part one abyss this powerpoint is subject to continuous revisions. written and revised by scott...
TRANSCRIPT
CONTEMPORARY NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
Part OneAbyssThis Powerpoint is subject to
continuous revisions.
Written and revised by Scott Fritz, Ph.D. on September 8, 2015 at 1:45 p.m.
Western New Mexico University
Context for the Twentieth Century
A Forced Path Towards Assimilation
Background: The 1800s
Indian Non-Intercourse Act of 1790 Recognized aboriginal title Require federal government approval of Indian land
sales Johnson v. M’Intosh 1823
Private citzens could not purchase lands from Native Americans
Gov. owns Indian land – right of discovery Indian Removal Act 1830 Cherokee v. Georiga 1831
Indians are “domestic dependent nations” Wards to its guardian (federal government)
Worcester v. Georgia 1832 Indians are sovereign nations States do not have jurisdiction on Indian lands
Reservation System
Government removed tribes to reservations as non-Indians enter the West Treaties Annuities
Surveyors Ranges, Townships, Sections
Reservation opened up ‘public domain’ Benefit non-Indian
homesteaders, ranchers, and farmers
Assimilation: An Attempt at Reform
Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania
Richard Pratt in 1878 Who was he?
Cavalry Officer, worked on reservations on Southern Plains
Reassigned: military prison at Fort Marion, Florida, Vocational training program for Indian prisoners
“Kill the Indian; Build the Man” Assimilate Indian youths through education at
boarding schools to remove children from their traditions, and teach them “white man’s road”
Seventeen of the prisoners established Carlisle Carlisle served as model for schools
Established the western states Schools forcibly removed Indian children from
homes to meet enrollment quotas
Instituted an “outing system’ where by Indian children were also sent to live in white houses
In 1903, Indian names were replaced by Anglo names.
Reforming the Reservations
Intellectuals critical of reservation management call on Congress to enact further reforms
Helen Hunt Jackson A Century of Dishonor 1881
Broken treaties, massacres, poverty, etc. In 1882, Jackson employed by Department of
Interior to investigate problems of the Mission Indians in California She writes Ramona in 1884, fictionalized account of
impact on Cahuilla woman Ramona Lubo Jackson inspired reformers to hold the Lake
Mohonk Conference in NY to study Indian problems = agreed on Allotment
Allotment: A Significant Attempt at Reform
1887-1934
Dawes Severalty Act General Allotment Act of 1887 Intentions were: to make Indians into
farmers i.e. Assimilation Assimilate to U.S. economy, make into
farmers See land as private property
Ended reservations throughout the U.S. Allotted 160 acre parcels to Indian
families Reservation lands not given to Indian
families was opened to homesteading and sale to Anglos
Allotted lands to be held in trust with U.S. for 24 years
Severalty: a person’s ownership of property, “separate” from another person.
Cherokee and Choctaw in Oklahoma refused allotment. Went to federal courts, lost.Curtis Act of 1898, dissolved their tribal governments
Text Insert
Life during Allotment Agents became superintendents Bureau of Indian Affairs: Paternalism
BIA provided food, clothing, tools, seed BIA Superintendents oversaw daily lives
Encouraged agriculture: told Indian families how much to plant, etc. Sold crops back to BIA
Provide Employment Code of Indian Offenses (1883)
Traditional ceremonies like Sun Dance Polygamy, etc. Court of Indian Offenses
Problem: Making Indians into farmers who had never been
farmers Land not suited for agriculture
Paternalism: system in which authority supplies needs and regulate conduct of those under its control.
In 1920s, Superintendents for the BIA sought to recruit Apache, Navajo and Hopi for farm work in central Arizona (i.e. cotton picking)
Burke Act of 1906 Discontinued government
guardianship of allotted lands six years early
Indian Families received title to their lands, but still could not compete with Anglo farmers
Indian families still relied on BIA for seeds and tools and markets for their crops
Could not compete with Anglo farmers Lease lands to Anglo ranchers and
farmers
Allotted Indians would be given citizenship in 25 years
In 1891, Indian families allowed to lease land to white farmers and ranchers
Problems: Indians Lost Land
Indians sell land to whites, no more land or home
Unscrupulous land speculators obtained land Anglo might purchase inheritance rights to
land – able to acquire land after owner died Banker extend loan, land collateral, Indian
not pay debt and loose land If Indian family could not pay tax on
improved land, their land was foreclosed Lost some 2/3 of land that tribes had
owned in 1887
Bursum Bill confirm non-Indian claims to Pueblo land that had been held to prior to 1912.
Problems: Indians Could Not Compete with Anglos for water
Arizona Anglo farmers on Gila River upriver
from Pima took irrigation water Papago Indians lost access to water
holes from Anglo ranchers Montana
Anglo farmers dug ditch from Milk River
Took water upriver from Fort Belknap Reservation
Fort Belknap Reservation created in 1889, concentrated Gros Ventres and Assiniboine Tribes, making nomads into farmers
Was Allotment Legal?Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903)
Jerome Commission of 1892 $2 Million to open reservation for white
settlement Kiowa Chief Lonewolf against allotment
Kiowa Chief Lone Wolf Allotment of Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation
was not agreed to by 2/3 of tribe Medicine Lodge Treaty 1867 was broken
Supreme Court: U.S. government could break treaties Plenary Powers of Congress to terminate treaties Congress has had authority over tribal relations since
beginning of country And Indians are “wards” of the government
Reforming the era of Allotment
Early Reform Legislation: Winters Doctrine, 1908
Context: Severe drought in 1904, farmers upstream from Fort Belknap Reservation, taking water from Indians
Indians sued in court Anglo farmers upstream cannot take water down
stream from reservation Fort Belknap Indians won court case
Court case defined Indian water rights Even if non-Indians had claims to land (i.e. Prior
Appropriation, first come, first serve), Indians had claim to water also
Indians have claims to water because of their aboriginal claims to North America
Early Reform Legislation
Healthcare in Indian Communities Indian medical services established in BIA in
1910 Snyder Act of 1921 allocated additional federal
monies for Indian health Indian Citizenship Act, 1924 --gave right to
vote Reward for Indians who served in World War One Hope for more rapid assimilation
Pueblo Land Act of 1924 Overturned the Burke Act of 1906 Evicted Anglo squatters (with compensation)
States like New Mexico, Arizona, and Maine did not extend voting rights until after World War Two.
Resentment of the Burke Act led to formation of the All Pueblo Council in 1922. Helped pass Pueblo Lands Act in 1924 which overturned Burke Act.
Native Americans served in World War I.
Merriam Report 1928
Merriam Report = Institute for Government Research “Brookings Institute”
Inadequate federal programs Health, education, and social problems Report said: “An overwhelming majority of the Indians are
poor…and they are not adjusted to the economic and social system of the dominant white civilization.”
To improve BIA programs through increased funding and efficiency
Advocated continued assimilation, did not question assimilation
Future Director of BIA John Collier recognized problem but did not advocate assimilation – advocated the abandonment of allotment – want to empower tribes
Felix Cohen “Handbook of Federal Indian Law”
Organized diffuse body of law, largely forgotten
Articulated a special federal trust relation with the tribes
Doctrine of tribal sovereignty, a limited sovereignty
Helped lead to IRA 1934
Indians in the 1930s
Indian Reorganization Act 1934
Part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, advised president
Ended the Dawes Severalty Act, 1887 Reversed policy of allotment Reestablished Reservations Gave unsold allotted lands back to tribes
Allowed for tribal ownership of land Tribal sovereignty
Tribal constitutions and councils Supervisors from Bureau of Indian affairs began
“advising” tribal governments Ended policy of assimilation:
Promote day schools on reservations Promoted tribal traditions, religious freedom
John Collier, founded the American Indian Defense Association.
IRA sometimes called “Wheeler-Howard Act.”
IRA also encouraged hiring of Indians in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Johnson-O’ Malley Act of 1934 allowed federal government to contract with states and private companies for providing services to Indian reservations.
Collier encouraged intertribal relations, (i.e. Pan-Indianism) and tribes ultimately established the National Congress of American Indians in 1944.
By 1930 almost half of U.S. Indians are Native American Church members, who believe that the use of the hallucinogenic cactus Peyote can bring back traditions. Seek to include aspects of Christianity into the religion.
Example: IRA impact on Tribes in the Southwest
Tribal Constitutions Written by OIA for the tribes Apache, Navajo, Pima, Papago, Yuman Tribes, Pueblos
Tribal Councils Election, ballots printed in both English and Indian Councilmen had close ties with OIA, relatively wealthy
Examples of Councils Papago Tribal Council lead by “League of Papago
Chiefs”, to unify rancheria leadership Navajo National Council (Window Rock)
Chapter Houses (i.e. at Kaibeto, Tuba City) Controlled by wealthy Navajo wool producers like Chee
Dodge
Indians in the 1940s
Indians Fighting in World War II
Over 25,000 Indians served in U.S. Army
Also worked in war munitions factories
Code Talkers: Choctaw, Comanche, Meskwaki (Fox) Navajo was only code not to be because
they were highly complicated Navajo Code Talkers Some Indians arrested for being
“draft-dodgers”
Ira Hayes, Pima Indian, helped raise flag at Iwo Jima, in 1945.
Indians during World War Two
Some moved to California to work in the shipbuilding yards of Henry J. Kaiser
Worked in mines, like Arizona Indians who worked in Morenci’s copper mines, “…Indian labor practically saved the mines from closing.”
Office of Indian Affairs recruited Navajo and other tribes to work in farm fields, picking cotton, etc.
Indians Claims Commission, 1946
Indian bravery in World War II convinced Congress for need to be fair with Indian tribes
Independent agency created by Congress in 1946
To expedite process of paying for broken treaties Tribes were to be reimbursed with
money for stolen lands and broken treaties
Court of Claims had heard earlier cases, but case became backlogged.
Tribes in Arizona and New Mexico given right to vote
Indians still face challenges in late 1940s
Allotted holdings were not all consolidated
Bureau of Indian Affairs would control many aspects of Indians’ political, economic, and educational lives
During and after Collier’s administration (stopped serving as commissioner in 1945) bills were introduced in Congress to terminate Indian reservation
Office of Indian Affairs changed to “Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1947
CONDITIONS ON NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS
1950s and 1960s
Conditions on the Red Lake Chippewa Reservation
Ojibwe Language (also known as Anishinabe, subset of Algonquian)
Treaty of Old Crossing, 1863 created reservation Red Lake in northern Minnesota
Lumber, Fishing, Rice Control of BIA
Schooling and Churches Employment
Conditions on the Pine Ridge Reservation
Lakota (ancestors from Minnesota) Part of what was once the Great Sioux Reservation,
created by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 By the 1950s, BIA was like “the company in a
company town” Schools and Churches Employment Even BIA sold the Indians’ cattle to dealers
Sun Dance (originally banned in 1887) Ceremony representing link with White Buffalo Calf Woman –
who taught Lakota their culture) Kept being practiced in secret during allotment Allowed to be practiced, starting in 1930s-1950s, but
piercing was not allowed.
Conditions on the Quinault Reservation
Western Washington, Olympic Peninsula Diabetes, suicides (few health facilities) Cedar Plank Homes, could have over a dozen
living inside Industry = Lumber 1887 Dawes Act
Quinault given 80 acres, not 160 acres Obtained large one-time payments to clear-cut their
land Reservation reconstituted in 1934 BIA served as trustee of the land 1950s and
1960s and leased to timber companies
Slash:Prevented new growthCreated fire hazardClogged rivers, impacted fish, particularly salmon
The 1950s:A Policy of Termination and Relocation
Termination• Indian Policy of 1950s and 1960s: terminate
tribal sovereignty• Sought to end reservations and tribal governments • Ended trusteeship relationship with federal
government• Allowed state laws to be applied to terminated tribes
• Became subject to state and federal taxes as well as laws, from which they had previously been exempt
• Justification• Assimilate into mainstream American society• To grant Native Americans all the “rights and
privileges” of citizenship• Based on Supreme Court Case Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903)
gave U.S. “plenary power” to abrogate Indian treaties
Example of Plenary Power would be the Commerce Clause in the Constitution
Background to termination
John Collier’s influenced waned in early 1940s, left office in 1945
Post WWII economic boom In 1947, Director of BIA William Zimmerman prepared
list of tribes to be withdrawn from federally recognized tribes
Hoover Commission 1948 – assimilation must be the policy Dillon Meyer, Director of BIA in 1950, pushed for
Assimilation Initiated a voluntary relocation program
Republicans win the 1952 election Senator Author Watkins
Chair of Indian Subcommittee, Utah, Mormon, Isolationist, anti-labor, believed termination would improve lives of Indians
House Concurrent Resolution 108, (1953)
Arthur Watkins introduced bill to terminate reservations Republican Senator from Utah Chaired “Senate Interior Committee on
Indian Affairs” Called for the termination of the:
Flathead (Montana) Klamath (Oregon) Menominee (Wisconsin) Potawatomi (Kansas) Turtle Mountain Chippewa (North Dakota) Most of tribes in California, New York, Florida and
Texas To terminate “as rapidly as possible”
Public Law 280 (passed 1953) Supported by Senator Watkins Gave state governments jurisdiction on
reservations that had not been terminated State courts could try criminal cases involving
Indians on reservations Against Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
State laws are not applicable on Indian land Based on Supreme Court Case Lone Wolf
v. Hitchcock (1903) gave U.S. “plenary power” to abrogate Indian treaties
Examples of Terminated Tribes
Menominee Termination Act, 1954
Wisconsin tribe Good Timber lands Tribal lumber mill, provided income to support
families Tribe sued – BIA miss-managed lumber
income Tribe won Arthur Watkins prevented monies from being
distributed Combined allocation of money with
termination bill 169 out of 3,059 voted in support of
ending reservation
Menominee Termination Continued:
Congressional hearings on Menominee Termination Watkins convince Congress that termination would be good
Congress passed Termination, without Menominee consensus Plenary power of Congress, Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock 1903
Reservation land sold – held in trust “Menominee Enterprises Inc.” Included money, from lawsuit over BIA miss-management of tribal
lumber mill “Menominee Enterprises Inc.”
Voting trust (obstensibly to be controlled by Menominee) but largely controlled by First Wisconsin Trust of Milwaukee
Indian Health Services hospital closed Lumber mill inadequate to earn profits
Now liable to pay taxes Menominee lost hunting and fishing rights
Wisconsin Supreme Court said that these rights had been terminated
Went to U.S. Supreme Court, Menominee v. U.S. (1968)
Even though tribe was terminated, fishing and hunting rights had not been terminated
Klamath Termination Act, 1954 Different than Menominee Termination
Pro-Termination Faction Klamath Indian Wade Crawford supported termination
Led pro-termination faction of off-reservation tribal members living in Klamath Falls
Strong Anti-Termination sentiment in tribal council Led by tribal delegate to Congress Boyd Jackson Helped to shape Klamath termination bill
Tribal member had choice To remain member of tribe Or leave tribe and receive money
78% opted out of tribe Got $43,000 Target for car dealers, appliance sellers, etc. quickly lost
money Tribal members who remained part of tribe
Assets managed by the U.S. National Bank of Portland Oregon
Lost hunting rights Much of reservation became part of Winema National
Forest Anglos hunt on forest, Forest service clear cut
According to 1854 Treaty, they argued they still had hunting and fishing rights. Rights restored in 1968 in Supreme Court Case Menominee v. United States. Wisconsin tribe, even though terminated, retained hunting rights. Applied to other tribes like Klamath
Western Oregon Indian Termination Act, 1954
Terminated numerous bands and small tribes located west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon
Was unique because of the great number of tribes terminated 61 tribes terminated
Lands surveyed, sold, and funds distributed to terminated tribal members
Many moved to cities, impoverished
California Rancheria Termination Act, 1958
Targeted 41 small Indian Reservations Terminated 38 reservations
Lands surveyed Land distributed to individual Mission Indian families Rest of land sold money distributed to Indian families
Assets from some reservations held within a corporation
Each tribal member received several hundred dollars each Still poor, “…most found themselves poorer, bereft of
health care, and suffering a painful psychological loss of community, homeland, and self-identity.” (Wilkinson p. 81)
Indians receiving assets could not received any more federal assistance
Some reservations were restored in 1970s.
Mission Indians of San Diego
Two factions Mission Indian Federation = Pro-termination Spokesmen and Committee Group = Anti-
termination Jonathan Tibbett, non-Indian, founded Mission
Indian Federation in 1919 To end “paternalism” of BIA
James Ponchetti (Santa Ysabel Band of Digueno Indians) – Anti-Termination
Successful in preventing termination Created split between anti and pro-termination
groups
Indian Relocation Act of 1956 “Adult Vocational Training Program” Encourage Indians to leave reservation for work To assimilate into the general population Oversaw by Bureau of Indian Affairs
Provided vocational training Provided jobs in the cities
BIA provided assistance the first 6 months in the city, after that, Indians on their own
Increased the number of “urban Indians”
Conclusions
Supreme Court Cases Reservation System Dawes Act Assimilation Reform of Dawes Act Indian Reorganization Act Indians during WWII Conditions in 1950s Termination: House Bill 108 Public Law 280 Indian Relocation Act of 1956