Point Taken, Ken; it is difficult to be very specific regarding such an involved issue as government and 'Native American' relations (in the mid-west) during that time period in only a paragraph, or two. Everything would have to be prefaced upon differing perspectives, and of course, a definition of 'civilized' would also have to be agreed upon. Even if this was achieved to reasonably satisy all parties involved (which is doubtful), vague abstractions would still be unavoidable without writing an all inclusive book.

Even with such being the situation, I hope we can all agree that the relationships between the U.S. Government and the 'Plains Indians' were not good. It is still my opinion that the communion between the groups (in general) was quite bad, and didn't progress in a positive way for quite some time. There was (in my opinion, again) obviously a lack of communication and understanding between cultures, and sub-cultures, on down to the individuals and their individual perspectives. Keep in mind, for illustration purposes, and at the risk of being abstract, we are alluding to an era pre-dating 'The Battle of Little Big Horn' by more than a decade.