THE WEST (Sioux, Comanches...) and the southwest (Navajos and Apaches). All
those tribes were involved in wars agains the US army because they
wanted to protect what they considered to be their homeland.
I / Context
From a social point of view, NA lived around the notion of tribe. The
family was a important element of they way of life, which meant that it
1 – Settling the West
was very hard to push them further into the Western territories. Another
1861/65 : Civil War. North against South, North was against slavery while
very important element was the buffalo, a sacred animal that was used for
South was for. Opposing an anti-slavery North and a pro-slavery South.
food, clothing, rituals. The US army organized a systematic massacre of
After the victory of the North, US became one nation again, and peace
bison because they had understood the vital importance of the animal for
encouraged the settlement of the West until the end of the century.
many tribes.
Encouragement to go West :
The Buffalo Plains,
The Homestead Act of 1862 said that every person paying 10 dollars
Edward Curtis.
would be given in exchange a 160-acre piece of land for cultivation.
When it was only a few wild
West here is North Dakota to Texas : very dry land so it's very hard to
buffalo left.
cultivate any kind of vegetable. The Act is one step to encourage people to
go further into the territory. Congress had to pass more laws to push
General Custer had been asked to verify that the gold was available in the
people west until the 1880s. Between 1860 to 1910, the number of
Black Hills (North). Gold was found, hundreds of miners settled there
farmers tripled : from 2 to 6 million.
which provoked the anger of the Sioux. Two of their chefs, Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse opposed Custer and his regiment at the Little Bighorn,
2 – Cattle
that turned out to be a crushing defeat for Custer and his troops.
Apart form legislative encouragement settlers also went West for other
reasons : gold strikes, and a new profession that appeared during the
The Custer Fight, 1903.
colonization of the West : cowboys.
Very violent battle against the
Cowboys captured and sold animals sending them to the east coast for
Sioux in Montana in June 1876.
consumption. Not a too lucrative job but an interesting step to find other
Want to show the will of resistance
jobs or to start a farm in the area.
from the NA : movement, energy.
Joseph McCoy who worked in Kansas became successful.
Shows the victory of the NA
agains US. Key moment in the
3 – The myth of the Frontier
fight : part of the creation of the
1890 : the West became to an end from a symbolical point of view. US
myth of the West.
historian Frederik Jackson Turner explained in a 1893 lecture that the
Frontier was officially closed. Although that was historically false, it
After 1876, the US army never the less continued to move forward into
contributed ro the strengthening of the myth of the Frontier with all its
the West and NA were arrested and transferred to reservations in the
popular imagery in illustrations, paintings, tales among other things.
eastern states.
4 – Native Americans
That defeat did not stop settlement form going on. Painting became a
From a geographical point of view there were NA tribes across the US,
social tool to show the kind of people living there and how. Mix between
but the main tribes represented in art were living in the Great Plains
a social and mythological messages.
those tribes were involved in wars agains the US army because they
wanted to protect what they considered to be their homeland.
I / Context
From a social point of view, NA lived around the notion of tribe. The
family was a important element of they way of life, which meant that it
1 – Settling the West
was very hard to push them further into the Western territories. Another
1861/65 : Civil War. North against South, North was against slavery while
very important element was the buffalo, a sacred animal that was used for
South was for. Opposing an anti-slavery North and a pro-slavery South.
food, clothing, rituals. The US army organized a systematic massacre of
After the victory of the North, US became one nation again, and peace
bison because they had understood the vital importance of the animal for
encouraged the settlement of the West until the end of the century.
many tribes.
Encouragement to go West :
The Buffalo Plains,
The Homestead Act of 1862 said that every person paying 10 dollars
Edward Curtis.
would be given in exchange a 160-acre piece of land for cultivation.
When it was only a few wild
West here is North Dakota to Texas : very dry land so it's very hard to
buffalo left.
cultivate any kind of vegetable. The Act is one step to encourage people to
go further into the territory. Congress had to pass more laws to push
General Custer had been asked to verify that the gold was available in the
people west until the 1880s. Between 1860 to 1910, the number of
Black Hills (North). Gold was found, hundreds of miners settled there
farmers tripled : from 2 to 6 million.
which provoked the anger of the Sioux. Two of their chefs, Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse opposed Custer and his regiment at the Little Bighorn,
2 – Cattle
that turned out to be a crushing defeat for Custer and his troops.
Apart form legislative encouragement settlers also went West for other
reasons : gold strikes, and a new profession that appeared during the
The Custer Fight, 1903.
colonization of the West : cowboys.
Very violent battle against the
Cowboys captured and sold animals sending them to the east coast for
Sioux in Montana in June 1876.
consumption. Not a too lucrative job but an interesting step to find other
Want to show the will of resistance
jobs or to start a farm in the area.
from the NA : movement, energy.
Joseph McCoy who worked in Kansas became successful.
Shows the victory of the NA
agains US. Key moment in the
3 – The myth of the Frontier
fight : part of the creation of the
1890 : the West became to an end from a symbolical point of view. US
myth of the West.
historian Frederik Jackson Turner explained in a 1893 lecture that the
Frontier was officially closed. Although that was historically false, it
After 1876, the US army never the less continued to move forward into
contributed ro the strengthening of the myth of the Frontier with all its
the West and NA were arrested and transferred to reservations in the
popular imagery in illustrations, paintings, tales among other things.
eastern states.
4 – Native Americans
That defeat did not stop settlement form going on. Painting became a
From a geographical point of view there were NA tribes across the US,
social tool to show the kind of people living there and how. Mix between
but the main tribes represented in art were living in the Great Plains
a social and mythological messages.
