A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes

In the early 17th century, when English settlers arrive in North America, the Delawares occupy a large tract of land that includes part of present-day Pennsylvania. William Penn, founder of the Pennsylvania colony, treats the Delawares with kindness: They are his “most devoted friends,” and they refer to him as “Elder Brother” (33). Good relations, however, do not last. In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the Delawares make the first of many treaties with the United States. This first treaty recognizes existing boundaries and even suggests that the Delawares might join the American Union by forming themselves into a sovereign state. Notions of political assimilation quickly vanish, however, as subsequent treaties push the Delawares westward. By 1795, thanks in large part to a brutal war carried out by US troops under General Anthony Wayne, who burned Delaware crops and destroyed Delaware villages, the Delawares ceded nearly all of present-day Ohio. Over the next two decades, nearly half-a-dozen treaties follow, each one requiring the Delawares to yield more land. Finally, in 1818, the Delawares surrender all of their land in the present-day state of Indiana. In exchange, the US government agrees to pay the Delawares for their troubles and find them a new home west of the Mississippi River.

Having been driven out of eastern United States altogether, the Delawares settle in present-day Kansas. There they replicate past agricultural successes and even appeal to the US government for protection against the hostile Sioux. In 1854, however, settlers pour into Kansas, compelling the Delawares to make another treaty and another land cession. In 1860 and 1861, the Delawares yield both land and passage rights to a railroad company. Notwithstanding decades of forced retreat, the Delawares send a large percentage of their able-bodied young men into the Union Army. However, after the Civil War, these Delaware veterans count for so little that the US government even attempts to prohibit them from carrying revolvers. In 1866, another treaty gives Delawares the option to “become citizens of Kansas” or relocate to what was then called “Indian Territory” (62) in present-day Oklahoma. Nearly a century of removals left the Delawares exhausted and their numbers depleted. When they finally resettle in “Indian Territory”—a resettlement largely completed by 1870—they mix with remnants of the Cherokee who also live in the territory. Thereafter, the tribal name “Delaware” vanishes from official US government records.

The Cheyennes lived on the Northern Plains, west of the Mississippi River. Unlike the Delawares, who had built settled communities supported by agriculture, the Cheyennes are a “wandering” tribe of buffalo-hunters (67). In the 1840s, the Cheyennes begin to complain about emigrants passing through Cheyenne territory on their journey westward, depleting resources, and in some cases causing trouble. After some delay, the US government agrees to pay the Cheyennes for the “right of way” (73). According to the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the Cheyennes and neighboring tribes should receive $50,000 annually for a period of 50 years. The US Senate, however, arbitrarily changes the treaty’s duration to only 15 years.

In the 1850s, tens of thousands of emigrants cross the Plains. The buffalo on which the Cheyennes depend for food and furs disappear. Notwithstanding the US government’s earlier duplicity, the Cheyennes beg officials for help, asking for farmers and blacksmiths who might teach them how to settle and live off of smaller tracts of land. Having seen what had happened to eastern tribes during the Removal Era, the Cheyennes are prepared to make the best of their situation. In 1861, they cede lands in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado in exchange for assistance that never comes. Embittered and near starvation, some Cheyennes resort to plundering emigrant wagon trains, committing atrocities, and plunging the territory into chaos. In the middle of the Civil War, the US government sends troops to Colorado to restore order. Meanwhile, the Governor of Colorado invites friendly Cheyennes to take refuge near Fort Lyon. On November 29, 1864, US troops commit “one of the foulest massacres which the world has seen” when they attack a Cheyenne village at Sand Creek, murdering approximately 150 men, women, and children, none of whom had taken part in recent atrocities.

After the Sand Creek Massacre, the Cheyennes split into two major camps. Some move north and live among the Sioux, while others remain on the southern plains. With the help of Quaker missionaries, the Southern Cheyennes settle on a new reservation, learn agriculture, and find a measure of stability. In the early 1870s, with war raging on the northern plains, the US government deems the Northern Cheyennes “restless and troublesome” and forcibly removes them to the southern reservation. In 1878, approximately 300 forcibly relocated Northern Cheyennes attempt to flee the reservation. Overtaken by federal troops, they are imprisoned at Fort Robinson in Nebraska. When a small band manages to escape the prison, they are pursued and “shot down—men, women, and children together” (98).