Important Native American History Facts

1) The history of the buffalo (or bison) on the plains and their near extinction in the 1800s:

-Notes taken in class; 30-60 million in North America; 1884 only 325 left; today there are about 500,000

2) Fort Laramie Treaty (1868) and Supreme Court ruling in United States versus Sioux Nation of Indians (1980)

-Supreme Court ruled, following lower court decision, that the Black Hills were taken illegally

-Fort Laramie treaty (1868) changed by US govt. in 1877 after gold was discovered in the Black Hills

-Tribe awarded 106 million

-Today it is up to 1.3 billion and is in a trust because the tribe hasn’t taken the money

3) Allotment Act (1887)-also known as the Dawes Act

-purpose: to assimilate the American Indian into American culture. Another assimilation tactic taken by the US Government

-head of each family would get 160 acres of tribal land

-each single person would get 80 acres

-title held by US government for 25 years, and then owner would get title and citizenship

-land not allotted would be sold to the US and opened for homesteading

-the process started in 1887. 138,000,000 acres reduced to 48,000,000 by the end of the allotment period

-Since 1934 landholdings have slowly increased to 56,000,000 acres

4) Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

-more than 150 men, women, and children killed (some estimates are 300) by US Soldiers at Wounded Knee Creek on Pine Ridge Reservation

5) Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978)

-Code of Indian Offenses, 1883

-banned native religion, traditional dances and feasts, gift exchanges, funeral rites, and polygamy

-this act, in 1978, stated that Indigenous people had the right to practice all of their ceremonies in the way they saw fit

6) Lakota Language revitalization

-orthographies have been developed

-Lakhota is taught on reservation schools and some public schools, such as Central HS in Rapid City

-language learning organizations, such Lakota Language Consortium, have developed language learning materials and resources.