Life on an Indian Reservation in the Late 1800s

Life would’ve been tough as many Indians were forced out of their lands. Federal laws mandated that particular Indian tribes be restricted to certain regions to proceed with their cultural practices. These policies not only destroyed the livelihoods of natives but also introduced moral concerns that deprived people of their ancestral lands (ushistory.org, 2019). More so, nomadic communities lost their means of subsistence by being restricted to a defined region. Farmers had to relocate to lands unsuitable for farming, with no skill to implement the agricultural irrigation systems introduced by the Europeans.

In the 1800s, Indian land reservations were widespread throughout the USA, developing random divisions across tribal territories. With the discovery of gold in some regions, the Europeans reduced the reservation regions, violating the agreements between the American government and the Indian people (ushistory.org, 2019). Due to these violations without disciplinary measures, men and women, along with their children, faced brutal murders by the US Army at the Wounded Knee Massacre. Today, the most impoverished state in America is Pine Ridge, following the extraction of resources.

Living on a reservation would be similar to living as a poor man in a land with no resources and constant fear. In the 19^th century, fighting and shooting were frequent in the reserved areas. In addition, they lost their ancestral language and cultural practices because of the division of tribes, loss of their ancestral land, and lack of interaction among Indian tribes (ushistory.org, 2019). This cultural loss would inevitably affect the younger generation as the parents had minimal cultural knowledge to pass on to them. Eventually, Indians would lose their cultural identity and sense of belonging.

The introduction of the Dawes Act in 1887 provided each native family 160 acres of land, and it provided farmers with the opportunity to farm for profit. This system aimed to facilitate Indian independence from the federal government, enabling them to become wealthy and assimilate into American culture (ushistory.org, 2019). However, the tribal leaders resisted this platform, as it would mean the loss of their traditional ways and communal lands. More so, adapting to a new lifestyle was challenging for the natives and very unsuccessful. For instance, agriculture in the West required skill. Lacking this technical know-how, many continued to rely on the federal government for support (ushistory.org, 2019). The majority of natives in the 19^th century viewed the Dawes Act as a framework to ‘civilize’ them. Missionaries visited them intending to convert the people to Christianity. The Act worsened the lives of Indians as it brought forth an inevitable disaster for the communities. The majority of natives committed suicide, lived in poverty-stricken areas, were illiterate, and became alcoholics because they were reduced to desperation.