Chronology

by Isabella Dumon

1830 – Congress passed the the Indian Removal Act. This gave the federal government power to move any American Indians in the East to land West of the Mississippi River. Relocation continues until 1887.

1839 – The term Manifest Destiny is coined by John L. O’Sullivan in his article “The Great Nation of Futurity.” The phrase will go on to justify westward expansion and the displacement and assimilation of American Indians.

1862 – The Pacific Railroad Act is passed. It provided “Federal government support for the building of the first transcontinental railroad.”

1868 – Fort Laramie Treaty is signed between the United States government and the Sioux Nation, recognizing the Black Hills region as set aside exclusively for the Sioux people.

1870 – The first Ghost Dance movement is founded, based on a Paiute tradition wherein they dance to pray for the renewal of tribal Indian life. Within the decade the movement ended.

1871 – Congress passes the Indian Appropriations Act. It declares that the United States will no longer acknowledge Indian tribes and independent nations, thus no longer forming any treaties with them.

1873 – President Grant vetoes a law that would have protected buffalos from near extinction.

1877 – The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 is repealed by Congress. The US government forcibly takes over 40 million acres of Lakota land.

1879 – The United States Indian Training and Industrial School is founded and accepts its first students. It is the first of many schools used to force children to join mainstream American culture.

1883 – The Courts of Indian Offenses is established by the federal government to prosecute those who participate in traditional Native American ceremonies.

1883 – The first meeting of “The Friends of the Indian.” They were a group of wealthy philanthropists who shaped the government’s policies towards American Indians. They determine that “Indian education must teach the English language; that it must provide practical industrial training; and that it must be a Christian education.

1883 – Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show opens in Omaha, Nebraska. Some shows were preceded by “spectacles such as… the ‘tableau’ of American Indian life.”

1886 – The play Off the Rails takes place.

1887 – The Commissioner of Indian Affairs bans the use of American Indian languages in schools.

1890 – The Ghost Dance movement is renewed, stronger than before, and spreads to other tribes. U.S. authorities attempt to outlaw the practice out of fear.

1890 – 350 Lakota surrender to U.S. authorities and set up a camp at Wounded Knee Creek. However, a fight breaks out, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre in which hundreds of Lakota are killed. This puts an end to the Ghost Dance movement.

Works Cited

“1883: Courts of Indian Offenses established.” Native Voices. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

“1887: Indian Affairs Commissioner bans Native languages in schools..” Native Voices. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

“A Wild West Show poster.” Buffalo Bill State Historical Park. North Platte, Nebraska, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

“Carlisle Pupils.” Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

Darrenkamp, Angela. “The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears: Cause, Effect and Justification.” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. George Mason University, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

Fees, Paul. “Wild West shows: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.” Buffalo Bill Center of the West. n.p., n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

Haynes, F. Jay. The Villard “Gold Spike” Excursion. 8 Sept. 1883. Photograph. North Dakota Studies. North Dakota State Government, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

Miller, Timothy. “The Ghost Dance.” World Religions and Spirituality Project. Virginia Commonwealth University, Dec. 2011. Web. 16 April 2015.

“Pacific Railway Act.” Primary Documents in American History. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

“The Lake Mohonk Conference.” Native American Netroots. n.p., 26 April 2011. Web. 16 April 2015.

“Timeline of Major Events and Trends of the Nineteenth Century: The Era of Manifest Destiny.” George Mason University, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015

“Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868).” Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service. Nationala Archives & Records Administration, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.

“U.S. Code, Title 25, Chapter 3, Subchapter I, section 71.” Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 16 April 2015.