Purpose Of The Fort Laramie Treaty Of 1868

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The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 was a very significant settlement and had much impact on the Sioux tribes. The purpose of the treaty from the point of view of the Sioux was to have a protected, independent country of their own, and to end the war. On the other hand, the American's purpose was to build a larger economy, assimilate the Indians and basically take over their land. Because of the Americans' greed, the treaty became unfair to the Sioux. "The treaty was full of contradictions--in one breath promising to preserve Indian land and in the next forcing the tribes to relinquish all territory outside their reservations." (Roark, 597) At first, the treaty seemed like it guaranteed the Indians more land, specifically giving them land from …show more content…

The U.S. government decided to give other tribes' land like the Ponca, to the Sioux. This was becoming a policy of divide and conquer so that the tribes wouldn't work together. The U.S. government was basically trying to "play off" one another, by taking one’s land and giving it to another to cause conflict between the tribes. This conflict led to isolation. What led to even further isolation, was that white men could not enter Indian land. This restricted their trade since, without the settlers, they couldn't advertise their products. Furthermore, the land …show more content…

such as assimilation. The treaty began the process of assimilation by the government adding buildings on the reservation, such as schools. As it states in Article IV of the Fort Laramie Treaty 1868, "...School-house, or mission building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding $5,000." (Article IV, http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/four/ftlaram.ht) Children were forced to go to school and "once at school, the children were stripped and scrubbed, their clothing and belongings confiscated, their hair hacked off and doused with kerosene to kill lice. Issued stiff new uniforms, shoes, and what one boy recalled as "torture" of woolen long underwear, the children often lost not only their possessions but also their names..." (Roark, 592) Tribal values were taken away and Indians had to live like the