P
P
to the day—the soldiers rush to slaughter men,
women, and children who have been living peace-
fully on their reservation. Before nearby bands
of warriors are able to come to their rescue and
chase off the Americans, more than 100 people
are killed, including Black Kettle—a Sand Creek
survivor who out of fear for his followers’ safety
consistently urged them to capitulate to the
United States.
“[I]n his native village, on the
war path, and when raiding our
frontier settlements and lines
of travel, the Indian forfeits his
claim to the appellation of the
‘noble red man.’ We see him as
he is, and, so far as all knowl-
edge goes, as he ever has been,
a savage in every sense of the
word;... one whose cruel and
ferocious nature far exceeds
that of any wild beast of the
desert.”
—George Armstrong Custer
in his autobiography
My Life on the Plains1869Ely S. Parker becomes the commissioner
of Indian affairs.
The former military secretary of Ulysses S. Grant,
Seneca Ely S. Parker (see entry for APRIL 9, 1865)
is appointed commissioner of Indian affairs.
Parker, the first Native American to hold this posi-
tion, supports Grant’s efforts to “civilize” Indians
by compelling them to give up traditional ways
and join the non-Indian mainstream both cultur-
ally and economically. (See also entry for 1871.)
“The Indian tribes of the
United States are not sover-
eign nations, capable of making
treaties.... But because treaties
have been made with them, gen-
erally for the extinguishment of
their supposed absolute title
to the land inhabited by them,
or over which they roam, they
have become falsely impressed
with the notion of national in-
dependence. It is time that this
idea should be dispelled, and
the government cease the cruel
farce of dealing with its helpless
and ignorant wards.”
—Commissioner of Indian affairs
Ely S. Parker in his annual report
in 1869Northern Paiute (Numu) prophet Wodziwob
founds a new Indian religion.
Also known as Fish Lake Joe, Wodziwob attracts
devoted followers on the Northern Paiute’s (Numu)
Walker River Reservation with his religious teach-
ings. Wodziwob predicts that in the future all whites
will die, dead Indians will come back to life, and the
traditional Indian ways of life will be revived. His
inspirational message resembles that preached by
Wovoka, founder of the Ghost Dance movement,
nearly 20 years later (see entry for JANUARY 1,
1889).Sitting Bull is chosen head chief of the
Lakota Sioux.
A council of Lakota Sioux leaders elects 36-year-old
Sitting Bull as the head chief of the seven Lakota
groups. Traditionally, the position had not existed.
As the Lakota are increasingly pressured to live on
reservations, however, they recognize the need for