After a year on Alcatraz they still stood holding
hands on the island in the true names of Freedom,
Justice and Equality.
They learned that violence breeds only more
violence and they had carried themselves in a
peaceful manner, hoping that the government of
the U.S. will act accordingly as well.
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February 11th, 1978, Native Americans from tribes
all over the US gathered on Alcatraz Island.
The purpose of The Longest Walk was to inform
people about 11 pieces of anti-Indian Legislation.
The walk ended in Washington D.C. close to the
Washington Monument, the people who had
participated had walked about 3,200 miles.
Non-Indian supporters included Muhammad Ali,
US Senator Ted Kennedy and Marlon Brando (The
Godfather).
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A week after they had arrived in Washington,
Congress passed the American Indian
Religious Freedom Act which was enacted to
protect and preserve the traditional religious
right and cultural practices of American
Indians.
President Jimmy Carter refused to meet with
the representatives from the walk.
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In the mid-1800s, United States troops were
ordered by Kit Carson to burn Navajo Villages.
They burned villages down to the ground,
destroyed their crops and orchards, and forced
them off their property.
In late 1960s, Peabody Coal Company started
mining on the Navajo’s land.
The Company pointed to a “contract” signed
with the Navajos. It was a reminder of
“treaties” signed by them which took away all
Indian land.
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Spring of 1969 one hundred and fifty Navajos
declared that the stripping of the land would
pollute the air and water, destroy grazing land for
livestock, and waste their scarce water resources.
One elderly Navajo woman stated,
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“Peabody’s monsters are digging up the heart of our
Mother Earth, our sacred mountains, and we also feel the
pains.. I have lived here for years and I’m not about to
move.”
The Navajo were not the only tribe affected by
Peabody Coal Company, the Hopi were also
affected.
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La Raza was a magazine which supplied information,
ignored by the media, which told about the Pit River Indians
of northern California.
Sixty Pit Indians occupied land which they said belonged to
them and resisted when Forest Services ordered them to
leave.
Forest Services then burned the landscape because the Pit
River Indians had built a Quonset Hut which was
apparently ugly.
As the landscape burnt down Indians and government
discussed the situation in which it was revealed that no
treaty existed which claimed the land.
A federal statute was cited that the land dispute between the
Indians and whites,
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“the burden of proof falls on the white man.”
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American Indians have been resisting the US Government
for centuries.
They have dealt with treaty after treaty being broken, when
they have been promised otherwise.
They began to resist in whatever way they could, whether it
was “fish-ins” or such events as The Longest Walk.
Another thing the American Indians began to do was
publish magazines and newspapers such as, Akwesasne
Notes, which gave information not provided in media
coverage.
Alcatraz Island seemed to be the home for defiance of the
US Government, many different movements and events
took place on or originated on the island.
All tribes were affected by the lack of rights, and therefore
they all became involved in the fight for their rights.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv4PpSQ-A8
Josephy, Alvin M. Jr., Nagel, Jonae, & Johnson,
Troy. (1999) Red Power: The American Indians’
Fight for Freedom University of Nebraska
Press, Lincoln, USA