Battle Of The Little Big Horn Essay

The Battle of the Little Big Horn was way more than just a battle. The events that led up to the battle may be more important than the battle itself. In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota. Let it be known that in 1851 the Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed and it protected the Black Hills from white settlement and miners. The Black Hills was considered holy land by the Sioux Indians. The government offered to buy the Black Hills from the Sioux but they refused to sell. Then the government intended to take the land away from the Sioux by forcing them onto reservations. When the Sioux refused to leave their land for the reservations the Army declared the Sioux hostile. In 1876 as the United States prepared to go to war …show more content…
Their native clothing was not allowed and they were all given “white” names. Some schools had awards for student who followed the rules and others punished students for any sort of misbehavior. In many case instructors would scrub soap in student’s mouths whenever they were caught speaking in their native language. Conversion to Christianity was also deemed necessary if the Indians were going to become respectable. Not only did they have their land, language, and culture taken away they also had their faith taken and was forced to believe in a God they had no belief in. Again this all was deemed necessary for them to survive in society while not even being allowed to be legal citizens of the country. In 1890 the most horrific Native American massacre occurred. This incident was the Wounded Knee Massacre. Reservation life was not suiting many of the Sioux who missed being free. The buffalo was gone, they were forced to live under guard, and they believed it was their right to be able to roam. A holy man called Wovoka spoke about dreams of returning to the glory days. In order for it to happen the Indians would have to perform the Ghost Dance. This peaceful “Ghost Dance” swarmed through many Sioux villages bring fear to the