Little Wolf and President Grant bhiggs Wed, 05/30/2012 - 18:24
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photomechanical print, Little Wolf, c1905, LOC
Question

Why did Little Wolf, a Cheyenne leader, go to Washington in 1873?

Answer

In November 1873, Little Wolf was among a delegation of Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho leaders who traveled to Washington to meet with President Grant. At issue for both sides was the continued tenure of Cheyenne and Arapaho communities on their ancestral territory in the northern Plains.

In May 1868, the Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho signed a treaty with the United States government. (The treaty was ratified in July and proclaimed in August.) In that treaty the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to accept "for their permanent home" land amid the Southern Arapaho or the Brule band of the Lakota nation. The Cheyenne and Arapaho nevertheless retained the right to hunt over their ancestral homelands "while game shall be found in sufficient quantities to justify the chase." The United States government, for its part, agreed to supply the communities with teachers, farmers, carpenters, clothing, and small annuities. Any Cheyenne or Arapaho "head of a family"—an adult, married man by Euro-American standards of the day—would receive 320 acres of land as well as seeds and agricultural supplies if he promised to become a farmer. The treaty also included language giving the United States government jurisdiction over all crimes committed by or toward Indian people. (1)

Despite the treaty, most Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho did not want to become farmers and were content to live life as they always had.

Despite the treaty, most Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho did not want to become farmers and were content to live life as they always had. Neither did the Southern Arapaho or Lakota bands abandon their traditional practices and accede to reservation life, much less welcome the Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho into their midst. The 1868 treaty protected the Northern communities in their right to continue hunting—but as white settlers pushed into the Northern Plains, conflict escalated between those emigrants and the Native communities who lived there. Armed conflict ensued, but while the U.S. military poured men and resources into the region, the nations of the Northern Plains were able defenders of their territory.

It was in this context that the leaders of the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho journeyed to Washington in 1873. At first, the Secretary of the Interior tried to negotiate with the delegation, but the Washington Evening Star reported that the Cheyenne and Arapaho leaders "said they had come a long way to see the Great Father and to talk with him about these things and they did not propose to talk much with the Great Father's subordinate." (2) On meeting Grant himself, members of the delegation conceded that it seemed that white settlers would continue to encroach on their territory, but did not concede that the solution was for them to relocate. On returning to the Northern Plains the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho continued to actively resist white encroachment on their land.

Despite the premise of a recent novel about this meeting between Grant and the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho, there is no evidence that Little Wolf asked the president for one thousand white women when they met. This action would also make little sense in the context of life on the Northern Plains, and the Cheyenne's continued claim to their territory and traditional ways of life.

For more information

Eastman, Charles Alexander. Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains. Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1919.

Hoig, Stan. The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyenne. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.

Simon, John Y., ed. The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. Vol. 24: 1873. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 2000.

Bibliography

1 "Treaty with the Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho, 1868," in Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, ed. Charles J. Kappler, vol. 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904).

2 "Indians at the White House," Washington Evening Star. November 14, 1878, front page.

Omaha Indian Music

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Photo, Dancers and Musicians at the Library of Congress..., 1985
Annotation

Part of the American Memory project at the Library of Congress, this site features audio recordings of more than 350 songs and speeches from the Omaha Indian tribe in the 1890s and 1980s. It offers 44 wax cylinder recordings collected between 1895 and 1897, 323 speeches and songs from the 1983 Omaha Harvest Celebration Powwow, and 25 songs and speeches from the 1985 Hethu'shka Society concert at the Library of Congress.

More than 80 segments from interviews with members of the Omaha tribe conducted in 1983 and 1999 help to contextualize the music and spoken-word recordings, and more than 350 photographs from the 1983 powwow and 1985 concert illustrate Omaha Indian culture.

Each item is accompanied by brief (100–250 words) descriptions that give the names of speakers or performers, the date of the performance, and the original recording format. The 1983 powwow field notes are available in transcript and image forms (17 pages). Excerpts from Dorothy Sara Lee and Maria La Vigna, eds., Omaha Indian Music: Historical Recordings from the Fletcher/LaFlesche Collection (Washington, DC, Library of Congress, 1985) provide further context to the recordings.

The site also provides a stylized map of the Omaha Indian reservation, two selected bibliographies listing over 150 primary sources and scholarly works; and four related essays from Folklife Center News, 1981 to 1985. This site is searchable by keyword and browsable by medium and event. The Powwow audio is also available in sequence for those wishing to hear the entire performance. The site is easily navigable and ideal for those interested in Great Plains American Indian history and culture.

NativeWeb: Resources for Indigneous Cultures Around the World

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Logo, NativeWeb
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A project established in 1994 by a group of historians, independent scholars, and activists "to provide a cyber-place for Earth's indigenous peoples." Offers a gateway to more than 3,400 historical and contemporary resources relating to approximately 250 separate nations primarily in the Americas—but also including groups in Africa, Aotearoa-New Zealand, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Russia—to emphasize "indigenous literature and art, legal and economic issues, land claims, and new ventures in self-determination."

Includes 81 "history" links; bibliographies in 42 categories linking to approximately 1,000 sites with information on books, videos, and music; more than 350 links relevant to legal issues, including government documents; 41 "hosted pages" for a variety of organizations; a news digest; and a section devoted to Native American technology and art.

Resources are arranged according to subject, region, and nation, and the entire site is searchable. "Our purpose is not to 'preserve,' in museum fashion, some vestige of the past, but to foster communication among peoples engaged in the present and looking toward a sustainable future for those yet unborn." The site increases by approximately 10–15 links each week, providing an invaluable resource for those studying the history, culture, practices, and present-day issues confronting indigenous peoples of the world.

National Museum of the American Indian: Beauty Surrounds Us

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Shawnee bandolier bag, c. 1830
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This exhibit features more than 65 objects from Native American cultures in North and South America. Beautifully displayed in 10 showcases, these objects address many aspects of American Indian life, such as identity, recreation, communication, dress, adornment, music, and dance. All images can be zoomed for detailed viewing and are accompanied by a brief description, information about Native cultures, and other facts. Some images are accompanied by related photographs. The "Containing Culture" case, for example, includes a Paviotso (Northern Paiute) carrying basket, c. 1900, make from willow shoots and leather and used by women to carry seed-foods or personal possessions on their backs. An accompanying undated photograph shows Kaibab Paiute women in Arizona using the baskets. Each case also includes a map locating the objects throughout the Americas, as well as an interactive activity that allows users to manipulate the objects onscreen—by placing instruments in "wind," "percussion," or "string" categories, for example.

Kate and Sue McBeth, Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce

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Image, Hal-hal-tlos-tsot or "Lawyer," Gustav Sohon, 1855, Kate and Sue McBeth
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Presenting full-text letters and diaries, this website focuses on the lives and careers of Kate and Sue McBeth, missionaries and teachers among the Nez Perce Indians during the last quarter of the 19th century. Government documents and images pertaining to the tribe's history accompany these materials. Sue McBeth established a successful theological seminary for Nez Perce men, collected and organized a Nez Perce/English dictionary, and wrote journal articles. Kate McBeth provided literacy education for Nez Perce women, taught Euro-American domestic skills, and directed a Sabbath school and mission society.

Divided into five sections, materials include more than 150 letters, a diary, a journal, five treaties, more than 70 commission and agency reports and legislative actions, excerpts from a history of the Nez Perce, and 19 biographies. Six maps and approximately 100 images, including 13 illustrations depicting the 1855 Walla Walla Treaty negotiations, are also available.

Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains

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Image for Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains
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These 685 items represent 27 current and former American Indian tribes of the Northern Great Plains and cover a period from 1870 to 1954. Most of the materials are photographs with identifying text. The collection also includes stereographs, ledger drawings, and other sketches.

Users can view three unique collections. The Barstow Ledger Drawing Collection offers 66 Crow and Gros Ventre drawings from the late 19th century. A portfolio entitled Blackfeet Indian Tipis, Design and Legend includes 26 works and an introductory essay. Another collection offers treaties with the Assiniboine, Blackfeet, and North Piegan tribes from 1874 and 1875.

Searching is available by subject, date, location, name, tribe, collection, and artist or photographer. This valuable site documents folkways, material culture, and the history of American Indians from the Northern Great Plains region.

Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties

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Image, Indians Traveling, Seth Eastman, 1847, Indian Affairs.
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Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties is the digitized version of Indian Affairs, a highly regarded, seven-volume compendium of treaties, laws, and executive orders relating to U.S.-Indian affairs. Charles J. Kappler originally compiled the volume in 1904 and updated afterward through 1970.

Volume II presents treaties signed between 1778 and 1882. Volumes I and III-VII cover laws, executive and departmental orders, and important court decisions involving Native Americans from 1871 to 1970. Some volumes also provide tribal fund information. This version includes the editor's margin notations and detailed index entries, and allows searches across volumes. It provides a comprehensive resource for legal documents on U.S. relations with Native Americans.

Images of Native Americans Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/14/2008 - 11:31
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Image for Images of Native Americans
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This collection of materials (more than 80 items) comes from rare books, pamphlets, journals, pulp magazines, newspapers, and original photographs. The illustrations reflect European interpretations of Native Americans, images of popular culture, literary and political observations, and artistic representations. The three main sections are "Portrayals of Native Americans," "The Nine Millionth Volume," and a timeline.

"Portrayals" is divided into four online galleries: Color Plate Books, Foreign Views, Mass Market Appeal, and Early Ethnography. The galleries incorporate the renowned works of George Catlin and Edward S. Curtis, and the lesser-known works of early 19th-century Russian artist-explorer Louis Choris. "Mass market" features 32 illustrations, including colorful images of western novel covers and portraits of southwestern Indians. "Early ethnography" contains a newspaper article about a Native American family, five photographs, and 15 illustrations of Indians at play and at war. "The Nine Millionth Volume" is devoted to James Otto Lewis's historic volume, The Aboriginal Port Folio, a series of hand-colored lithographic portraits of American Indian chiefs.

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/25/2008 - 22:21
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northwest indians
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These 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text focus on the lives of American Indians in the Northwest Coast and Plateau regions of the Pacific Northwest. Materials illustrate housing, clothing, crafts, transportation, education, employment, and other aspects of everyday life among American Indians in this region. Most of the photographs were taken before 1920.

Texts include more than 3,800 pages from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior from 1851 through 1908; 89 Pacific Northwest Quarterly articles from 1906—1998; and 23 titles in the University of Washington Publications in Anthropology series. The site also offers 14 maps and 10 lengthy essays authored by anthropologists on specific tribal groups and cross-cultural topics.

History of Presidential Elections Site

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Logo, HistoryCentral.com, United States Presidential Elections
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Provides statistics on all U.S. presidential elections. For each election year, the site presents graphs showing popular and electoral votes, maps of states won by each candidate, vote count and voter turnout statistics, and a sketchy essay of approximately 100 words in length on campaign issues. Offers more extensive information on the 2000 election: official certified results; polling data by five organizations from August through October 2000; biographical statements of 300-600 words each on candidates George W. Bush,Al Gore, and Ralph Nader (the Bush bio, almost twice the length of the others, reads as if it was written by his campaign organization); a chronology of events following the election until Gore's concession; and the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court decision, concurrence by Chief Justice Rehnquist, dissents by Justices Breyer, Souter, and Stevens, and oral arguments. Also includes an essay of 900 words on close and disputed elections, with links to "quick facts" about the candidates involved; an essay of 600 words about the reasons that the electoral college was created, with a link to Federalist Paper No. 68 by Alexander Hamilton, which offers a rationale for the institution; and a 15-minute multimedia history of the Supreme Court. MultiEducators of New Rochelle, NY produces multimedia software on historical subjects; graphs and texts in this site have been taken from their American History CD-Rom. A useful source for statistics on presidential elections, but marred by intrusive flashing ads.