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War Song

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1. Why do they make the man so antagonizing?

2. Who is that man?

3. Why is he bigger than the land itself?

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Nomad: A person who continually moves from place to place usually in search of food

Annuity: Money paid by contract on regular intervals

Assimilate: To absorb a group into the culture of a larger population

Allotment: A plot of land assigned to an individual or family for cultivation

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1850-51- Native American population starts to decrease because they were killed and they faced death by starvation. Natives also agreed to have construction (roads and forts) built on their land, causing the settlers to slowly make their way into their territory, which causes impact in the future

1862- First major clash began when Dakota people (Sioux) launched major uprising in Minnesota. This caused the Sioux to live in poverty and they faced starvation

1864- Sand Creek Massacre- 69 to 600 Native Americans died. What happened was unclear, but some reported American troops fired and brutally murdered hundreds of women and children. This caused Natives to become angry and scared

1867- Congress formed an Indian Peace Commision. This proposed creating 2 large reservations on the Plains: one for the Sioux and one for the Native Americans of the southern Plains

1876- Battle of the Little Bighorn- George A. Custer launched a three- pronged attack on of the largest groups of Native American warriors ever assembled on the Great Plains. This caused the Native American forces to launch a Cavalry charge from the South, leaving only one of Custer’s men alive (210 men were killed).

1887- Congress passed the Dawes Act. This allotted to each head of household 160 acres of reservation land for farming. Single adults had 80 acres, and children were allotted. This plan failed to achieve its goals, leaving the Native Americans doomed because they were dependent on buffalo for food, clothing, fuel, and shelter. The Dawes Act also granted full citizenship to Natives who stayed in allotments for 25 years, but few qualified.

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1. What is Crazy Horse's view on the white Americans?
2. How did he think the conditions were on the reservations?
3. What did the Indians truly want?

Excerpt 4: Crazy Horse’s Last Words to Agent Lee, 1877
My friend, I do not blame you for this. Had I listened to you this trouble would not have happened to
me. I was not hostile to the white men. Sometimes my young men would attack the Indians who were
their enemies and took their ponies. They did it in return. We had buffalo for food, and their hides for
clothing and for our teepees. We preferred hunting to a life of idleness on the reservation, where we
were driven against our will. At times we did not get enough to eat and we were not allowed to leave
the reservation to hunt. We preferred our own way of living. We were no expense to the government.
All we wanted was peace and to be left alone. Soldiers were sent out in the winter, they destroyed our
villages. The "Long Hair" (Custer) came in the same way. They say we massacred him, but he would have
done the same thing to us had we not defended ourselves and fought to the last. Our first impulse was
to escape with our squaws and papooses, but we were so hemmed in that we had to fight. After that I
went up on the Tongue River with a few of my people and lived in peace. But the government would not
let me alone. Finally, I came back to the Red Cloud Agency. Yet, I was not allowed to remain quiet. I was
tired of fighting. I went to the Spotted Tail Agency and asked that chief and his agent to let me live there
in peace. I cam here with the agent (lee) to talk with the Big White Chief but was not given a chance.
They tried to confine me. I tried to escape, and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken.

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1. What is Sitting Bull's view of the white Americans?
2. Do y ou think Sitting Bull and his people had beliefs in nature? Why or why not?
3. What was Sitting Bull's opinion on Americans taking their land?
Excerpt 6: Sitting Bull
“Behold, my brothers, the spring has come; the earth has received the embraces of the sun and we shall
soon see the results of that love! Every seed has awakened and so has all animal life. It is through this
mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our neighbors, even our animal
neighbors, the same right as ourselves, to inhabit this land. Yet hear me, my people, we have now to
deal with another race - small and feeble when our fathers first met them, but now great and
overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possessions is a disease
with them . . . They claim this mother of ours, the earth, for their own, and fence their neighbors away;
they deface her with their buildings and their refuse. They threaten to take [the land] away from us. My
brothers, shall we submit, or shall we say to them: "First kill me before you take possession of my
Fatherland." - Sitting Bull’s Speech at the Powder River Council, 1877.