From its beginning in the American Revolution to its current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States (U.S.) Army has had to deal with tribal societies. In order to succeed in tribal societies it is essential that the U.S. Army understand tribal structures and the fractures in tribal societies that present opportunities and possible solutions. Tribal structures create an environment in which conflict over resources and status creates traditional enemies between the tribes. It further weakens internal tribal loyalty as loyalty resides at the lowest level within the tribe that can provide resources, increase the group’s status and security. These characteristics create fractures within tribal societies that create an atmosphere in which it is possible to use tribal auxiliaries to resolve conflicts or issues within complex tribal environments. The Indian Wars on the northern Great Plains from 1865 to 1890 provide some of the best examples in which tribal fractures created the opportunity to use tribal auxiliaries. By closely examining specific events during the Indian Wars, it is possible to identify the characteristics of tribal structures and societies that create the opportunity for using tribal auxiliaries as well as the fact that they provide a unique method for resolving conflict and issues within tribal societies. This study specifically focuses on events that occurred on the northern Great Plains as the U.S. Army sought to subdue and bring into compliance the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. By examining tribes that assisted the U.S. Army, it is possible to identify tribal fractures and motivations behind why tribes such as the Crow and Pawnee faithfully served as allies to the U.S. Army. It is also possible to identify what led to the collapse of the Sioux and Cheyenne alliance, which resulted in Sioux and Cheyenne bands turning on one another by supporting the U.S. Army against others that refused to comply.

References to the Indian Wars, those conflicts that accompanied US continental expansion, suffuse American military history. From Black Hawk helicopters to the exclamation “Geronimo” used by paratroopers jumping from airplanes, words and images referring to Indians have been indelibly linked with warfare. In Indian Wars Everywhere, Stefan Aune shows how these resonances signal a deeper history, one in which the Indian Wars function as a shadow doctrine that influences US military violence. The United States’ formative acts of colonial violence persist in the actions, imaginations, and stories that have facilitated the spread of American empire, from the “savage wars” of the nineteenth century to the counterinsurgencies of the Global War on Terror. Ranging across centuries and continents, Indian Wars Everywhere considers what it means for the conquest of Native peoples to be deemed a success that can be used as a blueprint for modern warfare.

From its beginning in the American Revolution to its current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States (US) Army has had to deal with tribal societies. In order to succeed in tribal societies it is essential that the US Army understand tribal structures and the fractures in tribal societies that present opportunities and possible solutions. The Indian Wars on the northern Great Plains from 1865 to 1890 provide some of the best examples in which tribal fractures created the opportunity to use tribal auxiliaries. By closely examining specific events during the Indian Wars, it is possible to identify the characteristics of tribal structures and societies that create the opportunity for using tribal auxiliaries as well as the fact that they provide a unique method for resolving conflict and issues within tribal societies. This study specifically focuses on events that occurred on the northern Great Plains as the US Army sought to subdue and bring into compliance the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. By examining tribes that assisted the US Army, it is possible to identify tribal fractures and motivations behind why tribes such as the Crow and Pawnee faithfully served as allies to the US Army. It is also possible to identify what led to the collapse of the Sioux and Cheyenne alliance, which resulted in Sioux and Cheyenne bands turning on one another by supporting the US Army against others that refused to comply.

Few people who cross the Great Plains today recollect that for centuries the land was a battleground where Indian nations fought one another for their own survival and then stood bravely against the irrepressible forces of white civilization. Even among those aware of the history, Plains Indian conflicts have been seen largely in terms of American conquest. In this readable narrative history, well-known Indian historian Stan Hoig tells how the native peoples of the southern plains have struggled continually to retain their homelands and their way of life. Tribal Wars of the Southern Plains is a comprehensive account of Indian conflicts in the area between the Platte River and the Rio Grande, from the first written reports of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century through the United States-Cheyenne Battle of the Sand Hills in 1875. The reader follows the exploits and defeats of such chiefs as Lone Wolf, Satanta, Black Kettle, and Dull Knife as they signed treaties, led attacks, battled for land, and defended their villages in the huge region that was home to the Wichitas, Comanches, Cheyennes, Arapahos, Kiowas, Osages, Pawnees, and other Indian nations. Unlike many previous studies of the Plains Indian wars, this one-volume synthesis chronicles not only the Indian-white wars but also the Indian-Indian conflicts. Of central importance are the intertribal wars that preceded the arrival of the Spaniards and continued during the next three centuries, particularly as white incursions on the north and east forced tribes from those regions onto the Great Plains. Stan Hoig details the numerous battles and the major treaties. He also explains the warrior ethic, which persists even among Plains Indian veterans today; the dual societal structure of peace and war chiefs within the tribes, in which both sometimes acted at cross-purposes, much the same as the U.S. government and frontier whites; techniques and tactics of Plains Indian warfare; and the role of medicine men, the Sun Dance, and spirituality in Plains warfare. This is a perfect introduction to an important era in the Indian history of North America by an acknowledged expert.

The American Indian policy, formulated at the turn of the 19th century, significantly impacted the national military strategy. President Jefferson’s plan for Indian removal became the cornerstone for federal policy. Congress would bear the responsibility for crafting the nation’s Indian policies, but the burden for execution was left to an unprepared and undermanned Army. From the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the principal mission of the Army was fighting Indians. Returning to the Western frontier the Army attempted to fight the Indians using the tactics that proved successful in the Civil War. The diverse Great Plains tribes, using raids and ambushes, successfully fought a thirty-year war against a superior military force. It would finally take the unorthodox tactics of several field commanders to bring an end to the fighting. This paper examines the national policy and the means used to implement it. The paper examines asymmetrical warfare through its discussion on critical shortcomings in military preparedness and strategy. The past several conflicts that U.S. military forces have participated in (Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan) suggest that the American Indian Wars offer valuable strategic lessons.

"The Great Plains cover the central two-thirds of the United States, and during the nineteenth century were home to some of the largest and most powerful Indian tribes on the continent. The conflict between those tribes and the newcomers from the Old World lasted about one hundred and fifty years, and required the resources of five nations - Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America and the United States - before fighting ended in the mid 1890s. This masterly exposition explains the background, causes and long term effects of these bitter wars, whose legacy can still be felt today."--Bloomsbury Publishing