In 1966, Richard Hugo was teaching a poetry class at the University of Montana. One of his students was James Welch who had been born on the Blackfeet Reservation and raised on the Fort Belknap Reservation. Hugo realized that Welch knew nothing of poetry, but he encouraged him to write about what he did know: … Continued
By 1776, some of the British colonists in North America had become somewhat irritated with the Monarchy and particularly with its limitations on the expansion of the colonies. Colonial displeasure with the British King was expressed in a document known as the Declaration of Independence in which they express the following charge against the King: … Continued
By 1870, it was clearly evident that the Indian Service was the most corrupt branch of the federal government and that Indian reservations were often being run for the financial benefit of the government-appointed Indian agents at the expense of the Indians. In order for Indians to fully assimilate into American society, it was felt … Continued
The Central Plains is the portion of the Great Plains which lies south of the South Dakota-Nebraska border and north of the Arkansas River. It includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, southeastern Wyoming, and western Colorado. It includes Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, southeastern Wyoming, and western Colorado. At the time when the Europeans began their invasion … Continued
Two hundred years ago, in 1818, the United States was just beginning to embark on its expansionist policy known as Manifest Destiny. Under this policy, many non-Indian Americans felt that it was the divine destiny of the United States to expand and to spread American culture, language, and the Christian religion across the continent. In … Continued
In 1918, American Indian religions were still outlawed. Federal Indian policy viewed American Indian religions as barriers to “civilizing” Indians and emphasized the importance of Christianity. Participation in traditional Indian ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance, the Sweat Lodge, and the Potlatch, was not only discouraged, but often criminalized. While the government recognized that structures, … Continued
There are more than 6,000 languages in the world and only about 100 of these developed their own writing system. For most of these writing systems, we know relatively little about the individuals who actually created the writing system. The exception to this is the development of the Cherokee writing system in the nineteenth century … Continued
https://www.google.com/search?q=indian+boarding+schools&biw=1366&bih=613&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh_obWrIDSAhXFsFQKHYIwAQ0Q_AUIBygC#imgrc=O9WI0EJRDiX-cM: What happened inside of the walls of the Indian Boarding School that was to the right here? Let’s look to history for some feasible answers. (all bold mine) RICHARD PRATT — “KILL THE INDIAN, SAVE THE MAN” The Social Welfare Forum: Official Proceedings [of The] Annual Forum As we have taken into our national … Continued
In Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana during the nineteenth century, American settlers formed militia groups for the purpose of killing Indians. While supposedly formed for the purpose of “defense”, the militias were often fueled by a genocidal bloodlust which was satiated by murdering Indians and mutilating their dead bodies to obtain “trophies” in the form … Continued
The Oregon rest stops along the highway that follows the old Oregon Trail have kiosks displaying the history of the trail. The map shown above shows the rest areas in Eastern Oregon with history displays about the Oregon Trail. Pathway to the “Garden of the World” On May 22, 1843, nearly one thousand Americans left … Continued
