Native American Historical Events

Why This Matters

Understanding Native American historical events isn't about memorizing a timeline—it's about recognizing the patterns of power, resistance, and resilience that define Indigenous experiences across five centuries. You're being tested on your ability to identify how colonization, federal policy, and Indigenous agency intersect and evolve. These events demonstrate core course concepts: sovereignty, self-determination, cultural survival, and the ongoing tension between assimilation policies and tribal autonomy.

When you study these events, focus on the underlying mechanisms at work. Ask yourself: Is this an example of dispossession, resistance, policy reversal, or reclamation? The strongest exam responses connect specific events to broader themes—showing you understand not just what happened but why it matters and how it connects to Indigenous experiences today. Don't just memorize dates; know what concept each event illustrates.

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Pre-Contact Foundations

Before European arrival, Indigenous peoples had built sophisticated societies with complex governance, economic systems, and cultural achievements. Understanding pre-contact civilizations establishes that Native peoples were not passive recipients of history but active agents with established nations.

Pre-Columbian Civilizations (Maya, Aztec, Inca)

• Advanced political structures—these were not "primitive" societies but organized states with hierarchical governments, legal systems, and diplomatic relations
• Technological and intellectual achievements in architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and agricultural engineering rivaled or exceeded contemporary European developments
• Extensive trade networks connected diverse regions, demonstrating economic sophistication and inter-tribal cooperation long before contact

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Colonial Contact and Catastrophe

The arrival of Europeans initiated a period of catastrophic change driven by disease, violence, and systematic dispossession. These events illustrate the mechanisms of colonization and their devastating demographic impacts.

Columbus's Arrival (1492)

• Initiated sustained European contact—not "discovery" but the beginning of invasion and colonization of already-inhabited lands
• Launched the transatlantic exchange of goods, people, and ideas that would reshape both hemispheres permanently
• Established patterns of exploitation including land seizure, forced labor, and resource extraction that defined colonial relationships

The Columbian Exchange

• Biological and ecological transformation—the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and peoples between hemispheres fundamentally altered global ecosystems
• Introduced epidemic diseases (smallpox, measles, influenza) that decimated Indigenous populations by an estimated 90% in some regions
• Brought horses and livestock to the Americas, which some tribes incorporated into their cultures while facing displacement from agricultural changes

European Colonization's Impact

• Land dispossession became the central mechanism of colonial expansion, justified through legal doctrines like the Doctrine of Discovery
• Disease epidemics preceded and accompanied military conquest, weakening Native populations before direct conflict
• Forced labor systems (encomienda, mission systems) extracted Indigenous labor while suppressing cultural and religious practices

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Armed Resistance and Military Conflict

Indigenous peoples consistently resisted colonial and U.S. expansion through military action. These conflicts reveal both the determination of Native nations to defend their sovereignty and the escalating violence of settler colonialism.

King Philip's War (1675-1678)

• Metacom (King Philip) led a coalition of Wampanoag, Narragansett, and other tribes against New England colonists in one of the deadliest conflicts per capita in American history
• Massive casualties on both sides—the war destroyed twelve colonial towns and killed thousands of Native people and colonists
• Marked a turning point in New England, ending effective Native military resistance in the region and accelerating land seizure

The French and Indian War (1754-1763)

• Native nations as strategic actors—tribes allied with both British and French forces based on their own political interests, not as passive auxiliaries
• British victory reshaped North America but created new tensions as the Crown restricted westward expansion through the Proclamation of 1763
• Demonstrated Indigenous political sophistication in navigating European imperial rivalries to protect their own interests

The Battle of Little Bighorn (1876)

• Decisive Native victory—Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse defeated Lt. Col. George Custer's 7th Cavalry
• Symbol of resistance to U.S. expansion and military aggression during the Plains Wars
• Provoked intensified military campaigns that ultimately forced most Plains tribes onto reservations within a few years

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)

• Mass killing of Lakota Sioux—U.S. troops killed approximately 250-300 men, women, and children at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota
• Marked the symbolic end of armed Native resistance in the Great Plains and the close of the "Indian Wars" era
• Became an enduring symbol of federal violence against Indigenous peoples, referenced in later activism including the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation

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Federal Policy: Dispossession and Assimilation

The 19th and early 20th centuries saw the U.S. government implement systematic policies designed to remove Native peoples from their lands and eliminate Indigenous cultures. These policies reflect the logic of settler colonialism.

The Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears (1830s)

• Authorized forced relocation of Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole nations from the Southeast to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma)
• Trail of Tears killed an estimated 4,000-8,000 Cherokee alone during the forced march, plus thousands from other nations
• Established the precedent of federal removal policy and the legal fiction that tribes could be relocated at government discretion

The Dawes Act (1887)

• Allotment policy divided communal tribal lands into individual plots, with "surplus" land sold to white settlers
• Resulted in loss of 90 million acres—approximately two-thirds of Native land holdings—between 1887 and 1934
• Designed to destroy tribal structures by imposing individual land ownership and eliminating the economic basis of communal life

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Policy Reversals and Rights Recognition

The 20th century brought significant—though incomplete—reversals of assimilation policy, driven by both changing federal attitudes and sustained Indigenous advocacy. These shifts reflect the concept of tribal sovereignty as a legal and political framework.

Indian Citizenship Act (1924)

• Granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States, though many had gained citizenship earlier through other means
• Did not guarantee voting rights—many states used poll taxes, literacy tests, and other mechanisms to disenfranchise Native voters until the 1960s
• Represented contradictory goals of integration while maintaining the separate legal status of tribes

Indian Reorganization Act (1934)

• Reversed Dawes Act policies by ending allotment and restoring some tribal land ownership
• Encouraged tribal self-governance through the establishment of tribal constitutions and governments, though based on Western models
• Known as the "Indian New Deal"—represented a significant shift toward recognizing tribal sovereignty, though critics note it imposed standardized governance structures

Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975)

• Transferred program control from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to tribal governments, allowing tribes to administer their own services
• Promoted self-governance as official federal policy, marking a fundamental shift from termination-era approaches
• Enabled tribal control of education and other services, supporting cultural preservation and community-based decision-making

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990)

• Requires return of cultural items—human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony must be repatriated to affiliated tribes
• Acknowledges Indigenous cultural rights and the historical injustice of collecting Native remains and artifacts without consent
• Represents ongoing decolonization of museums and federal collections, though implementation remains incomplete

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Indigenous Activism and Self-Determination

The mid-20th century saw the emergence of organized Indigenous activism demanding recognition of treaty rights, sovereignty, and cultural preservation. This period demonstrates Indigenous agency in shaping federal policy.

American Indian Movement and Alcatraz Occupation (1969-1971)

• Grassroots activism emerged through AIM and other organizations demanding treaty rights, sovereignty, and an end to discrimination
• Alcatraz occupation by "Indians of All Tribes" lasted 19 months and brought national attention to Native issues, citing an 1868 Sioux treaty allowing use of abandoned federal land
• Catalyzed policy changes including the return of sacred lands and passage of self-determination legislation in the following years

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two events best illustrate the shift from assimilation policy to self-determination, and what specific mechanisms changed between them?

2. Compare and contrast the Indian Removal Act and the Dawes Act—how did each cause Native land loss, and what was the underlying logic of each policy?

3. If asked to identify examples of Indigenous military resistance, which events would you cite, and how did their outcomes differ?

4. How does the Columbian Exchange connect to European colonization's demographic impact on Native populations? Which concept emphasizes biological processes versus political ones?

5. An FRQ asks you to trace the evolution of federal Indian policy from the 1880s to the 1970s. Which four events would you select to show the arc from assimilation to self-determination, and why?