Native American Timeline

1775/7/12    Control over Indian tribes declared by the Continental Congress.

1784/8/7    First Federal Indian reservation established.

1789/8/7    Department of War established with Secretary of War managing Indian affairs.

1803/2/28    Jefferson gets approval for Lewis and Clark expedition

1803/4/30    Tribes of Louisiana  Purchase territory officially come under U.S. jurisdiction.

1804/11/4    Sacajawea (Lemli Shoshone) joins Lewis and Clark expedition.

1830/5/28    Indian Removal Act passed, 5 “civilized” tribes moved to Indian Territory Oklahoma.

1861/4/3    White settlers on Sioux land petition Lincoln for protection

1862/5/20    Homestead Act passed.

1864/11/29    Sand Creek Massacre.

1868/5/25    Fort Laramie Treaty signed creating the Great Sioux reservation.

1870/11/15    Spotted Tail (Brule Lakota) sent first known letter by a chief through the U.S. mail.

1872/7/26    Cherokee Constitution adopted.

1874/7/23    Custer’s Exploration expedition arrives in the Black Hills in violation of 1868 treaty.
 
1876/6/3    Battle of the Greasy Grass (later on 12/10/1991 renamed Little Big Horn)

1876/6/27    Teton Sioux defeated General Crook in battle of Rosebud Mountain.

1877/5/5    Sitting Bull escapes to Canada, 1881/7/19 he returned to North Dakota and surrendered at fort Buford with 186 survivors, in 1890/12/15 he dies.

1877/5/6    Crazy Horse and dull Knife surrender at Red Cloud agency.

1877/10/5    Chief Joseph surrenders and ends flight of Nez Perce.

1882/7/21    Indian territory in Oklahoma establish.

1886/9/4    Geronimo (Apache) makes his formal last surrender.

1887/2/8     Dawes General Allotment Act passed (160 acres to each Indian family and 80 acres to each single person over age 18, increased to 640 acres for all homesteaders in 1904)

1887/9/5    Crazy Horse (Oglala Dakota) assassinated at fort Robinason, Nebraska.

1889/2/2    Sioux Act reduced reservations to present size.

1889/6/15    Inauguration of Ghost Dance on Pine Ridge reservation.

1889/11/13    President Harriman ordered War Department to end Ghost Dance uprising on all Sioux reservations.

1890/12/29     Wounded Knee –7th Calvary massacres Big Foot’s band of Minniconjou Sioux

1891/1/15    Kicking bear surrenders ending “The ghost Dance War.”

1892/1/23    Charles D. Curtis (Kansa-kaw/Osage) first Indian elected to the House of Representatives  1929/3/4 first American Indian to become a vice President of the U.S.

1912/7/6    Jim Thorpe (Sac/Fox) won pentathlon and decathlon at Olympic Games in Sweden.

1924/6/2    American Indians become citizens by an act of Congress

1928/9/20    First Sun Dance on Rosebud Reservation held following permission for public ceremonies.

1934/6/18    Indian Reorganization Act, authorized self-government for all tribes.

1946    Indian Claims Commission created.

1946/8/13    Indian Claims Commission Act created allowing Indian tribes to file claims against the U.S. government.

1964/10/14    Billy Mills wins 10,000 meter run at Tokyo Olympics.

1968/4/1    American Indian Civil Rights Act passed.

1973/2/27    Occupation begins at Wounded Knee, ended on 5/8

1975/1/4    Indian Self-determination and Education Act passed.

1985/4/7    Slim Buttes Agricultural Development started with 6 family gardens increased to 300 in 2002.

1986/11/11    First National memorial honoring Native American Veterans was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.

1990/10/11    South Dakota holiday legally changed to Native American Day.

1992/5/9    President Bush declares 1992 year of reconciliation between American Indians and non-Indians.

1999/7/7    Pres. Clinton visits Pine Ridge reservation (first visit by a president to a reservation since F.D.R..)

2004/9/21    Grand Opening of national Museum of American Indians at the Mall, Washington, D.C.

2004/9/24    Native American Day

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