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Go directly to the collection, American
Indians of the Pacific Northwest,
in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest includes primary and secondary text
sources, over 2,000 photographs, and a special presentation of ten essays.
Together, these materials tell the story of Native Americans in the Pacific
Northwest, from their first contact with European explorers in the 18th century
to life on reservations in the 20th century. Primary sources include six treaties
and over 3,800 pages from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs. Secondary sources include over 100 scholarly articles that can assist
in understanding this complex chapter in United States history.
Sections:
Native-American Cultures of the Pacific Northwest
Ethnographers are people who study and record cultures. By the time the
discipline of ethnography was established in the United States, Native Americans
of the
Pacific Northwest "had come under white influence," writes Marion
Pearsall on the first page of her article, "Contributions
of Early Explorers and Traders to the Ethnography of the Northwest".
"They
had been decimated by epidemics, converted by missionaries, pushed off
their lands by
settlers, and finally herded onto reservations by the government. Little
of the Indian culture remains today."
There are few historical records of what
Native-American cultures were like before "white influence." However,
many aspects of these cultures have endured to some extent in the cultures
of subsequent generations.
The collection's photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries
provide rich first-hand evidence of Native-American cultures, while secondary
texts by scholars provide context and guidance for understanding this evidence.
Begin a study of Native-American cultures with the Special
Presentation. The introductory
essay provides an orientation to the collection and presents the inherent
challenges in studying these cultures. The other essays provide an overview
of the region and its diverse cultures, focusing on individual tribal groups
as well as cross-cultural topics. |
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![Chugach Eskimo man](images/eskimo2.jpg)
Chugach Eskimo man with hat and piercings |
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![Interior of a longhouse, Neah Bay, ca. 1900](images/longhous2.jpg)
Interior of a longhouse, Neah Bay, ca. 1900 |
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Search the
collection for photographs of objects and activities that you think would
manifest Native-American cultures, such as baskets, blankets, clothing, canoes, longhouses, hunting, games, cooking,
and dancing. Browse the Subject
Index for images organized by over 100 tribes under headings such as Tahltan
Indians--Clothing & dress and Makah Indians--Subsistence activities.
There are also countless texts written by explorers, Indian agents, missionaries,
and other Euro-American contemporaries, which describe Indian cultures. Search on Pacific
Northwest Quarterly and Publications in Anthropology for scholarly articles
with in-depth information, such as "The
Dog's Hair Blankets of the Coast Salish" and "A
Prism of Carved Rock: Dalles Area Rock Art as an Insight into Native American
Cultures."
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- Note the date and location of the texts and images and consider to
what extent the object or activity portrayed might have been influenced by
Euro-American culture or a blending of native cultures.
- What are the similarities and differences between the crafts, religious practices,
and subsistence activities of different tribes?
- What can you learn from this information about different tribes' values
and beliefs?
- What must be taken into consideration when reading accounts of Native-American
cultures written by Euro-American explorers, fur traders, missionaries, and
Indian agents? How do you judge the validity of these documents?
Early Exploration and the Fur Trade
The earliest explorers of the Pacific Northwest came to its coasts
in the 18th century. Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and
American explorers sought to claim land and establish trade routes in
the New World.
In 1803, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Captain Meriwether
Lewis to lead an overland expedition to the western territories. In his
letter to Lewis, Jefferson instructed that information should be gathered
on the indigenous peoples they would encounter. The letter is excerpted
in Pearsall's "Contributions
of Early Explorers and Traders to the Ethnography of the Northwest".
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![Clayoquot villages in the area governed by Wickaninnish, as marked on map of Port Cox (now Clayoquot Sound), British Columbia, in engraving made 1788](images/map2.jpg)
Detail of Clayoquot
villages in the area governed by Wickaninnish |
![Hudson's Bay Company blockhouse & store houses, Fort Colville, Colville Washington, ca. 1900](images/blockhous2.jpg)
Hudson's Bay Company blockhouse & store houses |
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Except for the Lewis and Clark expedition,
however, all of the early exploration was done on behalf of the fur trade.
The Northwest
Company, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and others commissioned explorers
to search for new hunting grounds and establish trading posts, resulting
in fierce commercial competition for control over the Pacific Northwest.
Search on fur trade to learn more about the business that shaped the future
of the Pacific Northwest. |
Pearsall's article describes the expeditions of
the earliest explorers and their interactions with Native Americans who supplied
furs and provided information about the region. The Subject
Index heading, Indians of North America--First contact with Europeans,
provides access to other scholarly articles that often excerpt primary source
materials. For example, "Nootka
Sound in 1789: Joseph Ingraham's Account" includes Ingraham's letter
in its entirety. In it, he recounts the Nootka Indians' story about the first
European ship to arrive at the Nootka Sound. Ingraham, an American, identifies
the ship as belonging to Spain, a rival in the fur trade: |
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![Nootka canoes approach three-masted ship, Coal Harbour (now Port Graham) Alaska, in engraving made 1786](images/3mastshp2.jpg)
Nootka canoes approach three-masted ship |
They said she was a larger ship than they had ever seen
since, that she was coppered . . . (this I suppose to have been gilt or painted
yellow), that she had a great many guns and men, that the officers wore blue
laced coats, and that most of the men wore handkerchiefs about their heads.
They made them presents of large pearl shells . . . knives with crooked blades
and black handles. The natives sold them fish and their garments but no furs.
When they first saw this ship, they said they were exceedingly terrified
and but few of them ever ventured alongside.
(Page 163, "Nootka
Sound in 1789: Joseph Ingraham's Account")
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![Haida woman with labret & fur cloak, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, in engraving made 1787](images/woman2.jpg)
Haida woman with labret & fur cloak |
- How did the fur trade work? Who supplied, sold, and bought furs?
- What kinds of interactions did early explorers and fur traders have with Native
American groups? What interest did they have in each other?
- What were some of the challenges facing early explorers of the Pacific Northwest?
How did these challenges affect interactions between explorers and Native Americans?
- How do you think that Native Americans might have felt about the appearance
of explorers and fur traders in their homelands? How and why might those feelings
have changed over time?
- How do you think that explorers and fur traders might have felt about the Native
Americans living in the foreign lands that they hoped to exploit?
- How did the national and commercial competition of the fur trade affect relations
with Native Americans and developments in the region?
Missionaries in the Pacific Northwest
![Scottish missionary William Duncan, founder of Metlakatla Christian Mission at his desk, Metlakatla, Alaska, ca. 1903](images/missionary2.jpg)
Scottish missionary William Duncan |
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Once the fur companies made inroads into
the region, missionaries were eager to bring Christianity to the indigenous
peoples of the Pacific Northwest. The Subject
Index heading, Christianity, and a search on missionaries provide
many images, primary texts by Indian agents and missionaries, and secondary
texts such as "Anglicanism
Among the Indians of Washington Territory," which includes excerpts
from the Church of England Missionary Society Proceedings, 1819-1820:
It has been suggested ... that the western parts of British America,
lying between the high ridge called the Rocky Mountains and the North
Pacific Ocean, and extending from about the 42d to the 57th degree of
North Latitude, offer a more promising and practicable field for Missionary
Labours than any other in that quarter of the Globe. The people are not
savage, ferocious, and wandering; but settled in villages, and in several
respects somewhat civilized, though still in the hunter state; with few
arts, no letters, no general knowledge, but a great desire to be taught
by White Men, whose superiority they clearly discern... .
(Pages 224-25, "Anglicanism
Among the Indians of Washington Territory")
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- Why would the Church of England want to establish missions among Native
Americans of the Pacific Northwest? What attracts them to this particular
region?
- Why do you think that the Missionary Society described the people
of the Northwest as having a "great desire to be taught by White
Men, whose superiority they clearly discern"?
- What attitudes did missionaries have towards Native Americans? Can
you identify differences among missionaries' attitudes?
In the first half of the 19th century, several denominations established
missions throughout the Northwest. Protestant missions were established
in 1834 and 1836 in the Oregon Territory. Jesuit missions were established
in Oregon in 1840. Catholics established missions at Fort Vancouver in
1838, and on Idaho's St. Joe River around 1842. Subject
Index headings such as Catholic, Catechists, church, nuns, Jesuit, Methodist, Presbyterian,
and priests provide narrower selections of materials such as this
1859 photograph of Jesuit Pierre-Jean de Smet with a delegation of chiefs
on a peace mission in Vancouver.
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![Skokomish missionary named Myron Eells poses at Skokomish Indian Reservation, Washington, 1905.](images/myronels2.jpg)
Skokomish missionary named Myron Eells |
![Puget Sound Salish woman : General Taylor's wife, ca. 1900.](images/womancross2.jpg)
Puget Sound Salish woman |
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Missionary work was supported by the U.S. government as
a means of assimilating, or "civilizing," Native Americans and
has been seen as something forced upon indigenous people. However, in her
article, "Christianity,
a Matter of Choice: The Historic Role of Indian Catechists in Oregon Territory
and British Columbia," Margaret Whitehead makes the point that
Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest "displayed . . . selectivity
when proffered white culture. They could and did deal intelligently and
profitably with the intrusive society." Her article focuses on the
free choice many Native Americans made to accept Christianity, while "Lawyer
of the Nez Perces" describes how in 1831, the Nez Perces and Flatheads
sent a delegation to St. Louis seeking information about Christianity.
Missionaries
were not always successful in converting Indians. "The
Spokane Indian Mission at Tshimakain, 1838-1848" and "Lawyer
of the Nez Perces" describe the problems of a group of Presbyterian
missionaries in the Northwest, culminating in the 1847 massacre of Marcus
Whitman, a medical doctor at the Waiilatpu Mission. The massacre ultimately
led to the Cayuse War, which set back missionary work in the region for
a decade. |
- What was the relationship between the fur trade and missionary work?
What interactions occurred between individuals of each group?
- What did missionaries hope to accomplish in the Pacific Northwest?
Did their goals change over time?
- What techniques and activities did they use to achieve their goals?
How successful were they?
- How did Native Americans respond to missionaries and to Christianity?
- According to their reports, what did Indian agents and superintendents
think of missionary work? What value did they see in it? What problems
did they see?
- What roles did missionaries play in establishing and enforcing government
policies towards Native Americans?
- How did the introduction of Christianity impact Native-American cultures
and the way history unfolded in the Pacific Northwest?
- What other missionary work was going on in North America during the
19th century, and how did it compare to the work in the Pacific Northwest?
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Photograph of Sahale Stick.
Page 100 of “Christianity,
a Matter of Choice” |
Conflict and Violence
Hot on the heels of the missionaries came wagonloads of people eager to
settle in Oregon Territory. The United States and Great Britain were both
determined to claim the Northwest and made rapid strides towards settlement.
President Tyler appointed an Indian sub-agent to Oregon Country in 1842. With
him, the sub-agent brought 100 settlers, and led the way for countless others
to cross the Oregon Trail. The following year, almost 1000 settlers entered
Oregon Territory.
Part of the success of the effort was due to agreements reached with Native
Americans that they wouldn't harm the immigrants. Nevertheless, the presence
of settlers in the Pacific Northwest resulted in conflict and violence that
only increased as ever more settlers, ambitious for land and gold, poured
into the region in the following decades.
![Haida in canoes watch the Discovery on the rocks, Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia, in engraving made 1792](images/discovship2.jpg)
Haida
in canoes watch the Discovery on the rocks |
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The Subject
Index heading, Indians of North America--First contact with Europeans,
provides articles such as "Captain
James Colnett and the Tsimshian Indians, 1787," that describe
some of the earliest conflicts. Materials found under the Subject
Index heading, Frontier and pioneer life, pertain to 19th century
conflicts. The article, "American
and British Treatment of the Indians in the Pacific Northwest," describes
and analyzes the atmosphere of violence and racial hatred that prevailed
in certain quarters:
"The exasperation of the southern Idaho communities, under continual
Indian harassment, became extreme. This was especially true in Owyhee.
A meeting of citizens offered rewards for scalps; one hundred dollars
for that of a buck, fifty dollars for that of a squaw and twenty-five
dollars for 'everything in the shape of an Indian under ten.' When fifty-five
Indians were reported killed in Humboldt, the local paper in Owyhee rejoiced
that these were made 'permanently friendly'..."
(Page 36, "American
and British Treatment of the Indians in the Pacific Northwest")
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- What were the causes of conflict between Native Americans and early explorers?
- What were the causes of conflict between Native Americans and settlers
in places such as Owyhee, Idaho?
- According to the author of "American and British Treatment of the Indians
in the Pacific Northwest," what were some of the causes of the violence of
this era?
- How did some people rationalize the extermination of native populations?
- How might conflict and violence have been avoided?
Major acts of war emerged from this background of tension and conflict. Subject
Index heading, Indians of North America--Wars, and a search on war and hostilities locate
items such as an 1856
letter by Joel Palmer, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Oregon
Territory, discussing the conflicts between settlers and Native Americans
that culminated in the Rogue River War. John
Cain, reporting from the Washington Territory, predicted the outbreak
of a major war following the killing of eight miners traveling through Yakima
territory. The article, "Lawyer
of the Nez Perces," includes a detailed account of the events leading
up to the Whitman massacre.
- According to Superintendent Palmer, why are normally peaceful Native
Americans in Oregon supporting warring Native Americans?
- What problems does Palmer identify in the strategy of "armed
parties?"
- According to Superintendent Cain, what caused the outbreak among the
Yakimas and Clickatats?
- What events at the Wai-i-lat-pu mission led up to the Whitman massacre?
- What were the feared and actual consequences of the massacre?
- What attempts were made to ease tension and avoid conflict? Who made
these efforts? Were they successful? Why or why not?
- Why do you think that single incidents of violence posed such a threat
to incite more violence?
- How do you think that news was conveyed in the region in the 19th
century?
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![Cayuse man known as Cutmouth John, Washington, ca.1865](images/scout2.jpg)
Cayuse
man known as Cutmouth John |
![Tlingit, Aleut, and Eskimo baskets, arrows, and woodcarving in house, District of Columbia, April 4, 1909](images/artifacts2.jpg)
Tlingit,
Aleut, and Eskimo baskets, arrows, and woodcarving in house |
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A newspaper reporter identified simply as correspondent "B" used
several letters of combatants to report on the fight with Native Americans
near the Pelouse River south of Spokane in eastern Washington.
"...Towards evening our ammunition began to give out, and our
men suffering so much from thirst and fatigue required all our attention
to keep them up. To move from one point to another, we had to crawl on
our hands and knees amid the howling of the Indians, the groans of the
dying, and the whistling of balls and arrows. We were kept in this position
until 8 o'clock p.m.; when as night came on, it became apparent that
on the morrow we must "go under," and that not one of us would
escape. ...Therefore it was determined to run the gauntlet, so that if
possible some might escape..."
(Pages 273-74, "No.
98: Copy of newspaper correspondent 'B'")
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"The Indian Problem": Euro-American Attitudes
In 1816, the American Colonization Society
was founded to help relocate free African Americans to a colony in Liberia,
Africa. For, while some felt that African Americans should be integrated
into Euro-American society, even some abolitionists doubted the transition
could be made.
"The Indian Problem" entailed a similar ambivalence. Francis
Haines defines "The Indian Problem" in her article, "Problems
of Indian Policy":
"The Indian Problem of the Pacific Northwest is an integral part
of a national problem inherited from the colonial period. From the landing
of the first colonists on the Atlantic Coast, the dominant white invaders
have debated over the handling of the primitive native people who occupied
the country... Some groups have worked to exterminate the Indian people,
while others have tried to assimilate them. Some say we should teach
them to be like white men; others want to keep the remnants of the tribes
as separate cultural entities. Much confusion has resulted from the clash
of these two fundamentally different schools of thought regarding the
Indian."
(Page 203, "Problems
of Indian Policy")
Other secondary as well as primary sources pertaining to “The
Indian Problem” can be found by searching on race
relations or by using Subject
Index headings, Indians of North America--Colonization, Indians
of North America--Cultural assimilation, and Indians of North America--Legal
status.
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![The color question. A letter written for the sixtieth annual meeting of the American Colonization Society, Washington, D. C., January 16, 1877.](images/color2.jpg) The
color question...1877.
From The African-American
Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909. |
Primary sources reveal contemporary attitudes and illustrate the ongoing
debate over "The Indian Problem." For example, a newspaper report
expresses many settlers' belief in the inevitability of extermination:
"'... the purposes of the red man's creation in the economy of nature
are well nigh accomplished, and no human hand can avert his early extermination
from the face of the North American continent. Silently but irresistibly
the purposes of Providence take their way through the ages...'"
(Page 32, "American
and British Treatment of the Indians in the Pacific Northwest")
In
his 1866
report, Dennis Cooley, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, expresses
an equally fatalistic, but less drastic view of the situation, while John
Smith reveals his own views in a report from the Warm Springs agency:
![Warm Springs young women, Oregon](images/3women2.jpg)
Warm
Springs young women, Oregon |
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" ... the large amount of iron which was used by former agents to
make handcuffs to iron prisoners with has been used by me in the manufacture
of plows and wagons. The guard-house likewise has fallen, and is in ruins.
The Bible and the plow are the great causes of all this. Compare the cost
that this agency has been to the cost of one month's extermination policy,
and no other argument need be produced in favor of the humane and Christian
policy of our President. I am confident that a like result may be obtained
with any tribe of Indians, by a kind and patient treatment. They should be
regarded and treated as children -- with firmness and kindness."
(Page 320, "No.
72: Annual report of Warm Springs agency")
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George P. Castille, the author of "Edwin
Eells, U. S. Indian Agent, 1871-1895," intended his article to provide
a portrait of an assimilationist.
- What opinions did Euro Americans have about what ought to happen to the
Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest?
- What concepts and factors entered into these positions?
- What does the language of some of these documents reveal about how Euro
Americans regarded and treated Native Americans?
- What positions would you expect missionaries, settlers, and Indian agents
to take? Are there variations of attitudes and opinions within each group?
- How did different opinions play out over time as Native American populations
were decimated and moved onto reservations?
Native-American Attitudes
Native Americans' attitudes and opinions are more difficult to determine
because they are generally recorded second-hand by agents, missionaries, and
other Euro Americans.
Some first-person statements are available in minutes from treaty councils
and other meetings with government officials. Minutes are included in items
found by searching on council as
well as in the article, "The
Indian Treaty of Point No Point." Minutes
were often recorded by a clerk who sat by an interpreter. As Native Americans
became more savvy about official
meetings, they demanded the right to chose their own interpreters and recorders.
In a council held in 1871 at the Warm Spring Reservation, Ta-se-nick of the
Wascoe tribe is recorded as saying: |
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![Yakama Indians at meeting in council hall, Toppenish, Washington, January 17, 1921.](images/council2.jpg)
Yakama
Indians at meeting in council hall |
The article, "Lawyer
of the Nez Perces" shows Nez Perce leaders,
Lawyer and Looking Glass, taking opposing views on the signing of an 1855 treaty,
with Looking Glass admonishing," 'My people, what have you done?
While I was gone, you have sold my country.' " Other materials describing
the trials of the Nez Perces, such as "The
Nez Perces in Exile" show
the tribe divided on how to co-exist with Euro Americans over the course of
three decades.
Some agents' reports, such as E.C. Chirouse’s "Annual
report of Tulalip agency," reflect Native-American attitudes, while
David Buerge's essay, "Chief
Seattle and Chief Joseph: From Indians to Icons," in the Special
Presentation, discusses the points of view of these two historical leaders.
- Is there evidence of what Native Americans thought were the best
ways to deal with the presence of Euro-American people and culture?
- What objections did Native Americans have to a reservation policy?
- What sorts of attitudes did Native Americans have towards Euro Americans? Were
they as varied as Euro-American attitudes towards Native Americans?
- Do you think that Native Americans' debate over what to do about Euro
Americans was as fierce as the debate over "The Indian Problem?" Why
or why not?
- Were Native Americans receptive to any aspects of Euro-American culture? If
so, which ones?
- Is there any reason to question the authenticity of statements recorded in
council minutes?
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![Duwamish and Suquamish man named Chief Seattle, Washington, 1864.](images/seattle2.jpg)
Duwamish
and Suquamish man named Chief Seattle |
Treaties
- Why were so many treaties made in the same year? What factors precipitated
this "campaign of treaty-making?"
- What events provided a precedent or basis for negotiating treaties?
- Why did some people object to the idea of negotiating treaties with Native
Americans?
- What did the treaties provide and guarantee Native Americans?
- What did Native Americans agree to by signing the treaties?
- What relationship do the treaties establish between Native Americans and the
United States government?
- How much control did the treaties give Native Americans over their own land
and lives? Who else was given this control?
- How do you think treaties were meant to solve "The Indian Problem?" Who
would have objected to this solution?
Various documents, including the reports of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs
and Indian Agents, indicate that problems persisted and complications arose
after the establishment of treaties and reservations. Search on report, treaty,
council, and reservation for pertinent materials.
- What problems do Indian agents complain of? To what do they attribute
these problems and what remedies do they suggest?
- How did Native Americans feel about the reservation policy?
- Did the use of treaties solve "The Indian Problem"? Why or why
not?
"The importance of this legislation underscores the extraordinary
degree to which the lives of Native Americans and even their identities
are defined by law and governmental decree. What is the legal definition
of a Native American? Which law governs their actions? What rights
do they have that are different from those of other Americans? The
treaties stand as fundamental, often defining documents for native
groups in the United States, as much or more than the Declaration
of Independence or the Constitution. . . While many citizens regard
the treaties as hindering anachronisms, most Native Americans do
not."
The Reservation System
![Quinault Indian Reservation, Washington, in drawing made ca. 1885](images/quinault2.jpg)
Quinault
Indian Reservation, Washington |
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The most obvious consequence of the treaties negotiated with Native Americans
was the creation of reservations. A careful reading of the treaties in
this collection indicates that reservations were areas that Native Americans
reserved for themselves out of the land they ceded to the United States
government. This collection provides a rare opportunity to understand what
life has been like on reservations of the Pacific Northwest since their
establishment in the second half of the 19th century.
The Subject
Index heading, Indian reservations, provides access to over
500 items, including legislation, scholarly articles, and reports by
Indian agents and other reservation staff. A search on reservation yields
similar items as well as photographs. |
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![Umatilla women in front of large tipi, Umatilla Reservation, Oregon](images/umatilla2.jpg)
Umatilla
women in front of large tipi |
- What did reservations look like? What kinds of buildings were there?
- What sorts of activities did Indians engage in on reservations? Did they continue
any traditional activities? What new activities did they take on?
- Did Native Americans go off reservations? If so, why?
- What do you think it would have been like to live on a reservation and why?
"Although a majority still derive their sustenance from hunting, fishing,
root-gathering, &c., it is gratifying to observe marked progress has
been made during the past year in the way of civilization, and that at least
a few
more have been induced to relinquish a roving life to try the cultivation
of the soil. Some eight new houses have been built by the Indians, toward
the
construction of which 16,000 feet of lumber, together with other needed materials,
were furnished by the agency. . . The fund appropriated for 'beneficial
objects,' amounting to but $750 per quarter, is barely sufficient to
supply the entirely helpless and needy with food and clothing . . "
(Page 88, "Report
of Flathead agency")
A less positive view of the reservation system was reported in the San Francisco
Daily Bulletin in 1862. The newspaper printed a speech by Qui-tal-i-can, a
Yakima, objecting to annuities distributed by the government at the Yakima
agency:
"The white men propose to bring all Indians to one land. Not good.
Like driving horses into a corral. Suppose Indians went to Boston and told
all the
Bostons to go to one place. Would it be well? I am a poor man, but I will
not say to the Agent, I am a dog. The Great Spirit will take care of us.
He will
always cause the grass to grow and the water to run. I am somewhat ashamed
to be here today. My land is not to be sold for a few blankets and a few
yards of cloth... ."
(Page 39, "American
and British Treatment of the Indians in the Pacific Northwest")
- Why didn't Native Americans such as Qui-tal-i-can like annuities?
- Why did some agents object to the use of annuities?
- How were reservations managed? Who created and enforced laws and policies?
- What were agents' goals and expectations of the Native Americans on their
reservations?
- Why might Native Americans and agents feel differently about the "progress"
made on reservations?
- What legislation was created that affected reservation life and policy? What
were the effects of such legislation?
- How did reservations change over time?
Indian Schools
Treaties made in the Pacific Northwest stipulated that the
U.S. government would provide education to Native Americans living on reservations.
Though it took several years, day schools and boarding schools were eventually
established on reservations. In addition, boarding schools such as the Carlisle
school were established off reservations. Students were required to live
at boarding schools most of the year, thereby removing them from the influence
of their families and traditional cultures.
Reports to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs reflect the reformist attitudes
of Indian school teachers, administrators, and staff. Along with photographs,
they also provide a detailed picture of the practices and effects of Americanization
upon young Native Americans: |
|
![Spokane Indian School baseball team, Fort Spokane, Washington, ca. 1903.](images/baseball2.jpg)
Spokane
Indian School baseball team |
![Fort Spokane students, Washington](images/class2.jpg)
Fort
Spokane students, Washington |
|
"Since my last annual report I have visited nearly all the reservations
on this coast and found many of the scholars that had gone out from this
school now in the employ of the Government, filling various positions of
trust at their several agencies, and others engaged in the different pursuits
of life, where they were exerting a good and healthful influence among their
people, proving most conclusively that the money expended by the Government
is not wasted, but is bringing forth fruit that will ripen into a rich harvest
of peace, prosperity, and happiness to these poor, unfortunate, and misguided
children of the forest. The only way to save the fragment of this once numerous
and powerful race of people is for the good work recently inaugurated by
the Government to go on and educate and train their children in the better
ways of advanced civilization."
(Page 272-273, "Reports
of Superintendents of Indian Schools: Report of school at Chemawa, Oregon")
|
![Chemawa Indian School cooking class, Salem, Oregon](images/cooking2.jpg)
Chemawa
Indian School cooking class |
Government schools generally offered a curriculum of academic and industrial
training. On many reservations, missionaries established schools that combined
academic and religious education. In some cases, the government supported
missionary schools in fulfillment of its treaty obligation to provide education. Search on Indian
school, missionary school, teacher, student, boy,
and girl for texts and images.
- What knowledge and skills were young Native Americans encouraged to acquire
at Indian schools and why?
- Why would Indian school officials think it important that Native Americans
have industrial training?
- What are the similarities and differences between government schools and
missionary schools? Was the curriculum different? The atmosphere?
- Do the photographs of the collection emphasize certain aspects of Indian
education? What don't the photographs show? Why do you think that is?
![Sitka Training School, Sitka, Alaska, ca. 1888](images/sitka2.jpg)
Sitka
Training School, Sitka, Alaska |
|
"Captain Glass . . . caused the houses to be numbered, and an accurate
census taken of the inmates--adults and children. He then caused a label
to be made of tin for each child, which was tied around the neck of the
child, with his or her number and the number of the house on it, so that
if a child was found on the street during school hours the Indian policeman
was under orders to take the numbers on the labels and report them, or
the teacher each day would report that such numbers from such houses were
absent that day. The following morning the head Indian of the house to
which the absentee belonged was summoned to appear and answer for the absence
of the child. If the child was willfully absent, the head man was fined
or imprisoned. A few cases of fines were sufficient. As soon as they found
the captain in earnest, the children were all in school. . . .”
(Page 257, "Report
of Sitka School") |
![Tlingit mission students pose with Sheldon Jackson on porch of Sheldon Jackson Institute, Sitka, Alaska, 1887](images/sitkakids2.jpg)
Tlingit
mission students pose with Sheldon Jackson on porch of Sheldon Jackson Institute |
- Why weren't Native-American youth permitted to speak their own languages?
- Were the measures taken to insure school attendance by Captain Glass appropriate?
Why or why not?
- How do you suppose Native American communities regarded such policies
that restricted language and enforced attendance?
- What can you infer from these agents' reports about attitudes they held
regarding Native American students?
"Part
5: Negatives and Positives," of Marr's
essay includes reminiscences of Native-American students and discusses
the overall impact of Indian schools. The Collection
Connection for Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy,
1921-1929, discusses the movement to Americanize immigrants in the early
twentieth century. Were the efforts to assimilate Native Americans different
from efforts to assimilate other groups of people? If so, how and why? |