16. The lack of unity and its impact on Native American civil rights

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  • Created by: Alasdair
  • Created on: 06-06-17 20:37
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  • 16. The lack of unity and its impact on Native American civil rights
    • Rivalries between tribes meant NAs were  unable to present united front against government
      • Not only did many of tribes fight gov during Plains Wars but also fought against each other
      • Tribes often willing to provide US forces with guides who knew land and aid gov in pursuit of other tribes
      • Rivalry cont. on reservations and added to their difficulty in stopping theft of their lands
        • Many tribal leaders (knowing could not best US gov forces) made treaties with gov
    • Resistance from Five Civilised Tribes
      • Source of some resistance to amendment to Dawes Act
      • Ended in failure
      • First major attempt to resist assimilation
    • Lack of unity continued continued to be a problem in early decades of 20th Century
      • Attempts of resistance did occur, such as Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock case
      • Concerted action was rare
      • Society of American Indians
        • Founded 1911
        • Established first NA pressure group
        • Lack of funds and mass support limited its impact
        • Impact also partly limited because NAs were spread out across whole country but also they had no agreed aim for future
    • 1920s and 1930s
      • Witnessed some gains for NAs
        • Took place because of change in attitude among some American people rather than result of NA actions
      • Group of reformers, social scientists and anthropologists who wanted to preserve NA culture had emerged
        • Their interest and work resulted in Meriam Report (1928)
          • Report condemned allotment policy
          • Outlined terrible conditions in which NAs lived
          • Concluded gov should be concerned with 'social and economic advancement of the Indians so that they may be absorbed into the prevailing civilization at least in accordance with a minimum standard of health and decency'
          • Report encouraged change, leading to Rhoads reforms of 1929 and reforms of 1930s during New Deal
            • Rhoads reforms
              • Reforms closed off-reservation boarding schools, to which NA children had been sent
              • Schools were replaced by  better schools on reservations
              • These were also to be improvements in medical facilities

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