Native Americans
In 1656, the first reservation was set up in Virginia.
By 1840, more than 100,000 Native Americans had been deported West : when gold was discovered in Cherokee country (North Carolina), white settlers and the army invaded their territory and removed them to Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-1839. Four thousand Cherokee Indians died of cold and exhaustion on the Trail of Tears.
After 1840,
three factors
speeded up the extermination of
the Native Americans:
- the Gold Rush to
California in
1848;
It attracted gold hunters. As they had to cross Indian
lands, the American army helped them reach the West
Coast killing Indians on their way.
- the transcontinental
railroad;
It was built from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- the end of the buffalo;
The buffalo was slaughtered. Since the Indians depended on its
meat, its skin to make clothes, thousands
of them died.
Native American
chiefs like Geronimo and Sitting Bull fought against
the white settlers.
![]() |
Doc. Geronimo |
Native Americans are US citizens and have the rights and responsibilities of any US citizen.
The Native Americans who live on reservations find it difficult to live the traditional life. Poverty is a serious problem. About 38 % of people who live on reservations are unemployed, compared with 6 % of the rest of the American society. Many tribes try to bring in money from outside.

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