It is hard to say who is necessarily the sole person to blame for the downfall of the Lakota people in 1800’s America. Personally, there are many variables that are to blame from all parties after completing the reading. It is not based on solely one person, but the entire populations involved i.e. the Americans, the Lakota, and the governing bodies of both. The question of who was involved with the demise of the Lakota people is highly suggestive and relative to whoever is reading the book.
The Americans or the “Wassicuns” and the native people of the Lakota had typically little to no contact during the early years of the country. As the Gold Rushes in the West popped up, the push for Western expansion came around. The Lakota were not so friendly about giving up their land as the Americans had hoped, which created a lot of hostility. For instance, Gold was discovered in the Black Hills, an area that was once spiritually sacred to the Lakota. Settlers moved on to the Black Hills knowing that Gold was present. They came up with the alternative of moving the tribes to reservations where they would leave their old traditions and become “American.” However, that was met with mu The Buffalo was one of the Lakota’s main resources and settlers knew it. To try to make them succumb to move, the settlers would kill the buffalo for sport, and leave the carcass to rot. To make it even worse, they began to pour poison on the buffalo to render the meat useless to the Lakota which outraged them due to their religious beliefs and their beliefs in never wasting anything of the buffalo. The Americans would also create treaties that were never followed even after the leaders of the Tribes signed them forcing the Lakota to move into areas they would not go. Forcing them to look harder for buffalo, almost forcing that the reservations would be the best alternative for the preservation of their people. Forts were built in Lakota areas, almost corralling the tribes due to the hostility met at areas nearby the forts. The way the Lakota were treated by the ever growing opposition called America were one of the main reasons for their demise because they could not keep going, the opposition had bested them in the very end.
However, the Lakota themselves were their own downfall. Sitting Bull and Red Cloud had very opposite positions for the outcome of their people. Red Cloud was a huge advocate for the reservations, that there would be no reason to stay with their traditions. That it would not be for the best of the people to stay off the reservations. Meanwhile, Sitting Bull wanted nothing to do with the Wassicuns or the treaties they were trying to create. He wanted people to stay where they were, and do the things that were done for centuries and that their beliefs should be fought for. These 2 ideas split the Lakota in half on what to do and where to go, it divided the nation which made it easier for them to fall to the opposition. Their relationships with white Americans were another reason for their downfalls, as the Lakotas that did not move on to reservations did not trust them. The Americans were met with high hostility no matter what their intentions were because in a general sense they were always wanting to offer a treaty, or a price for the desirable parts of their land. The Lakota faced a lot of hardships, but if they had pulled together to form one united front, their outcome could have been drastically different. Had they not signed any treaties believing it was for peace. Had they all pulled together, they might have been able to hold off American advancement. If they weren’t so dependent on the buffalo, they could have held on for their beliefs a little bit longer.
Sandra Novak A Bigger Splash “A Bigger Splash” by David Hockney is an acrylic painting on canvas and was made in 1967 in California. The picture is made up of a pool right outside a home with palm trees in the background and the sun set high in the sky. The shadows on the sliding glass door tell you that there are buildings and more palm trees across from this house. Without those shadows I would have gotten the feeling that this house was in the middle of no where because there isn’t much to…
Wounded Knee massacre was Sitting Bull, who was “arrested […] in an effort to quell the messiah craze.”1 The arrest and ultimate death of the famed Lakota Sioux leader lead Big Foot to flee “south with his band under cover of night to seek asylum […] on the Pine Ridge Reservation.”2 This event, the arrest and death of Sitting Bull, is accurately portrayed in the movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In the movie, U.S. Indian Police (reservation police) attempt to arrest Sitting Bull. During the arrest,…
man. The religion quickly spread through the tribes. When the Ghost Dance reached the Cheyenne River Reservation many where skeptical and chose not to adopt it, but others embraced the new religion enthusiastically. Some, like the famous chief Sitting Bull, did not believe in the religion but allowed their people to practice it anyway. The Sioux were already hungry and desperate, and many tribal leaders decided that the glimmer of hope it provided was worth defying the ban on traditional dances on…
the people were accepted except for Brett. 3. “…He knew everything when he started. The others can’t ever learn what he was born with.” “And God, what looks,” Brett said. “I believe, you know, that she’s falling in love with this bull fighter chap,” Mike said. “I wouldn’t be surprised” “Be a good chap, Jake. Don’t tell her anything more about him. Tell her how they beat their old mothers.” “Tell me what drunks they are.” “Oh, frightful,” Mike said. “Drunk…
The sun had just peaked its bright rays over the crest of the mountain, sending its rays over a 200 yard wide, 300 yard long field high up in the gorgeous Bitterroot mountain range. There is a light fog that is starting to slowly fade away. I am sitting in the tree line with my father; it is my first Elk hunting trip. I have been anticipating this day since I accomplished graduating hunters' safety two months before. I make sure I have my Elk tag, am wearing my orange vest; have my knife, my ammo…
Severalty Act (1887) * an act that removed indian land from tribal possesion, redivided it, and distributed it among individual indian families. designed to break tribal mentalities and promote individualism. * Sitting Bull * The American Indian Sitting Bull (ca. 1834-1890), a Hunkpapa Sioux medicine man and chief,…
Lakota a tribe of Indians which mean's alliance of friends but the white man began to call them Sioux meaning enemy, traitorous snakes 14. Little Big Horn where Sitting Bull over came General Custards army who did not follow the cardinal rule "know thy enemy" 15. Manifest Destiny Europeans ordained by god to conquer all land and tame the savage Indians 16. Nature highly respected by the Indians who thought that…
Indians they had surrounded them and had their own weaponry. Indians had 2,500 men to fight with and Custer had a measly 250, the odds were never going to be in his favor. And the Indians had a much bigger determination due to an early vision of Sitting Bull who had had a vision of them gaining a victory. The victory infuriated the US government as it was…
happened was the U.S army massacres Indians at Wounded Knee. Indians thought that if they did the ghost dance and rejected the ways of the white man that the gods would anew and destroy all non-believers including all non-Indians. Police arrested sitting bull who is the famous Sioux chief because they believed thought that he was a ghost dancer. Later the US army’s 7th cavalry surrounded a group and ghost dancers and told they to surrender all weapons but when they didn’t it broke out into a fight…
Recreation Services ATH 116 Fitness and Conditioning, 1.0 credit hours Instructor: Quincy Osborn E-mail: quincyos@buffalo.edu Facility Website: ubrecreation.com CLASS MEETING SITE(S): Alumni Arena commons area directly in front of the Bull Pen. COURSE DESCRIPTION: This class is designed to provide students with a background on the relationships between physical activity, physical fitness and various health-related outcomes. Through the course, students will gain knowledge and skills…