Final answer:
From 1865 to 1890, the settlement patterns in the American West led to increased conflicts with Native Americans, resulting in the creation of a reservation system that often placed tribes on undesirable land. This, combined with broken treaties and assimilation policies, significantly disrupted Native American cultures and led to poverty and loss of traditional ways of life.
Step-by-step explanation:
After the Civil War, settlement patterns in the American West dramatically increased as new settlers sought land for farming, mining, and cattle ranching. This expansion led to increased conflict with Native American populations, culminating in what is known as the Indian Wars. The solution envisioned by the U.S. government was the creation and implementation of the reservation system, which involved negotiating treaties to designate specific areas for Native American tribes, often in undesirable locations not suitable for economic development. Unfortunately, these treaties were frequently broken. Tribes settled onto reservations but found that the land lacked adequate resources to sustain their communities and faced significant barriers to economic activities. The Indian policies of the late nineteenth century aimed at assimilating Native Americans into the dominant European-American culture through means such as conversion to Christianity, English language education, and the abandonment of their traditional cultures and lifestyles.
The 1830s displacement of tribal peoples from reservations east of the Mississippi River to 'Indian Territory', the coerced assimilation policies, and the tragic consequences of warfare and broken treaties define the tribulations of Native Americans in the period from 1865 to 1890. For instance, notable figures like Geronimo and reformers like Helen Hunt Jackson highlighted the desperate conditions and struggles of Native American communities. The humanitarian outcry from authors like Jackson led to increased awareness of their plight, even as assimilation policies continued to suppress Native cultural identities into the late 1880s and beyond.
By the end of the 19th century, reservations often faced high poverty rates and socio-economic challenges due to systemic injustices, such as the mismanagement of treaty negotiations by the U.S. government. Land that was guaranteed to be held in perpetuity by tribes was continually reduced due to the expanding demands of European immigrants moving west. As a result, many tribes lost substantial portions of their ancestral land, leading to a loss of culture and traditional lifestyles.