With the constant influx of settlers entering the West, conflict between American Indians and the settlers increased. The government believed the only way to stop hostility between the two groups was to contain the American Indians on reservations. Reservations were created out of much larger lands reserved for the American Indians in various treaties. The treaties were ignored, American Indians lost their way of life, and were forced to live within designated boundaries. The reservation system was designed to change every aspect of American Indian life - culture, religion, and language in the hopes that native people would conform to Euro-American society.
Finding Aids on Early Reservation Era in North Dakota:
612 East Boulevard Ave.
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505
State Museum and Store: 8am - 5pm M-F; Sat. & Sun. 10am - 5pm.
State Archives: 8am - 4:30pm., M-F, except state holidays, and 2nd Sat. of each month, 10am - 4:30 pm.
State Historical Society offices: 8am - 5pm M-F, except state holidays.
phone: (701) 328-2666
fax: (701) 328-3710