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The Office of Indian Affairs Established
The Office of Indian Affairs was created in the 19th century to manage the United States government's interactions with Native American tribes, primarily by negotiating treaties, overseeing the removal of tribes to reservations, and administering the process of assimilating them into American society, as the country pursued westward expansion and "manifest destiny." -
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
The position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs was established by an act of Congress in 1832 -
Indian Appropriations Act of 1851
The Indian Appropriations Act of 1851, also known as the Appropriation Bill for Indian Affairs, authorized the establishment of reservations in Oklahoma and inspired the creation of reservations in other states as well. The US federal government envisioned the reservations as a useful means of keeping Native Americans off of lands that white Americans wished to settle. -
Treaty with the Sioux
In the spring of 1868 a conference was held at Fort Laramie, in present day Wyoming, that resulted in a treaty with the Sioux. This treaty was to bring peace between the whites and the Sioux who agreed to settle within the Black Hills reservation in the Dakota Territory. -
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of Little Bighorn, fought from June 25-26 of 1876, was one of the most important military engagements in the history of the West. Lt. Col. George Custer and the 7th Cavalry attacked a much larger fighting force of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors in Montana, and were killed as a result. -
The Dawes Act of 1887
The Dawes Act of 1887 authorized the federal government to break up tribal lands by partitioning them into individual plots. Only those Native Americans who accepted the individual allotments were allowed to become US citizens. -
The Ghost Dance Movement
A late-nineteenth-century American Indian spiritual movement, the ghost dance began in Nevada in 1889 when a Paiute named Wovoka (also known as Jack Wilson) prophesied the extinction of white people and the return of the old-time life and superiority of the Indians. -
The Massacre at Wounded Knee
While attempting to disarm the Sioux, a shot was fired and a scuffle ensued. The US army soldiers opened fire on the Sioux, indiscriminately massacring hundreds of men, women, and children. -
Curtis Act of 1898
Curtis Act of 1898 amended the Dawes Act to apply to the Five Civilized Tribes as well. -
US Indian Reorganization Act
Instituted a “New Deal” for Native Americans, authorizing them to reorganize and form their own tribal governments. The act ended the land allotments created by Dawes Act and thereby resurrected the reservation system