The cruelty inflicted on the natives during the Indian Wars was chronicled by Helen Hunt Jackson in her book “A Century of Dishonor,” which was published in 1881 and distributed by Jackson to every member of Congress. Jackson had become incensed at the harsh treatment of Indians during a lecture by Chief Sitting Bear of the Ponca tribe in 1879. Her mission to improve Indian conditions furthered the effort to assimilate Indians onto reservations “for their own good.”

By 1890, all Indian tribes were consolidated onto government-structured reservations. The government accepted the responsibility of establishing these reservations because they believed the cost of caring for the Indians would be less than the cost of fighting them. Once the reservations were established, the government played a miniscule role in their day-to-day management and provided little support.

The cost of the Indian Wars was great. In addition to the financial cost of sustaining troops and the loss of human life, the Indian Wars wreaked havoc on the country’s natural resources, particularly the buffalo. The government encouraged the slaughter of buffalo to eliminate the Indians’ food and housing resources to make them easier to fight. Buffalo had numbered over 50 million across the United States prior to the Indian Wars. That number was reduced to around 15 million by 1868, and less than 1,000 by 1885.

Amidst the many detriments of the Indian Wars, there was one positive result. The conflicts and the relocation of Indians benefited the newly established railroads by providing a steady steam of travelers. Troops rode the rails to and from battles, and Indians were loaded onto railway cars and shipped to reservations. The Indian Wars helped solidify the railroad as a necessary transportation source.

The effects of the Indian Wars on the Indians themselves were significant. The many skirmishes greatly reduced the number of Indians living within U.S. borders, and the wars also had a deep emotional impact on those Indians who survived. Many Indians felt dehumanized by the experience of being relocated to reservations, since the moves had not been by choice.

Although Indians living on reservations tended to socialize only with other Indians, they were forced to interact with non-Indian teachers, merchants, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agents. This contact was not always beneficial to the Indians. Physical interaction with white society—sometimes consensual, sometimes not—introduced diseases into the native population. It also introduced vices, including the over-consumption of alcohol. Thus far, attempts to contain the natives had only resulted in transference of the most negative characteristics of white society.

However, attempts to “civilize” the Indians continued. Recognizing that Native Americans were easier to deal with individually rather than by tribe, Massachusetts Senator Henry M. Dawes sponsored an act which provided Indians with land and U.S. citizenship. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, also known as the Allotment Act, gave the president authority to divide tribal lands and award 160 acres to each family head and lesser amounts to other tribe members.

In addition, the government would hold the property in trust for 25 years, and at the end of that time the Indians would be granted ownership of the land and United States’ citizenship. Although this act was beneficial for individual Indians, it was irreparably harmful to tribes. Essentially, it removed all tribal ownership of land. Two-thirds of the Indian lands were lost forever to the United States government. It also ended legal entity status for tribes. With the destruction of the tribal structure, it furthered the assimilation of Indians into white culture at the cost of devastating Indian culture. Indian children were sent to army-style boarding schools, where acts and discussions of Indian culture were prohibited.

Although Indian culture was rapidly decaying, the end of the Indian Wars and the government-protected reservations allowed the Indian population to increase. In 1887, approximately 243,000 Indians lived within U.S. borders. Today, that number is over two million. However, modern leaders continue to fight the loss of Indian lands and the diminishing culture caused by the Indian Wars.

Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education