Outline of Indian Affairs (page 2)

Indian Removal and Relocation to Reservations(1828 - 1887)

Federal Indian policy changes dramatically with the inauguration of Andrew Jackson as president.

• He undertook military campaigns against Indians
• An "unspoken" goal of removal of Eastern Indian tribes to the west (under Monroe and John Quincy Adams) became stated federal policy under Jackson.
• 1830 Indian Removal Act "authorized the president to 'negotiate' with eastern tribes for their relocation west of the Mississippi River. By 1843 most tribes' lands had been reduced to nearly nothing or they were coerced to move west.
• Tribes guaranteed permanent reservations in Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, were moved further west to Oklahoma Territory, often warring nations were placed next to each other.
• John Marshall, Supreme Court Justice, influenced Indian Policy and affirmed the United States' trust responsibility to Indians for the next century and a half
• Johnson v. McIntosh (1823, before the Trade and Intercourse Acts) established the "right of occupancy," that is, Indian tribes, and their sole right to negotiate for lands with the European nation that 'discovered' the lands.
• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) determined that the Cherokee nation was a "state," "a distinct political society separated from others, capable of managing its own affairs and governing itself), but that it could not be considered "a foreign state." Marshall further characterized tribes as "domestic dependent nations," a term utilized well into the 20th century. This decision reaffirmed the United States' responsibility to protect Indian lands and interests, a "trust responsibility." This set the tone for Indian protection, but clearly had its limits. (Canby, Jr 16)
• Worcester v. Georgia (1832) reviewed the relations between tribes and the federal government and concluded that they "manifestly consider the several Indian nations as distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries, within which under their authority is exclusive." Further, ""The Cherokee nation, then, is a distinct community, occupying its own territory, with boundaries accurately described, in which the laws of Georgia can have no force." (Canby, Jr. 16)
• Removal occurred nonetheless.
• "Trail of Tears" removal of Cherokee, Seminole, Chocktaw, Chickasaw, Creek to Oklahoma Indian Territory.
• 1849, with nearly all Indians (and the Indian threat) removed from the east, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) moved from the Department of War to the Department of the Interior.
• 1848 Gold Rush brought thousands of settlers to the west who encroached upon Indian lands. These tribes suffered the same fate as the eastern tribes. Impoverished by disease, more than military campaigns, tribes were relatively powerless to negotiate fair treaties.
• Even so-called fairly negotiated treaties were broken by the U.S. government almost as soon as they were made, even before they were ratified.
• In 1871 Congress stopped the practice of making Indian treaties.
• No longer considered tribes as independent nations
• Congress would "deal with Indians by passing statutes, which, unlike treaties, did not require tribal consent." (Pevar 5)
• Reservations created after 1871 to 1919 were by statute or executive order.
• Beginning 1865 reservations became instruments to "civilize" Indians through religious mission systems and boarding schools.
• In 1878 off-reservation boarding schools were established to remove children from their reservation environment. Some of these children were as young as five when they were forcibly taken from their families.
• In 1883 Courts of Indian Offenses were established to further civilize Indians. (United States v. Clapox, 1888)
• Federal education and discipline instrument
• Many religious and customary practices were outlawed.
• In 1883 the Major Crimes Act was passed to declare major crimes, such as murder, committed in Indian Country were under federal, not tribal, jurisdiction.

Allotment and Attempted Assimilation (1887 - 1934)

• 1887 Congress passed "The General Allotment Act," also known as the Dawes Act.
• Instead of a tribe owning and operating its reservation, the reserved land was carved up into "allotments" to be individually owned by tribal members who should then learn to farm their own land. These individual Indians became U.S. citizens. The remaining land would be opened to white settlement. This resulted in …
• The loss of millions of acres of Indian land
• 138 million acres of Indian land in 1887
• 48 million acres of Indian land in 1934, 20 million of which was desert or semi-desert land left for Indians to "farm."
• Rendering much of Indian land as unusable. Leased land and lost land often made a "checkerboard" reservation of Indian and non-Indian owned land, making large scale farming or grazing difficult, if not impossible. (Canby, Jr. 22 - 23)
• The break up tribal governments
• Forced assimilation into white culture, which failed miserably
• The loss of traditional ways
• Allotment was conducted without Indian consent.
• Allotment's "official" intent was to end Indian poverty, but most Indians, who found themselves unable to pay state property taxes, lost both their land and a way to make a living.
• The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, making all Indians U.S. citizens, did little to improve an already failing "policy."
• In 1928 the Meriam Report documented the failure of the Allotment Act and the need for policy reform
• Government boarding schools continued throughout this period.

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