From 1863-1868, the Navajo, or Diné, found themselves the target of a major campaign of war by the Union Army and surrounding enemies in the American Southwest, resulting in a program of removal and internment. This series of events is known to the Navajo as the “Long Walk” , where as a people the Navajo were devastated by acts of violence from multiple factions of enemies. The perspectives of the Navajo regarding the “Long Walk” can grant context to the changes occurring in the American Southwest during the American Civil War, where the focus of the Union’s military might fell upon Native Americans instead of Confederate forces. Rather than as a program of Indian removal resulting from the Civil War militarization of the Southwest, the Navajo …show more content…
The immediate effect of the Civil War was the relocation of military personnel away from New Mexico, as officers sought to aid the cause back in the eastern states. However, the Civil war would eventually lead to the introduction of two prominent figures responsible for the Long walk; Kit Carson, a veteran Indian fighter, and Colonel James H. Carleton, who had in his prior service fought against the Navajo. Along with the transfer of Carleton came a brigade of California volunteers, the “California Column”, who upon arrival played a part in the Battle of Glorieta Pass 1862, which pushed back a Confederate invasion from Texas. The invasion of Confederate forces into the Southwest had caused a diverted the attention of the Union forces in the area away from the affairs of Native Americans. Without the military’s active attention, many groups of Native Americans engaged in raiding on a scale that caused the people of New Mexico to look for assistance from the United States army. In the fall of 1862, James H. Carleton had been promoted to Brigadier General and oversaw the Union’s military efforts in the Southwest. James H. Carleton would concern himself with dealing with the threats Native Americans posed to the people of New Mexico, and from 1862-1865 would oversee the military efforts which would become responsible for the Long Walk of the …show more content…
You have a strange cause of war against the Navajos. We have waged war against the New Mexicans for several years…We had just cause for all this. You have lately commenced a war against the same people…You have therefore conquered them, the very thing we have been attempting to do for so many years. You now turn upon us for attempting to do what you done yourselves. We cannot see why you have cause of quarrel with us for fighting the New Mexicans on the west, while you do the same thing on the east. We have more right to complain of you for interfering in our war, than you have to quarrel with us for continuing a war we had begun long before you got here.” Reclaiming Dine
The Navajo Code Talkers Since the beginning of its history, America has always struggled with giving equal rights and equal opportunities to all of its inhabitants. From the freeing of African-American slaves down to giving women the right to vote, minorities and “the white men” have wrestled over the definition of freedom. One example of this ongoing struggle is the recognition of the Navajo Code Talkers and their involvement in World War II. Were these Navajo Code Talkers crucial to World War II, and were they fully recognized for their efforts? The Code Talkers helped change the outcome of World War II in America’s favor, yet the United States failed at fully recognizing the impact that these incredible Navajos had on the Second World War.
On the 25th of June 1876 on the ‘greasy’ grass of Dakota the Battle of the Little Big Horn occurred. Sioux and Cheyenne Indians defiantly left their reservations, outraged over the continued intrusions of whites into their sacred lands in the Black Hills. They gathered in Montana with the great warrior Sitting Bull to fight for their lands. Determined to resist the efforts of the U.S Army to force them onto reservations, Indians under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wipe out Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and much of his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. This essay with try to determine why the U.S. Army lost this, every so important battle against the Sioux.
While watching the film, “Cold Mountain” I noticed that there was a Native American soldier fighting with the Confederate troops. I was quite intrigued by this because I was not knowledgeable of Native Americans fighting alongside the Confederates. For this reason, I have decided to base my research paper around this and dive deeper and understand the background for this. According to the website, “Wikipedia”, Native Americans fought for both the Unions and the Confederates.
The Mexican American War started in 1846 because of Mexican resentment caused by the 1836 loss of Texas and the American’s desire for Mexico’s more northern territory. “On September 9, 1847 after two years of fighting, the Mexican American war essentially ended when the American Army captured Mexico City after the Battle of Chapultepec”( 6). The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war. United States leaders then acted morally superior in their negotiations of the treaty 1. During negotiations, United States officials viewed the “forcible incorporations” (1) of almost one half of Mexico’s land as an “event foreordained by providence and Manifest Destiny” (1).
Chief Joseph's surrender speech titled, "I Will Fight No More Forever”, is a historical and significant oration addressing the challenges the Ned Perce tribe had to overcome being ousted from its lands in the Wallowa Valley in the Oregon Territory. As a Native American leader of the Nez Perce tribe, Chief Joseph was born in Oregon in 1840, and the principal idea of the speech covered the hardships he and the people in his tribe experienced. Although brief, his speech was a powerful, touching message of struggles and pain. Before examining the speech that Chief Joseph gave in 1877, it is imperative to consider the occurrences that preceded it. For months Chief Joseph and his tribe were hunted out of their native territories by white settlers.
The Native Americans many times did not understand what the soldiers were doing, from this the Sioux became scared and fled. Furthermore, Reno’s battalion had coverage from the landscape which cause mass confusion, among both groups. From the eyes of George Henderson, the Native Americans truly never faltered; however, as it was mentioned they could not truly see the battalion. The one statement made from both sides was the Native Americans fled. Though no party considered the other weak, they both felt fear, both the battalion and the Native Americans became confused during this battle.
The Black Hills War, also known as the Great Sioux War of 1876, was a series of battles fought from 1876 through 1877, between the forces of the United States and their allies (Shoshone, Pawnee, and Crow) and the Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho). Taking place under two presidencies and resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides, The Black Hills War made great impacts that would continue to affect Natives for generations. The United State’s extensive relationship with the Native Americans has its intricacies to say the least. With the arrival of English settlers at Jamestown in 1607, there were undoubtedly uncertainties amongst the Native people as to whether or not these settlers would resemble the Spanish settlers who
As stated before, the US was justified in going to war with Mexico because of three reasons, Americans were killed, Texas was already annexed, and Manifest Destiny allows it. The United states had many superb reasons for going to war with Mexico. This essay is significant because it helps explain the United States’ choice to go to war with
Once European men stepped foot onto what is now known as North America, the lives of the Native Americans were forever changed. The Indians suffered centuries of torment and ridicule from the settlers in America. Despite the reservations made for the Natives, there are still cultural issues occurring within America. In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the tragic lives of Native Americans in modern society are depicted in a collection of short stories taking place in the Spokane Reservation in Washington state. Throughout the collection, a prominent and reoccurring melancholic theme of racism against Native Americans and their struggle to cope with such behavior from their counterpart in this modern day and age is shown.
Losing one’s cultural knowledge, and therefore the reality of their culture, allows others to have control over their collective and individual consciousness as well as their destiny. In this case, it is clear that the United States government has had the dominant relationship over the Native
According to President James Polk, “Mexico had passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil.” (Document B) Clearly, this document shows that an affair with the Mexicans inside the border of America caused Americans to become injured and killed. According to Jesus Velasco-Marquez, “Thus occupying the territory in dispute and increasing the possibilities of a confrontation… In the eyes of the [Mexican] government, the mobilization of the US army was an outright attack on Mexico…” (Document C)
The long walk of the Navajo’s was the forced relocation of the Navajo nation in 1863 to 64. The reason for the forced relocation was to the deterioration of U.S. Native relations in the west as well as the continuing expansion into the west. More than 200 Navajos died in the march from exposure, starvation, and disease. The march was led by U.S. Army Cpt. Kit Carson, the local commander in New Mexico and hero of The Battle of Glorieda Pass.
The Genocide: Trail of Tears/ The Indian removal act During the 1830s the united states congress and president Andrew Jackson created and passed the “Indian removal act”. Which allowed Jackson to forcibly remove the Indians from their native lands in the southeastern states, such as Florida and Mississippi, and send them to specific “Indian reservations” across the Mississippi river, so the whites could take over their land. From 1830-1839 the five civilized tribes (The Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, and Chickasaw) were forced, sometimes by gun point, to march about 1,000 miles to what is present day Oklahoma.
Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.
Throughout the 19th century Native Americans were treated far less than respectful by the United States’ government. This was the time when the United States wanted to expand and grow rapidly as a land, and to achieve this goal, the Native Americans were “pushed” westward. It was a memorable and tricky time in the Natives’ history, and the US government made many treatments with the Native Americans, making big changes on the Indian nation. Native Americans wanted to live peacefully with the white men, but the result of treatments and agreements was not quite peaceful. This precedent of mistreatment of minorities began with Andrew Jackson’s indian removal policies to the tribes of Oklahoma (specifically the Cherokee indians) in 1829 because of the lack of respect given to the indians during the removal laws.