Essay On Native American Government

The laws and practices that the government created for Native Americans were not fair. The government created treaties for the Native Americans stating where they could, or could not live. The government created these treaties so that the white citizens could have the new land that they wanted. The first treaty the Native Americans had to sign was the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867. This treaty started that the Native Americans had to live in what is now the state of Oklahoma. The second treaty the Native Americans signed was the Fort Laramie Treaty. This was the treaty that made the Native Americans have to live on reservations so that Americans settlers could have land in the west. These reservations were a small plot of land for the large number of Native Americans in a specific tribe. In return for living on reservations the Native Americans were told they would receive money and provisions. The government also passed the Dawes Severalty

The government tried to send the Native Americans to boarding school. Attending boarding school was supposed to convert Native Americans to the way of life that the white society lived. The government wanted Native Americans to stop associating themselves with tribes and start thinking of themselves as normal white citizens. Sending Native Americans to boarding school was supposed to “kill the Indian, and save the man” (475). These boarding schools compare to the ones that slaves were sent to once they were emancipated. The idea of boarding schools backfired because Native Americans would form bounds with other Native Americans. The government also tried to split up Native American’s reservations. This was supposed to end the association of tribes and separate the groups of Native Americans. The government was trying to change the culture of Native Americans and make them convert to the white society ways of