Native Americans and the Gilded Age 1875-1890

Benefits

• :The Battle of the Little Bighorn made some Americans realize that the fighting was in response to the poor treatment of the Native American peoples
• Two off-reservation schools were built in Virginia and Pennsylvania because the education on reservations was so poor; they provided boys with vocational training and girls with the skills for domestic service
• The education provided gave some Native Americans the opportunity to find better jobs,
  • Some worked in the Indian agency offices
  • Others worked as interpreters
  • Others acted as scouts to army units
• The establishment of reservations provided the opportunity for Native Americans to establish farming communities
• The reservations gave the Native Americans the opportunity for better healthcare, which, given their rates of life expectancy, death and disease, needed addressing
• The reservations, despite government intentions, allowed tribal life to continue, which perpetuated their culture and a sense of belonging
• The Navajo tribe made considerable gains from reservation life.
  • Their land increased from 4 million acres to 10.5 million
  • The number of sheep…