Native+American+Warfare

__**Native American Warfare**__

Native Americans were very ritualistic when it came to fighting wars. Most of the time they did not fight with the intent of destroying their enemy completely, rather to seek vengeance for a crime committed by the rival tribe. With the arrival of the Europeans they were forced to fight to defend their homelands against the white settlers or from other tribes that wanted to take over their land because they were already displaced by the whites.

Before the arrival of the European settlers Native Americans had been engaging in inter-tribal wars for centuries. These battles however were much different than the common large scale wars of Europe. Most of them were small blood feuds also know as Mourning Wars. They were generally caused by a neighboring tribe killing a tribal member or the theft of tribal belongings. These battles were used as a way for young tribal members to earn their manhood and respect of the tribe. Often times captives of these conflicts were used to replace the members the tribe had lost or used for religious sacrifices. Mourning wars were also used as a way for the tribe to coping with the death of the member that was originally killed.

Before the European influence on the tribe these tribal conflicts were usually very small. The goal was to ambush and surprise the other tribe and was led by a war chief. The war chief would lead small parties of five or six warriors to ambush rival Indians and take captives. This also provided them the opportunity to avoid large battles and a quick retreat if necessary. Native Americans believed that if they died a violent death their spirit would wander the afterlife looking for vengeance instead of joining the rest of the dead tribal members. This led them to be very prone to retreating if over-matched.

Although most conflicts were small the war chief would occasionally lead a large party of over 100 warriors to attack a large territory. Even with a larger force they would still try to surprise a small portion of the tribe and kill them or take captives. They were not interested in taking over the rival territory or destroying all of their members rather just seek an equal vengeance on what the rival tribe had done to them.

Before the introduction of firearms Native Americans had a variety of weapons that were used mainly for close combat. Commonly used were stone headed axes, clubs, knives and spears made of either sharpened stones or bone. Although they were equipped with stone tipped arrows fired from bows they were not very effective for woodland engagements and penetrating the enemy’s crude armor and shields. Bravery was very important to the Native Americans and during battle they would count ‘coups’. They would carry a long stick and would receive more points if he could hit the enemy with it rather than really killing them from a distance with a bow. The word coup actually stands for war count.

With the arrival of the European settlers there were many changes in Native American warfare. Many of the tribes band together to resist the Europeans taking over their lands and annihilating their people. When horses were introduced this allowed the warriors to travel much faster and made it easier for them to do quick raids on settlements. Horses also made it easier for the tribe to move quickly if needed to avoid an enemy attack. Their stone weapons were replaced with iron or steel axe blades and made their arrows much more effective. They were also introduced to fire arms such as Springfield and Winchester rifles which were very effective in fighting on the plains in the later battles that took place.

__**Time-Line of European Conflicts:**__

[|Powhatan Confederacy] 1622-44 Virginia [|Pequot War] 1637 Connecticut and Rhode Island [|King Philip's War] 1675-78 Massachusetts and Rhode Island [|Pueblo Revolt] 1680-92 Arizona and New Mexico [|French and Indian War] 1689-1763 [|Tuscarora War] 1711 Northern Carolina [|Yamasee War] 1715-1718 Southern Carolina [|Pontiac's Conspiracy] 1763 Ohio River Valley [|Lord Dunmore's War] 1774 Southern Ohio River Valley [|Old Northwest Warfare] 1790-94 Ohio and Indiana [|Battle of Tippecanoe] 1811 Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers [|Creek War] 1814 Georgia and Alabama [|First Seminole War] 1816-18 Florida [|Black Hawk War] 1832 Northern Illinois and Southwestern Wisconsin [|Second Seminole War] 1835-42 Florida Everglades [|Navajo Conflicts] 1849-63 Arizona and New Mexico [|Sioux Wars] 1854-90 Wyoming, Minnesota and South Dakota [|Rogue River War] 1855-56 Southwestern Oregon [|Third Seminole War] 1855-58 Florida Everglades [|Apache Attacks] 1861-1900 New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Mexico [|Ute Wars] 1865-68, 1879 Utah [|Modoc War] 1872-73 Northern California and Southern Oregon [|Red River War] 1874-75 Northwestern Texas [|Battle of the Rosebud] 1876 Rosebud Creek, Southern Montana [|Battle of the Little Bighorn] 1876 Southern Montana [|Nez Percé War] 1877 Oregon, Idaho, Montana [|The Wounded Knee Massacre] 1890 South Dakota

__**Annotated Bibliography:**__

"Native American Warfare." //SchoolHistory.co.uk//. Mr. Field, 4 Dec. 2003. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. . Native American Warfare can be described in six subtopics; preparation of war, methods of war, scalping, fighting for horses, cause of war, and counting coups. Natives who fought in the war were brave and loyal to the opportunity war provided them to show their love for their tribe. American Eras. "Native American Warfare in the East: Mourning Wars." //Encyclopedia.com//. 1997. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. . Warfare for the Natives varied from tribe to tribe. The purpose of each war was different and the way the war was conducted varied. The Natives would announce someone in the tribe as a War Chief. This person would decided and conduct strategy for the warfare. The website also displays European warfare and the Weapons both used. "Indian Wars Time Table." //United States History//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. . The timeline displays the conflicts between the Europeans and Natives. The timeline gives locations, dates, and a summary of the conflict starting in the 17th century ending in 1890. "American-Indian Wars — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." //History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. . Warfare started between the Indians and Europeans in the 17th century. Many countries found the Indians warfare tactics as an asset and hired the Natives to fight their enemies. Later the expansion of transportation such as railroads created a decrease in the hunting population for the Native and this created more conflict. "North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence." //The University of Arizona Press : Home//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. . The Native people of pre-Colombian North America were involved in warfare that was exaggerated. It was known that the first war was between Europeans and the Natives but the Natives participated in warfare long before the Europeans. Natives saw warfare as a violent ritual to cause harm to others. Campbell, Candice. "Cultural Aspects of Warefare: THe Iroquois Institution of the Mourning War." //Lagrange.edu//. 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. . The Iroquois would fight solely to preserve their community and spiritual growth. They would conduct a Mourning War to avenge a tribal member that had been killed by a rivaling tribe but would not exceed the previous inflicted act. "Native American Wars: Warfare in Native American Societies: Information from Answers.com." //Answers.com: Wiki Q&A Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. . During warfare, each tribe has a different technique of battle and the weapons they used. This site describes the many different types of conflict the different tribes faced and the result they were aiming for. Hartman, Sheryl. "Tactical and Technical Innovations of Native American Warfare." //Associated Content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. . The weapons used by the Native Americans varied between tribes. The majority of weapons used were spears, atlatls, and the bow and arrow. The technique used to get the enemy closer was to set out a variety of items such as food or trinkets. This allowed the enemy to get close enough to attack quickly. "Indian Weapons." //Spartacus Educational - Home Page//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. . Native American warriors would typically use bow and arrows, clubs, tomahawks, lances, or knives to fight off the enemy. They would also commonly use horse to get to and from the battle. "Native American Culture History and Facts." //Travel Guide to Asheville NC Hotels & Tourism - Asheville North Carolina//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.ashevillelist.com/history/culture-conflict.htm>. When the Europeans started settling the Americas they adopted some of the Native’s culture and likewise for the Natives. The French and the English had very different motives when they started the colonization process and it led to large conflict but in the end the different sides merged. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">"Cherokee Indians: Weapons and Warfare." //Thomas' Legion: The 69th North Carolina Regiment//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://thomaslegioncherokee.tripod.com/cherokee_indian_weapon_indians_weapons_war_and_warfare_photo_photos.html>. The Cherokee were experts at close combat and strike and run guerrilla warfare. Their weapons like the hatchet style Tomahawk were also designed specifically for this form of combat. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">Zelner, Kyle F. "The Importance of Early American Military History - FPRI." //Foreign Policy Research Institute - FPRI//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.fpri.org/footnotes/1320.200808.zelner.earlyamericanmilitaryhistory.html>. This describes the first contact wars with the New World settlers and the Native Americans. The first took place in Virginia and New England where the Natives started to band together to fight the new settlers. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">Guardiano, John R. "AmSpecBlog : The 19th Century Indian Wars Presaged Today’s War on Terror." //The American Spectator//. 6 Apr. 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. <http://spectator.org/blog/2011/04/06/the-19th-century-indian-wars-p>. Over 9,000 American settlers were massacred by Indians in the 16-19th Centuries leading the US government not to declare war but to go on peace-keeping missions. However this was more a slaughter than a war and the government would end up spending a vast amount of money and soldiers compared to the number of Indians they fought. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">"Winning the West: The Army in the Indian Wars, 1865-1890." //Legends of America - A Travel Site for the Nostalgic and Historic Minded//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-armyindianwars.html>. The Century following the Civil war can best be known as the Indian Wars. It was a struggle to see who would survive on the plains of the Central US. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">Weiser, Kathy. "Sand Creek Massacre." //Legends of America - A Travel Site for the Nostalgic and Historic Minded//. Aug. 2010. Web. 10 Apr. 2011. <http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-sandcreek.html>. The Sand Creek Massacre was one of the most famous incident in the settlement of the plains. The slaughter of the Indians gained them sympathy with the Easterners and helped many Indian nations come together to fight to avenge the people killed. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">"Atlas of the Sioux Wars." //CGSC - Command and General Staff College//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/resources/csi/sioux/sioux.asp>. This outlines the resistance of the Sioux Indians on the Northern Plains. There were many Sioux wars and they were among the last to be relocated to a territory and lose their lands. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">"The Battle of the Little Big Horn." //History Learning Site//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_little_big_horn.htm>. The battle of Little Big Horn was a great victory for the Sioux Nation. General Custer’s lust for glory ended with the slaughter of hundreds of his soldiers of the 7th Calvary and helped bring together most of the Sioux Nation. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">"Massacre At Wounded Knee, 1890." //EyeWitness to History - History through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It//. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/knee.htm>. At the Wounded Knee Creek the military massacred an entire camp of men, women, and children that were holding a Ghost Dance to warn off the invading settlers. This outraged the nation and once again gained support for the Sioux. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">Keener, Craig S. "An Ethnohistorical Analysis of Iroquois Assault Tactics Used against Fortified Settlements of the Northeast in the Seventeenth Century - Ethnohistory 46:4." //Project MUSE//. 1999. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ethnohistory/v046/46.4keener.html>. The Iroquois were a band of five tribes that fought for a long time trying to repel the first white settlers on the Eastern coast of North America. Their tactics made it very hard for the early settlers to defend against their attacks. <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt -0.25in;">"Indian Wars." //Angelfire: Welcome to Angelfire//. 2000. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. <http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/nativeamericans/indianwars.htm>. From the time of the first colonization of North America up until the late 19th century the settlers of the new world were constantly battling the Native Americans for control to the land. The final stand in the war was the massacre of Wounded Knee which ended in the slaughter of up to 370 Sioux men, women and children by the military in December of 1890.

<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; color: black; line-height: 24pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">**Spring 2011**
 * By:**
 * Lance Birchmier**
 * AMIN 210 Section C**