Brenda Child

He was distinguished for his eloquence, wisdom, and force of argument.

The young men of his tribe acknowledged him as a leader.

Missionary Alfred Brunson.

you have called together all the chiefs and headmen of the nation.

That was useless, for they do not own the land, it belongs to me.

My father, by his bravery, took it from the Sioux.

He died a few moons ago, and what belonged to him became mine.

He, by his courage and perseverance, became head chief, and when he died, I took his place, and am consequently chief over all the nation,

Though it may cost me my liberty, it is my duty, and I will continue to speak and act also, till the wrongs of my people shall be righted.

This is the big era of cultural assimilation.

So tremendous pressure put on Indian people to assimilate.

And in the United States, there was kind of consensus that Indian people needed to change.

There were people around the United States and in Washington and in kind of reform circles who believed at that time that Indian people were people of the past, right?

That they weren't really going to kind of continue into the future as tribal people.

So if Indian people can't survive as tribal people, maybe they can just survive.

And so they can become citizens of the United States eventually, they can speak English, they can become Christians, they can Americanize.

And then they can move into the mainstream of American society.

They've got as far as they can go because they own their land in common.

There is no enterprise to make your home any better than that of your neighbors.

It's funny because a policy like the Allotment Act of 1887, when you look at it and you read it, it's very technical.