Native+Americans

= = = = =__**Native Americans**__= =**Our Government's use of Force, Destroy, and Relocate Native Americans**=
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Many people think of the Native Americans and they think of people that lived here before the whites came to this land and then they disappeared when the whites took over the land, but they are sadly mistaken. Many thousands of Native Americans still live in the United States to this day. There are many reservations that hold thousands of them. The biggest reservation in the United States is that of the Navajo Indians. The Navajo Indian Reservation is bigger than the state of Massachusetts and is about the size of West Virginia and covers more than 14 million acres of land in the states of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. Thousands of the Navajo Indians that live in this reservation have lived there all of their life because their ancestors and grandparents were forced off their own land when the white men came and took it for themselves. Before the white men came over from England and started to spread west from the colonies, the Indians lived on this land and their lives were perfect and they lived a happy life. But when the white men spread into the west and down south, they found the Indians in their way and didn't know what to do. So the first thing that came to their mind was force them out and take over their land. This process was both easy and difficult for the whites. Many of the Indian tribes forced out of their land were killed because they wouldn't move. The white men didn't think the Indians deserved to live where they wanted and so they forced them out by gun point or by treaty. The white men were confused with the ways of the Native Americans and they didn't understand them so they thought because they were bigger, they could do whatever they wanted. But the Indians had just as much right to live on that land as the white men, and even the Declaration of Independence says they do. "All men are created equal", and the Indians are people aren't they? The Indians had the right to live on that land and even a little more right than the whites because it was their land to begin with. So did our people decide to forget about the Declaration or did they just not pay attention to it and were completely oblivious to it? [| Trail of Tears] 1838-1839
 * Why is This Topic a Civil Rights Issue**
 * Native American Reservations**

Chief Joseph: leader of Nez Percé. Crazy Horse: Chief of the Oglala. Sitting Bull: The leader and chief of the Hunkpapa Lakota Indians. Gall: Leader of the Hunkpapa. Black Kettle: leader of Cheyenne. Custer: Known for the role in the battle of the Little Bighorn against Native Americans known as a "Glory Hunter". Old Joseph: The father of Chief Joseph he was the original leader of the Nez Percé. Spotted Tail: An Indian who was an orphan who was brought up by his grandparetns.
 * Important People Include...**

Nez Perce: Tribe of Idaho Choctaws: First tribe to be relocated; Mississippi and Alabama Cheyenne: Tribe of Minnesota Sioux: Tribe of the Dakotas Arapaho: Tribe of Missouri, Minnesota and Wyoming Oglala: Tribe of the Dakotas
 * Tribes...**

Ivy's Virtual Legacy: Chief Joseph Cotter's Virtual Legacy: Sitting Bull Sean's Virtual Legacy: Crazy Horse Important Dates Stories Artifacts Page Quotes by Chief Joseph Bibliography