US Government Policies and Laws
I. Indian Department of the Continental Congress - first attempt to set up administration to interact with Tribes.
1. Colonies divide into two loose-knit organizations - north and south.
A. Each established a superintendency of Indian affairs to resolve problems arising from colonial settlement.
2. Second Continental Congress was formed and established three departments of Indian Affairs.
A. Each department headed by a body of Commissioners responsible to the Congress
a. goal was to establish friendship so they would side with colonists in battles for independence
b. remained until 1786.
3. Congress of the Confederation redesigned the Indian Department
A. Southern Department included all lands south of the Ohio River. Northern Department extended over lands west of the Hudson River.
a. Separate supervisor for each district appointed to a 2 year term by Congress
B. Based on language of the Northwest Ordinance "The utmost faith shall always be observed toward Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall from time to time be made, for preventing wrongs done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them..."
C. Under the direction of the Secretary of War who was responsible to the President.
1. Department of War created 1789
II. 1790 - An act to regulate trade and intercourse among the Indians
1. No one may conduct trade with Indians without a license from the Superintendent.
A. License given to anyone with a $1,000 bond until revoked.
III. 1796 - Government trading houses established
1. To end practices by unscrupulous traders which caused disturbances
2. Agents disbursed commodities purchased by the Purveyor of Public Supplies and delivered by the Army
IV. 1806 - An act to create a Superintendent of Indian Trade
1. To purchase deliver and disburse all goods to Indians
A. To places designated by the President
2. The Southern district was very upset because they felt that they had possessed title to territorial land and the Govt. had given rights to the land back to the Chickasaw and Cherokee.
A. Territorial Governors were General Superintendents of Indian Affairs in their territories
a. until 1867 TGs held superintendencies in Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Arizona, California, Central (Kansas and Indian Territory), Northern (Nebraska and Iowa).
V. Treaties
A. 1st treaty made with Six Nations in 1778
B. 1789 - Indian Peace Commissions
1. Primary duty was to make treaties with Indian groups
a. these treaties stipulated that government agents should live among Indian people.
C. Treaty content
1. lands ceded
2. lands retained
3. formal declaration of peace
4. payment for lands
5. agents to live among the people appointed by President
D. A total of 645 separate treaties were made in 100 years.
E. Last treaty in 1868
F. After that treaties were called Agreements
VI. The Indian Department proposed 1822
A. War Department was bogged down in accountancy of Indian affairs
1. Congress refused to create the department
2. Secretary of War created a separate department and tried to fill it
a. no one would take the job because the wage was too low
b. no one wanted to balance the accounts - unbalanced since 1791.
3. 1824 first occurance of the name BIA
VII. Removal Act and Indian Territory
A. Indian Removal Act 1830
1. Andrew Jackson became President in 1829
a. fought in Blackhawk War against Sauks, Meswakis and Kickapoos.
b. most hated of all White men
B. Remove Indians voluntarily or involuntarily to Indian Territory.
a. Oklahoma territory
b. Warriors confined
c. Whites excluded
i. by 1890 white population was 250,000
VIII. Creation of position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs by Congress 1832
A. Followed by a Congressional investigation
1. resulted in the law of 1834
a. mainly took away the ability of President to appoint agents
b. fixed salaries of agents
c. provided for removal of agents when subagents could do the job
d. prohibited the creation of other Indian agencies
B. Left BIA under Secretary of War
IX. Department of the Interior created 1849 by act of Congress
A. Shifted control of Commissioner of Indian Affairs
1. In reality this was delayed for many years
a. Military policy was total defeat
i. This resulted in total war at Sand Creek where Black kettle and his band of Cheyenne were exterminated by repeater rifles and gatling guns. This was the first example of Total War by the military.
b. Civil policy was to elevate status of Indians to citizens.
c. Military policy forced Indians out of old ways and Civil policy forced them into new ways.
B. Control still had not shifted by 1865
1. Maj Gen Pope complained about Indian agents not acting in harmony with the policy of the War Department.
C. In 1870 Congress passed an act prohibiting the practice of military officers.
X. Wards of the Government
A. First wards were the Cherokee in 1831
B. In 1871 it was declared that no Indian nation or tribe was an independent nation.
XI. Civil Service Act 1883
A. Put an end to political appointments.
B. Not extended to BIA until 1891
1. At first only school superintendents, matrons, nurses, physicians, and teachers
2. 15 years later Agents and Subagents
XII. Education
A. Early education efforts made by missionaries
1. Catholics, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Friends, Mennonites, Episcopalians
2. Government funding to mission schools stopped in 1897.
1. 1st day school started 1860 at Ft. Simcoe, among the Yakima
2. Reservation boarding schools were established next
3. First off-reservation boarding school at Carlisle PA.
a. abandoned Army installation
4. Day and reservation boarding schools served as recruiting stations for the off-reservation boarding schools.
C. Purpose of schools
1. Initial attempt to teach academics only
2. Later on they taught trades
D. Curriculum
1. outing system put Carlisle students in select non-Indian homes
a. abandoned in early 1900s
b. readopted in 1960s
E. Indians allowed in White schools
1. 1924 - Piper vs. Big Pines School District decision won right to attend White schools
2. 1940 - Fewer than 5 Native CA college grads
3. 1960 - 43% of Native Cas over 14 yrs have no more than 8th grade ed
4. 1968 - 40 Native CA college grads; dozens of students
5. 1972 - Indian Education Act
6. 1993 - 52% Native CA h.s. grads; 17% attend college; 4% graduate
XIII. General Allotment Act 1887 Dawes Act
A. Put land in the names of individual Indians
1. This ended tribal status
2. Some CA rezes were exempt due to the poor quality of land
3. Allotments could not be sold for 25 years
B. Lands remaining after allotment were declared surplus to the tribes and sold off
C. This gave BIA control of Indian lands
1. They controlled leases of allotments which the owners could not work due to disability
2. they appraised land, took and reviewed bids, drew up leases, collected rents and managed trust funds
D. The BIA was in the real estate and banking business
1. Total Indian land before Dawes Act 131 million acres
2. Total lands lost after 1887-1934 88 million acres 67%
E. in the mid 1920s thought began to develop that the Dawes Act was more detrimental than beneficial to Indians
1. The 118 unallotted reservations had advanced
2. Tribes with allotted land would be landless by the 3rd generation
XIV. Indian Reorganization Act 1934
A. Aims
1. to stop the loss of Indian land
2. to regain lands lost
3. to stabilize tribal organization and restore tribal govts
4. to allow Indians to form legal corporations
5. to establish a system of financial credit for Indians
6. to allow education at any post secondary school
7. to allow Indians to work in federal Indian service positions
XV. Indian self-determination announced by Nixon: The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (Public Law 93-638) authorized the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, and make grants directly to, federally recognized Indian tribes.
A. rejected both paternalism and termination as 2 extremes
B. required reorganization of BIA
1. transform from management to service org
2. reaffirm trust status of Indian land
3. become responsive to the Indian people it serves
4. allow tribes greater participation in program functions
5. become a strong advocate of Indian interest
XV. Public Law 101- 601, 25 USC ' 3001 et. seq. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (November 1990).
A. Graves protection and repatriation.
1. For many years scientists and scholars have maintained they have the right to open and otherwise disturb graves.
a. Cultural perception of death, corpses and grave goods.
i. Ethics are culturally determined.
aa. Las momias.
bb. Ghost sickness.
cc. Cremation.
dd. Mewuk name taboo.
b. Pot hunting, grave robbing, site looting.
i. Van Horn and the two grinding stones.
2. The premise was that the rights of scientists take precedence over any one else, and extends to the right to keep and study specimens.
a. Estimates range as high as 600,000 individuals represented in Native American bone collections.
b. Some small distinctions made between public and private property and law.
3. After years of protest by Indian people, Congress passed a law mandating the notification of tribes, by institutions who housed not only American Indian grave and burial goods but also sacred items. Tribes so notified could then show ownership and repatriate objects
a. P.L. 101-601 signed into law by George H. W. Bush on Nov. 16, 1990.
b. Date for completed notification of tribes -- Jan 1996.
4. Many state laws changed to reflect changes in public opinion.
a. Wisconsin, Illinois, Alabama.
5. Tribal monitors work closely with archaeologists and anthropologists at excavations.
a. State and private funded digs, some of note at Newport Beach, Demonigoni Valley, Go Road, Mt. Shasta.