Study Guide: Jeffrey Ostler, The Plains Sioux and U.S. Colonialism from Lewis and Clark to Wounded Knee.
Introduction
Read this carefully. Understand why Ostler wrote this book and what he hoped to accomplish with it. Understand imperialism, colonization, and colonialism. Understand the three interrelated areas of political activity covered in the book and how they function within Ostler's argument.
Identify the book's thesis.
Why does Ostler begin with Lewis and Clark and end with Wounded Knee? What happened at Wounded Knee?
Part I: Conquest
How did the Plains Sioux relate to the "empire of liberty"? How does Ostler approach social organization, civilization, and property?
What role does religion play in this study?
Know these terms: oyate, tiospaye, itancan, Wakan Tanka, manifest destiny
Define the peace policy.
Know the Fort Laramie Treaty (1868), Ostler's assessment of it, and how it fits into his argument.
What significance do the Black Hills hold for Lakotas? For the United States?
What was the Great Sioux War and how does Ostler use it to support his argument?
Does Ostler see Custer's Last Stand as a big deal? Why or why not?
Ostler sees Crazy Horse and his death in 1877 as a big deal. Why? Who was Crazy Horse and why was he important?
Part II: Colonialism
Who were Red Cloud and Spotted Tail and how did they work for the good of their people?
How did reservation economies function? What opportunities existed for Lakotas on reservations? Off them?
Who was Richard Henry Pratt and why does Ostler talk about him?
What purposes did Indian schools serve?
What is the Sun Dance? How does Ostler use it?
What place did Christianity hold in Lakota society? How does it figure in Ostler's argument?
Who was Crow Dog and why was he important?
How did Sitting Bull's perceptions and understandings of U.S. society develop during the final decades of his life? Assess his relationship with James McLaughlin.
What was the Dawes Act and how does it relate to Ostler's interpretation?
Who was George Sword and why was he significant?
Part III: Anticolonialism and the State
Who was Wovoka, what did he prophesy, and how does he fit into the tradition of American prophecy?
How does Ostler interpret the significance of Wovoka and his teachings?
How did the Lakota Ghost Dance compare to incarnations of the ceremony practiced by other tribes? About how many (what percentage) of Lakotas participated in the Ghost Dance? How did Indian agents in different areas respond to the advent of the Ghost Dance? With what results? What were ghost dresses and ghost shirts? Why did the U.S. government dispatch soldiers to the Dakotas? Describe the size of the U.S. military response. Analyze it.
Who was Daniel Royer? Evaluate his work and his significance.
What role did Nelson Miles play in the events of 1890?
According to Ostler, what effect did soldiers' arrival in the Dakotas have?
Why did U.S. officials order Sitting Bull's arrest? How did it happen? What resulted? So what?
What happened at Wounded Knee? According to Ostler, how should it be interpreted?
What points does Ostler make in his conclusion?
How would you interpret 19th-century Lakota history against the backdrop of everything else you've encountered in this class? How might Frederick Jackson Turner interpret it? What about Richard White?