Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Case Studies
Part One:
U.S. Colonization
Southeast Connecticut Indian Tribes in 1636
September 1636 -The English burn a Pequot village along the Pequot River in
retaliation for the murder of an Englishman and earlier conflicts, initiating
hostilities that lead to the Pequot War.
Spring 1637-The colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts prepare for an
offensive against the Pequot Tribe.
May 26, 1637 -The combined forces of the English, Narragansett and Mohegan
attack the Pequot fort at Mystic, killing nearly all but a few of the inhabitants -
about 600 Pequots.
Sept. 1638-The Pequot War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Hartford.
Surviving Pequots are forbidden to return to their villages or to use the tribal
name. The Tribe is divided between the Native allies of the English -- the
Mohegan and the Narragansett -- or placed into slavery among English colonists
Connecticut Tribal Map 1637
1851 Fort
Laramie Treaty
1868 for
learning Treaty
Manifest
Destiny
Motives and
misunderstandi
ngs
1792 Captain George Vancouver sails into
Puget Sound, Anchors near present day
•1854: Medicine
Creek Treaty
• 1865: Tacoma
settled
Nisqually & Fort Lewis
1792 - George Vancouver sent Lt. Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey to
survey the Southern Sound
1818 - Joint Occupancy Treaty gives U.S. and Great Britain rights to
live on and use the land.
The “Indian Treaty Act” of 1850- allowed for a few select men to
attempt to reach agreements with the native people in the west.
Treaty of Medicine Creek 1854- The treaty affected the people of
Nisqually, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Squawskin, S'Homamish, Stehchass,
T'Peeksin, Squi-aitl, and Sa-heh-wamish tribes.
1855 - Puget Sound Indian War fought over land and fishing rights.
Leschi Tried and Hung February 19, 1858- Leschi a key figure in the
“Indian Wars”
Nevada Test Site
Area inhabited by
the Shoshone for
thousands of years
prior to
European/American
contact (1826)
Bidwell trail in N.
Nevada (1841)
Treaty of Ruby Valley
(1863)
“Gradual
encroachment” (late
19th century- early
20th century)
Nez Perce Tribe
1855 Treaty
1863 cession
1877 gold on
reservation
lands
Hanford Nuclear Site
Since time immemorial Native Americans lived on the land now
named the Hanford Site
First contact with Euro-Americans began the late 18th century
Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06
Fort Nez Perce established in 1817-18 (Later it was changed to Fort
Walla Walla in 1836)
First settlers were missionaries, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in
1836
Annexation of the Oregon Territory in 1848
Donation Land Act of 1850
Treaty of 1855-ratified by Congress in 1859
Further pressure to undermine Tribal sovereignty and land holdings:
1885 Slater Allotment Act, 1887 Dawes Allotment Act, 1891 Leasing
Act, 1906 Burke Act, 1902-16 Heirship Acts, 1934 Indian
Reorganization Act, 1954 Termination Bill
Lands taken were gifted to settlers-1870 townships of Hanford and
White Bluffs
Spokane, WA
Spokane Tribe
Indian Wars and Col.
Wright
1857 Coeur d’Alene War
1858 defeat of Col.
Steptoe
1858 Battle of Four Lakes
1858 Battle of Spokane
Plains
Spokane not “settled”
until 1870s
1887: Spokane Indians
move to reservation
Aleutian Islands
1867: The United States purchased the
territory of Alaska from the Russian
Empire.
1897: Gold rush causes a dramatic
increase in Alaskan settlers
1913: Aleutian Islands Reservation
created to protect ‘animal resources’
1959: Alaska became a state
Discussion
Part Two Militarization
Resource Exploitation
Urbanization
Western Pequot Reservation 1666-1983
Resource extraction
Gold
Timber
Fish
Monitoring resource
removal on Nez Perce
lands
Resistance to
closure
Fear of
encroachment-
Spokane, WA and Fairchild
AFB
1834: Indian Intercourse Act
1850: Oregon Donation Land Claim Act
1855: Isaac Stevens declares Oregon Country
open to white settlement
Indian Treaty
1857: Coeur d’Alene War
1858: Battle of Four Lakes and Battle of
Spokane Plains
1863: Washington achieves statehood
1887: Spokane tribe moves to reservation
1942: Fairchild AFB established-
Hanford Nuclear Site
•1977 Department of Energy (USDOE) takes
over the Hanford Site
•Late 1970s news papers and employees
increasingly critical of operations secrecy
•1986 Hanford Education Action League
(HEAL) and Spokane Physicians for Social
Responsibility file FOIA request
•1 month later, USDOE releases 19,000 pages
on past radiation
•States of Washington and Oregon get
involved-sign Tri-party agreement to clean-up
Hanford Site
•January 9th 2000 President Clinton signs
order under the 1906 Antiquities Act, creating
the Hanford Reach National Monument-
195,000 acres of endangered environment
and last 51 mile stretch of free flowing
Columbia River
•Clean-up continues over-budget and later
Hanford Nuclear Site
Land confiscated and annexed from Native
Americans
Land forcibly bought and turned into the most toxic
place in the Western Hemisphere
Resistance mounts as information is revealed-fight
is taken into the courts to hold the Federal
government accountable
Today the Government attempts to consolidate
waste and restart production of nuclear
weapons-
Aleutian Islands
1971: Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act
1980: Alaska Maritime Wildlife
Refuge established
1996: Greenpeace study
evaluating radioactive
pollution on Amchitka Island
1997: Alaska Community
Action on Toxics (ACAT)
founded
2004: Major oil spill off the
coast of Unalaska-
Discussion
Fin.
North America Summary
Los Alamos, New Mexico
1175 – Earliest record of Native American activity in
area
1598 – Spanish expedition led by Juan de Oñate reaches
Los Alamos. Expedition marked first western arrival in
Los Alamos.
1862 – U.S. passes Homestead Act. Would bring many
Hispanic homesteaders to region
1920 – Los Alamos Ranch School established
1942 – Site selected for Manhattan Project. Land
taken over by government.
1943 – Construction on lab begins
1945 – First successful nuclear tests. Bombs dropped
on Japan.
2004 - Congress establishes $10 million Parajito Plateau
Homesteaders Compensation Fund.
Port of Tacoma
1833: the Hudson Bay Company builds a trading post near Nisqually
River allowing for grater trade in the region.
1854: the Medicine Creek Treaty is signed guaranteeing rights to
fishing and education.
1865: Tacoma is settled. There’s still plenty of lumber to be had and
water for transport nearby.
1887: the Dawes Act called for the allotment of tribal land to individual
or private ownership within the tribe.
1893: land that was not deemed beyond native needs was re-allotted
and sold.
1936: the Puyallup Tribal Council is established under the 1934 Indian
Reorganization Act.
1988: the Puyallup tribe makes a deal with the federal and state
government, Union Pacific Railroad, Port of Tacoma, city of Tacoma,
and others totaling $162 million for the tribe.
2007: the Puyallup are working with the Port of Tacoma and SSA
Marine to build and run a port terminal on Puyallup land. This is not
only a new source of jobs for the Puyallup, but it will also diversify
tribal income.