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Introduction | xix they lobbied to obtain agreement from the other side. Some acute Native leaders saw that education was an important part of the future of their people and wanted educational assistance in the form of teachers. Common provisions included goods and annuities over a number of years and perhaps blacksmiths. Most of all, large sums of money were paid to the tribes for their lands. The next phase consisted of the results of treaties—some of which caused impor- tant changes, such as the exchange of enormous tracts of land for perpetual gifts, or changes in fishing or hunting rights on ceded lands. The treaties led to a new era in Indian‑white relations and actually marked the decline of the strength of Indian nations. This decline became evident as tribes such as the Potawatomis, Delawares, Chippewas, and others signed several treaties with the United States. After 1800, the federal government almost always had the leverage in treaty talks. Strategies of treaty making involved several motives, all of which resulted in the decline of the Indian nations. These strategies involved introducing the idea of one nation, one leader setting boundaries manipulating leadership making chiefs courting treaty signers and giving gifts to influence tribes and their leaders. Such actions almost always were directed toward Indian men, not toward women (al- though, in many tribes, women held the authority to select their leaders). Peace was the main objective in the early U.S. treaties until about 1850. The fed- eral government found it much easier to make peace with the Indian nations than to fight them, which proved costly, especially as great effort was needed just to find them. The United States signed 374 treaties but fought more than 1,600 wars, bat- tles, and skirmishes against Indian tribes. The Navajo Treaty of 1849 and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 were negotiated with peaceful objectives in mind rather than more land cessions. The Fort Laramie agreement involved multiple groups of the northern plains, Sioux, Gros Ventres, Mandans, Arikaras, Assiniboines, Black- feet, Crows, Cheyennes, and Arapahos. Boundaries were set to keep them apart, with additional provisions for roads and military posts included as part of the treaty. The establishment of boundaries for tribes was another goal for government officials as they treated with Indian leaders. Many tribes hunted over vast territo- ries government officials were able to contain tribes within certain areas, and they reminded leaders of the boundaries established in the agreements. Officials intro- duced Native peoples to the idea of land ownership and individual ownership. In 1858, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux signed a treaty in Washington, D.C., agree- ing to new reservation boundaries. This led to the surveying of the tribal land for division into individual 80-acre allotments. In this way, tribal lands were reduced in size. At times, the United States undermined and manipulated leadership to get the lands it wanted. The importance of kinship played a vital role in treaty making be- tween Indians and the United States. Federal officials learned of the importance of kinship and symbolic bonds in tribal communities and used this knowledge to