The Next Day: Arrival to Dawes
KILI Radio premieres on March 30 and April 6, 2022
Episode 3 of our series continues to explore the story of the Lakota which became much more complicated with the arrival of Europeans to Keya Wita. Part 1 of the episode begins an in-depth look at the process of colonization that can be said to have started with the Doctrine of Discovery. After investigating our first interactions with European migrants as well as the intermarriage that followed, it discusses the notion of Manifest Destiny and its entrenchment in U.S. federal policy. It then turns to the so-called “Indian Wars” and the Fort Laramie Treaties which happened amidst the great flood of government-defended newcomers. Among other things, we discuss the gold rushes, the Homestead Act, and the creation of the transcontinental railroad. On the other hand, we also remember the “Great Dying,” the Trail of Tears, the so-called Sioux Uprising, Red Cloud’s War, and what many historians have called the Battles of Blue Water and the Washita. Lastly, this part ends with a discussion of the U.S. government’s “trust responsibility” to its indigenous people.
Part 2 starts with George Custer’s foray into He Sapa just 4 years after the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty recognized it as part of the Great Sioux Reservation which had been created for the Lakota’s exclusive use. It goes on to discuss the “Sell or Starve” rider to the 1876 Indian Appropriations Act and the rider to the 1877 Indian Appropriations Act that seized the Black Hills in direct contradiction to the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty. After looking at creation of the White Clay Extension, we highlight the inception of the 1883 Code of Indian Offenses which forcefully restricted the traditional cultural practices of Keya Wita’s indigenous people for the next 95 years. We then turn to the culmination of a devastating process that began with westward expansion, the near-annihilation of our relative the buffalo as a means to eradicate our main source of survival. This part ends with a discussion of the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887 which dramatically marked the shift of U.S. federal policy from colonization to assimilation.
Hear the main episode sections on their own.
Utilize the Episodes Breakdown and Master Narration Script documents to help identify & contextualize the clips.
