Sources
1. Judith Nies, Native American History, (New York: Ballantine, 1996), 288.
2. Nies, 288.
3. Nies, 289.
4. Nies, 290.
5. Heather Cox Richardson, West from Appomattox, (New Haven: Yale, 2007), 226.
6. Edward Spicer, A Short History of the Indians of the United States, (Malabar: Krieger, 1969), 100.
7. Richardson, 242.
8. Richardson, 242.
9. Spicer, 100.
10. Richardson, 269.
11. Richardson, 269.
12. Roger Nichols, American Indians in U.S. History, (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2003), 160.
13. Richardson, 269.
14. Irvin Peithman, Broken Peace Pipes, (Springfield: Thomas, 1964), 105.
15. Peithman, 106.
16. Peithman, 106.
17. Peithman, 106.
18. Nichols, 146.
19. Nichols, 146.
20. Nichols, 146.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Fate of a Lost Race
July 29th, 1876
This darned flux capacitor has confounded me again! I have looked everywhere and the ability to enrich plutonium is impossible in the year 1876! If only Dr. Emmet Brown had been here to help me! So now, I am stuck in 1876. What will I do with my life? No television, radio, internet, this is going to be a nightmare.
January 1st, 1878
I have become accustomed to my new era. Due to my advanced knowledge of the times, I have chosen to be an Indian rights activist. The things that the United States is doing to the Indians are appalling. First off, many boarding schools are being developed to solve the “Indian Problem.” The Hampton Institute in Virginia became the first off-reservation Indian boarding school in the U.S. (1) The goal of this school was to assimilate Indians into the white society. (2) Within this school, only English is allowed and the Natives must change their appearance and religious beliefs to conform to Christian society. (3) Ironically, the rush to educate Native Americans coincided with the end of Reconstruction wherein blacks were no longer allowed to be formally taught within certain areas of the South. (4) This entire society is filled with discrimination and hate. I was unaware of the degree to which this animosity is held. In 2009, these instances can only be described or viewed on television. This lessens the direct impact of these actions. I only wish to do what I can to help these poor souls.
January 1st, 1883
For me, this seemed to be the symbolic end to the frontier. Wild Bill Cody has created a Western show that glamorizes the West and illustrates the battle between Cowboys and Indians. To authenticate his show, he has even hired Sitting Bull, one of the last great Indian chiefs. (5) This staged show takes away from the plight of the Indians and turns them into puppets. The people of the East could never understand the bloodshed and violence that occurred to these people and now Will Bill is using them to make a dollar.
January 1st, 1887
If it did not seem like the U.S. government had done enough to the Indians, they have now made it law that all Indians must become part of the white culture. The General Allotment Act has been instituted and it requires that all Indians who are living on reservations become engrained within American society. (6) The reservational system was supposed to be removed and Indians were encouraged to become farmers and cattlemen. Indians with families were given 160 acres of land while single men received 80 acres. (7) The act’s creator Henry Dawes said, “the individual is separated from the mass, set upon the soil, made a citizen and instead of a charge he is a positive good, a contribution to the wealth and strength and power of the nation.” (8) However, only in Oklahoma was this policy instituted. Throughout the United States, the number of reservations increased to more than 250 and the area of Indian land decreased by 66%. (9) A few tribal groups resisted the effort by the United States. They sought to retain their autonomy, but the nature of politics allowed for their representatives to be bribed by government agents. (10) This resulted in the remaining 9 million acres of Sioux land to be dispersed to settlers. (11) This outrage was committed and the Sioux could do nothing. Their adaptation to the white man’s way of life had betrayed them. They weren’t educated enough to be able to facilitate an argument, or prosperous enough to buy off any crooked legislators. Either way, the government was able to force their policy upon them.
December 1, 1890
Today is arguably the worst day of Indian history. Throughout time, they have had the desire to fight, resist, and flee from the white man, but they can no longer do so. Their efforts have put them into reservations, boarding schools, and as unwilling farmers. This has not only taken away from the tribal persona, but now their last great chief has died. Sitting Bull was killed today because of his desire to involve himself in a Ghost Dance. (12) The Ghost Dance movement was an attempt by Indians to return to their native way of life. According to ancestral visions, if living Indians gave up alcohol and abandoned the white way of life, the buffalo would return and Indians would once again prosper. (13) This way of thinking had spread across the planes and become the anthem for most Western Indian tribes. However, this also became a nervous point for Indian agents. The movement made its way to Sitting Bull’s reservation in mid-December. The authorities intended to arrest him because of his great influence upon his people. (14) The common thought was that the Indians would get out of hand and go on the warpath. In order to curb this, a group of Indian policemen surrounded Sitting Bull’s home in the predawn hours. (15) They broke down his door and ushered him out of his home. Sitting Bull resisted and he was slaughtered with 7 other Indian officers. (16) A relative of one of the policemen mutilated Sitting Bull’s body and clubbed his son to death. (17) This moment of bloodshed was looked upon as encouraging by President Benjamin Harrison. He considered Sitting Bull to be a disturbing element of the tribe, and now that he was disposed of, the thought of lesser bloodshed would purvey.
December 29, 1890
The White man is not finished with his degradation of the Indian people. They have ordered the rest of the Lakota Sioux to end their “ghost dance” gatherings. With the recent actions of the government, this frightened the Sioux people so they fled. (18) Unfortunately, for them, General Custer’s previous regiment, the 7th cavalry caught up to them and fired upon them. (19) By the time the engagement had ended, over 250 Indians had died. They were mostly women and children and only wanted to escape violence, but instead their actions encouraged the cavalry. (20) As I look back at this, I can only imagine what General Custer would be thinking. He probably would have believed that this was comparable to his victory at Washita where he slaughtered other women and children under the veil of the American flag. He likely would be thinking of the glory and awards that would be awaiting him following this latest subjugation of the Indian people.
April 28th, 2009
I have managed to get back to my present time. Luckily, I remain the same age as I was before and with the same associations, but I have a very clear memory of my past encounters. My miraculous return home is thanks to my move to New Mexico in the 1940s. As I strolled down an empty road, something was glowing before me. There was a secret laboratory with a very high level of military guard near the area, so I was hesitant to be outward about my actions. I brought my 1944 Buick over (which lucky for me had a nice lead coating on it) towards the glowing piece and deposited it in the trunk. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the missing plutonium for my flux capacitor! Thanks to the Manhattan project and some careless enrichment of plutonium, I was able to send myself back home!
As I look back upon my trip to the late 19th century, I can only be saddened. The Native Americans that inhabited this continent used to roam proud and free across the open land. They could hunt, live, and gather without any foreign danger. Today, the remaining Indians that live on reservations are rampant with poverty. The more fortunate ones have integrated into society and now blend in as if they were any other ethnic group. I think what the colonists, early Americans, and Western frontiersmen have done to the Indians is arguable the strongest case of genocide that the civilized human race has ever committed. No matter what any current generation does, these Indians are now a lost race. The conformity of society to the majority’s will is taking away from the heterogeneity of people and we will eventually all become one indistinct mass. Maybe this was what Custer wanted all along, one indistinguishable society that subsided to the dominant will of the white man.
This darned flux capacitor has confounded me again! I have looked everywhere and the ability to enrich plutonium is impossible in the year 1876! If only Dr. Emmet Brown had been here to help me! So now, I am stuck in 1876. What will I do with my life? No television, radio, internet, this is going to be a nightmare.
January 1st, 1878
I have become accustomed to my new era. Due to my advanced knowledge of the times, I have chosen to be an Indian rights activist. The things that the United States is doing to the Indians are appalling. First off, many boarding schools are being developed to solve the “Indian Problem.” The Hampton Institute in Virginia became the first off-reservation Indian boarding school in the U.S. (1) The goal of this school was to assimilate Indians into the white society. (2) Within this school, only English is allowed and the Natives must change their appearance and religious beliefs to conform to Christian society. (3) Ironically, the rush to educate Native Americans coincided with the end of Reconstruction wherein blacks were no longer allowed to be formally taught within certain areas of the South. (4) This entire society is filled with discrimination and hate. I was unaware of the degree to which this animosity is held. In 2009, these instances can only be described or viewed on television. This lessens the direct impact of these actions. I only wish to do what I can to help these poor souls.
January 1st, 1883
For me, this seemed to be the symbolic end to the frontier. Wild Bill Cody has created a Western show that glamorizes the West and illustrates the battle between Cowboys and Indians. To authenticate his show, he has even hired Sitting Bull, one of the last great Indian chiefs. (5) This staged show takes away from the plight of the Indians and turns them into puppets. The people of the East could never understand the bloodshed and violence that occurred to these people and now Will Bill is using them to make a dollar.
January 1st, 1887
If it did not seem like the U.S. government had done enough to the Indians, they have now made it law that all Indians must become part of the white culture. The General Allotment Act has been instituted and it requires that all Indians who are living on reservations become engrained within American society. (6) The reservational system was supposed to be removed and Indians were encouraged to become farmers and cattlemen. Indians with families were given 160 acres of land while single men received 80 acres. (7) The act’s creator Henry Dawes said, “the individual is separated from the mass, set upon the soil, made a citizen and instead of a charge he is a positive good, a contribution to the wealth and strength and power of the nation.” (8) However, only in Oklahoma was this policy instituted. Throughout the United States, the number of reservations increased to more than 250 and the area of Indian land decreased by 66%. (9) A few tribal groups resisted the effort by the United States. They sought to retain their autonomy, but the nature of politics allowed for their representatives to be bribed by government agents. (10) This resulted in the remaining 9 million acres of Sioux land to be dispersed to settlers. (11) This outrage was committed and the Sioux could do nothing. Their adaptation to the white man’s way of life had betrayed them. They weren’t educated enough to be able to facilitate an argument, or prosperous enough to buy off any crooked legislators. Either way, the government was able to force their policy upon them.
December 1, 1890
Today is arguably the worst day of Indian history. Throughout time, they have had the desire to fight, resist, and flee from the white man, but they can no longer do so. Their efforts have put them into reservations, boarding schools, and as unwilling farmers. This has not only taken away from the tribal persona, but now their last great chief has died. Sitting Bull was killed today because of his desire to involve himself in a Ghost Dance. (12) The Ghost Dance movement was an attempt by Indians to return to their native way of life. According to ancestral visions, if living Indians gave up alcohol and abandoned the white way of life, the buffalo would return and Indians would once again prosper. (13) This way of thinking had spread across the planes and become the anthem for most Western Indian tribes. However, this also became a nervous point for Indian agents. The movement made its way to Sitting Bull’s reservation in mid-December. The authorities intended to arrest him because of his great influence upon his people. (14) The common thought was that the Indians would get out of hand and go on the warpath. In order to curb this, a group of Indian policemen surrounded Sitting Bull’s home in the predawn hours. (15) They broke down his door and ushered him out of his home. Sitting Bull resisted and he was slaughtered with 7 other Indian officers. (16) A relative of one of the policemen mutilated Sitting Bull’s body and clubbed his son to death. (17) This moment of bloodshed was looked upon as encouraging by President Benjamin Harrison. He considered Sitting Bull to be a disturbing element of the tribe, and now that he was disposed of, the thought of lesser bloodshed would purvey.
December 29, 1890
The White man is not finished with his degradation of the Indian people. They have ordered the rest of the Lakota Sioux to end their “ghost dance” gatherings. With the recent actions of the government, this frightened the Sioux people so they fled. (18) Unfortunately, for them, General Custer’s previous regiment, the 7th cavalry caught up to them and fired upon them. (19) By the time the engagement had ended, over 250 Indians had died. They were mostly women and children and only wanted to escape violence, but instead their actions encouraged the cavalry. (20) As I look back at this, I can only imagine what General Custer would be thinking. He probably would have believed that this was comparable to his victory at Washita where he slaughtered other women and children under the veil of the American flag. He likely would be thinking of the glory and awards that would be awaiting him following this latest subjugation of the Indian people.
April 28th, 2009
I have managed to get back to my present time. Luckily, I remain the same age as I was before and with the same associations, but I have a very clear memory of my past encounters. My miraculous return home is thanks to my move to New Mexico in the 1940s. As I strolled down an empty road, something was glowing before me. There was a secret laboratory with a very high level of military guard near the area, so I was hesitant to be outward about my actions. I brought my 1944 Buick over (which lucky for me had a nice lead coating on it) towards the glowing piece and deposited it in the trunk. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the missing plutonium for my flux capacitor! Thanks to the Manhattan project and some careless enrichment of plutonium, I was able to send myself back home!
As I look back upon my trip to the late 19th century, I can only be saddened. The Native Americans that inhabited this continent used to roam proud and free across the open land. They could hunt, live, and gather without any foreign danger. Today, the remaining Indians that live on reservations are rampant with poverty. The more fortunate ones have integrated into society and now blend in as if they were any other ethnic group. I think what the colonists, early Americans, and Western frontiersmen have done to the Indians is arguable the strongest case of genocide that the civilized human race has ever committed. No matter what any current generation does, these Indians are now a lost race. The conformity of society to the majority’s will is taking away from the heterogeneity of people and we will eventually all become one indistinct mass. Maybe this was what Custer wanted all along, one indistinguishable society that subsided to the dominant will of the white man.
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