Western Settlers Destroy Native Americans

525 Words3 Pages
Western settlers destroyed traditional Native American ways of life by moving into their traditional homeland. As western settlers moved on to the land that was first owned by native Americans, the Natives were forced to move into reservations. Reservations were fenced in and one could not walk freely outside the borders. The Homestead Act of 1862 stated that160 acres of land was given to any settler who was an American citizen or who had applied for citizenship, who was committed to farming the land for six months of the year, and had to build a dwelling and raise crops. This land that the government was giving away was traditional homeland to the Native Americans. The Native Americans have no lost 2/3 of the land they originally owned. To top it off, Americans were now turning grass lands into railroads along the western lands. Western settlers killed buffalo, which destroyed traditional Native American way of life. The Native Americans lived a way that they were self-sufficient. They depended on buffalo for food and tools. When hunting buffalo the Native Americans used every piece of the animal for items to help them survive. Bones were craved into spoons and forks; fur was used to keep warm as well as meat was food to eat and hides made teepees. Soon the Native Americans began participating in the fur trade across the seas trading fur for other substances. When western settlers hunted buffalo killing them off, native life started to fail. Native American did not know how to survive. The whites had destroyed the living way if Natives by killing off the buffalo. Native Americans were forced to apply the American culture when western settlers had moved on to their land. Children from Native families were sent to charter schools, where they could only speak English. The federal government prevented the Indian tradition of the Ghost Dance because they fear

More about Western Settlers Destroy Native Americans

Open Document