The Plains Indians refers to groups of Native Americans who lived in the Great Plains area between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The Sioux, the Blackfoot, the Comanche, the Crow, the Arapaho, and the Kiowa were among the most well known of the Plains Indian groups. The Sioux were the largest out of all the Native Indian tribes and consisted of three divisions which were based on their location, dialect, and their subculture. The Lakota Tribe was one of these divisions. In the 1932 book Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt, an American poet, and writer, the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man is shared. This narrative traces Black Elk's development as a healer and holy man that is empowered by a vision that was granted to him when he was young. This personal recount that was translated by Black Elks son records the transition of the Sioux tribe from pre-reservation to reservation culture, including their participation in the Battle of Little Bighorn, the ghost dance, and the massacre at Wounded Knee. Black Elk Speaks is a primary source of the price in human suffering that the Sioux paid for the westward expansion of the United States.
Manifest Destiny was a driving force in 19th century America’s western expansion movement. It was the idea that America and its citizens were morally superior and therefore morally obligated to spread their control and beliefs over all areas of the land. Westward expansion started in 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase took place and doubled the size of the country and by 1840 millions of American citizens had migrated westward in hopes of securing land and being prosperous. The narrative from Black Elk Speaks recalls the tragedy of a culture that lost its way of life along with its traditional ideals due to the forces of economic greed when white Americans expanded westward in search of more land and more goods. During the development of the transcontinental railroad and settlement expansion white settlers had begun hunting bison for sport and in the book Black elk states that “They just killed and killed because they liked to do that"(John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks) meaning that the white Americans did not if they destroyed the livelihoods of those who depended on these herds.The lives of the Lakota centered around the buffalo’s migration across the plains and while settlers went around hunting for fun thousands of native Americans began to starve, “Hunting by mounted Indians had already reduced the buffalo population by about 30 million in 1800 but it was army campaigns and the depredations of hunters seeking buffalo hides that rendered the herds all but extinct (Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Seagull Fifth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Page 621)).
By 1876, Indians were ordered onto reservations and the food supply became a way to control defiant Indian behavior. With the buffalo herd almost completely diminished and the confiscation of Indian horses and weapons, native Americans had no way to supply their own food and were forced to rely on government controlled rations, and when the Indians seemed hostile rations were decreased. According to Black Elks testimony about the reservations and “soldiers towns”, the Lakota tribe had lost contact with the sacred traditions along with a sense of the tribe's identity and independence (John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks). The traditional way of Sioux life, with its tight-knit sense of community and the well defined social structure, was replaced with the strict ways of reservation life. Tensions that were built between the Native Americans and the American soldiers after being forced onto reservations eventually lead to the battle the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The leaders of the Sioux on the Great Plains, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, Tried to strongly resist the 19th-century efforts of the United States government to confine their people to reservations. Many actions were made by the Sioux tribe to stop the American government from continuously displacing their people and the most famous attempt at resistance took place in June of 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, when General George A. Custer and his entire command of soldiers perished (Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Seagull Fifth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Page 624)). in 1875, after gold was discovered in South Dakota, the United States Army ignored the treaty agreements that were made with the Native Americans and invaded the area. This betrayal led many Native American tribesmen to leave the reservations and join Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at a camp located outside of the reservation. According to statements made by Black Elk in his personal narrative, white soldiers had come to tell Black Elk's people that they needed to return to Fort Robinson or there would be serious consequences, but they chose not return because it was too cold to move and they were on their own land. After not returning to the fort Black Elk and the other tribe members discover that the U.S. Cavalry raided Crazy Horse's village, killed men, women, and children, and stole their horses. (John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks). This important statement records the moment in history where the United States government stopped recognizing the treaties made with Indian tribes in 1851 and conflict between the Natives and the Americans reached a boiling point.
The betrayal made by the U.S government after ignoring these treaties heightened the conflict between them and the Native American tribes and in response, the Native Americans continued to gather outside of the United States reservations in an act of rebellion. In response to this rebellion, General Custer and his men marched into the area and attempted to attack the tribesmen who had gathered in the area. The Native American warriors, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, defended tribal land in the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory that was reserved for them in an 1868 treaty “for as long as the grass shall grow,” (Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Seagull Fifth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Page 624)). General Custer and his men were quickly overwhelmed by the large groups of Native American warriors and within a short time period, Custer and all of his soldiers were killed. This would be considered the most famous Indian victory that took place 1876 (Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Seagull Fifth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Page 624)). While this was taking place Black elk had stated in his narrative a detailed portrait of Crazy Horse, who Black Elk thinks was the greatest of all Sioux chiefs because unlike Red Cloud, Crazy Horse continued to resist the whites' efforts to contain the Indians. (John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks). Black Elks recount of this event is also important because it marks his first participation in a healing ceremony. In his journey as a tribal healer, that event is extremely significant and although the Indians will suffer further losses during the U.S retaliation for their defeat at Little Bighorn, Black Elk continued to advance in his journey to fulfill his vision (John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks).
Another incident between the native Americans and the U.S government during the western expansion movement was the Massacre at Wounded Knee. The Massacre at Wounded Knee took place in 1890 after the American government became concerned over the influence of the spiritual Ghost Dance movement made by the Native American tribes. The Ghost Dance was a religious revitalization campaign. Its leaders told stories of a future where whites would disappear, the buffalo would return, and Indians could once again practice their ancestral customs “free from misery, death, and disease.” Large numbers of Indians gathered for days of singing, dancing, and religious observations (Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Seagull Fifth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Page 627)). In response to the growth of this movement the United States government sent troops out to the reservations where these Ghost Dances were taking place and out of fear that these ghost dance groups would cause some type of uprising and rebellion, American troops opened fire and killed over one hundred Native American people near wounded knee creek. According to statements made by Black Elk after joining the Ghost Dances, On the morning of December 29, 1890, Black Elk sees soldiers riding toward Wounded Knee Creek and, sometime later, hears shots being fired saying “They all shot at me, I could hear bullets all around me” (John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks). Black Elks mournful tone and detailed description of the horrors that took place while recalling this event during his narrative in the book Black Elk Speaks speaks volumes to how deeply the Native American people were affected by this event. The Wounded Knee massacre was applauded by the press and marked the end of centuries of armed conflict between the continent’s native population and European settlers and their descendants (Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Seagull Fifth Edition) (Vol. 2) (Page 627)).
Studying the plight of Native Americans is necessary when studying the history of America. Without looking at the lives of those who inhabited the land before European settlers large portions of United States history would be missing and gaps between where the United States began and how it got to be where it is now, would damage the study of American history. Primary source documents such as Black Elks personal narrative along with other historical resources regarding the history of Native Americans are extremely important when it comes to studying American history. Without these resources and important documents, the information about native American influences on America's history along with the evidence of their lives prior to American colonization would cause large amounts of confusion when trying to study history. In conclusion, what we have learned from Black Elks narrative in his biography Black Elk Speaks are first-hand accounts of the battles native Americans faced when conflicting with the American government along with the emotional effects that these events had on the native American people. This narrative is important because it highlights significant events in American history from the point of view of a Native American man who lived through these events and suffered from its consequences brought on by white Americans and their government.