Polarized Tribes : Colorado, Wyoming And Montana

1. Utah is both a product of the times in which it emerged but also a unique entity that worked to shape its own future. Robbins and Malone both describe how the west, and by a large extent Utah is a part of the great narrative of the American West and sometimes differing from it entirely. By exploring the different facets and predominant activities of 1850's and beyond we can find clues as to the origins and ultimate fate of the region . By exploring Western American capitalism, various functions of manifest destiny, and how settlers adhered to the frontier pioneer spirit we can learn the overall narrative in which the region participates.

There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough

Saskatchewan was focused upon in this essay for two reasons. The first being that the author had lived in that province for the majority of time they have been in Canada and so is more familiar with the various customs and cultures that exist in the place. The second reason is that the natives have lived on this land for tens of thousands of years, hence an incredible amount of diversity exists among the cultures here . The two cultures focused upon in this essay are the Cree and the Lakota.

The Lakota, an Indian group of the Great Plains, established their community in the Black Hills in the late eighteenth century (9). This group is an example of an Indian community that got severely oppressed through imperialistic American actions and policy, as the Americans failed to recognize the Lakota’s sovereignty and ownership of the Black Hills. Jeffrey Ostler, author of The Lakotas and the Black Hills: The Struggle for Sacred Ground, shows that the Lakota exemplified the trends and subsequent challenges that Indians faced in America. These challenges included the plurality of groups, a shared colonial experience, dynamic change, external structural forces, and historical agency.

Laramie, Wyoming is known as a mostly conservative, republican party majority, which is why there were no hate crime laws that had to deal with sexual orientation or gender identity. Republicans typically were Christians meaning they were against homosexuality and believed it was very wrong. The Laramie officials did not pass any law for about ten years, which showed the Laramie community that their own government did not approve of homosexuals. The government in Laramie is a major influence on a citizen’s political opinion and how they feel on certain topics like homosexuality. If the government does not show approval, how will the citizens of Laramie gain a major acceptance towards homosexuals? Even the governor of Wyoming did not

The northern tribes used bones and deer antlers to make knives, scrapers, awls, fishing tools, whistles, and pendants. The first tribes denpended on agriculture were those that lived on the Atlantic Costal Plain. They learned how to make pottery and cloth. The cloth was woven with thread made from soft layers of splint baskets. They made musical instruments like pipers, rattles, drums, nd they were played during ruitals and ceremonies dances. They built two types of houses, long houses, and wigwams. The first type was formed by bending poles into a cone or dome shape and by tying the poles together with vines. The frame was covered with woven mats, bark, or hide . These people grew corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco.

“The Navajo reservation begins over there”. He pointed to the east. “The Pueblo boundaries are over there”. He looked below us to the south, where the narrow trail seemed to come from. “The Texans have their ranches over there, starting with that valley, the Concho Valley. The Mexicans run some cattle over there too” (Silko 765).

The Utes are a Colorado tribe whose land was gradually overrun by mineral and gold miners. Chief Ouray signed a treaty in 1863 allowing settlers to mine Ute land and relinquishing all mineral rights. He signed another treaty in 1868 that allotted 16 million acres of forests and meadows in the Rockies as a personal reservation that prohibited white trespass. When disputes arose, Nathan Meeker attempted to assimilate the Utes into Euro-American culture, but William Vickers opposed the idea and started "The Utes Must Go!" campaign in 1879. Vickers called on the US cavalry to prevent an uprising by the Utes. The Utes responded by killing all the white men at the White River Indian agency. In 1881, as a result of outrage over the White River Massacre,

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe currently fights to save its only water source from natural gas and oil contamination. This troubling current event has a somewhat forgotten historical analogue where very similar themes presented themselves. The Kinzua Dam Controversy, which took place in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, resulted in the displacement of over 600 Seneca Indian families and the acquisition of a large tract of traditional Seneca Land for dam building. Additionally, the acquisition of Seneca land represented a breach of “The Treaty with the Six Nations of 1794,” which explicated prevented such action by the US Government. The dam and its construction, which primarily benefitted Pittsburg, inspired a heated discourse concerning the ethics of native relocation.

A Hunkpapa Lakota chief named Sitting Bull and the history of the Lakota nationhood was the chosen subject of Gary C. Anderson to write a biography on. Although most of the history about Sitting Bull took place back in the eighteen hundreds, Anderson did not come out with his book tell around 1995. Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers published the book in 1996. The book follows the history of Sitting Bull and the native Indians fight with the "white man" over land.

            Western, Sam. Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River: Wyoming’s Search for Its Soul.

The Oka Crisis. Today, the Dakota Sioux tribe are fighting for their rights to their land when the city next to them decided they did not want a giant pipeline to reside in their neighbourhood. The Dakota Sioux, who inherited bravery in their genes stood up for their land which struck attention from all over the world. Aboriginal people have been fighting for their land for years: 27 years ago, the Mohawk people of Ottawa’s Kahnawake and Kanesatake did just that and no matter what it took, they stood strong and fearless.

I chose to research the Oneida Nation Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin Elderly Heath Care. Here is a little background on the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. They are located in Brown and Outagamie Counties. They are descendants of an indigenous Iroquoian-speaking nation that arose in the present-day central-western New York. The Oneida Tribe is a sovereign government. Oneida means “long awaited” and they spoke Oneida. Lastly, they have three clans: Turtle, Bear, and Wolf Clan. The Turtle Clan represents the shifting of the earth and the cycles of the moon. The people of this clan represent the well of information and the keepers of the land. The Bear Clan known as Medicine people, the healers. There are stories passed down about how the Bear

In the early years, George Washington believed that the best way to solve the “Indian Problem” was to simply “civilize” the Native Americans. The Goal was to convert them to Christianity, learn to speak and read English and adopt European-style economic practices like Individual ownership of land and other property. Some of the Tribes embraced these customs and become known as the “Five Civilized Tribes”. (www.history.com)

In the past, the tribals enjoyed considerable freedom in the use of natural resources. They were virtually lords of water, forest and land (Jaal, Jungle and Zameen). They are peace loving people. Their attachment to the land traditionally occupied either for habitation or cultivation is unmatched. They have gallantly resisted invasions on their territory. With the introduction of State management of the forests, particularly since the close of the 19th century, the relationship between the tribals and the forests has undergone considerable change. The first national policy on forest was formulated in 1894. It introduced State control over forests in public interest which resulted in the curtailment of rights and privileges of the tribals over the forest resources. The primitive Tribal-Culture is naturalistic-culture. In this culture there is a symbiotic relationship with nature which is based on the ideal of nutrition, not on exploitation. The relation between nature and naturalistic tribal community is of “Mother and Infant”. The tribal ideology is to derive minimum from nature, for the fulfillment of their basic necessities of life. The child has the natural right on mother. So the tribal community believes that they have the natural right on- water, forest and land- which are the integral parts