History of North American Indians

Allison Brown HIST 2290: History of North American Indians Dr. Means 10 December, 2020 Final Exam Between the periods of 1775 to 1845, U.S. Indian Policy was deemed necessary by lawmakers and the general U.S. population alike in order to assure the nation would be successful and secure moving forward into the West. With both the “white man’s burden” and the desire for policy to address the indiegnous population debate grew. As the U.S. continued to settle, American Indians were proving to be a pertinent issue for their longevity and success. The ideas and governmental plans for American Indians across the region were vastly different, with two camps of “gradualists” and “removalists'' emerging. The gradualists believed that a peaceful coexistence could be possible through a slow, inevitable assimilation. Thomas Jefferson and those who followed this train of thought sought to “civilize the Indian”, open land for expansion, and promote peace through their gradual assimilation, missionary work, and education. Standing in stark contrast were the gradualists, with Jefferson’s political nemesis, Alexander Hamilton a prominent figure. They believe that American Indians are “irreversibly savage” and will never be able to peacefully coexist with the greater “American” population. According to their opinions, the indigenous would eventually fully assimilate into greater society and would be eradicated in the country as a culture and people. Additionally, removalists believed that American Indians had no rights to their own land, therefore were not particularly concerned about establishing reservations or respecting their autonomy. In their debate regarding the lives of the indigenous population across the new country, the gradualists held their own from 1800-1820, however, the American Indian populations were not assimilating as they believed they would, and at times, such as in Ohio, conflict boiled over. In the River Valley in the Northwest territories, Ohio proved to be an example of how gradualist theories were falling short in assimilating indiengous populations. Military struggle for 1 Ohio occurs in the 1770s as American Indians tribes assert their independence, and garner support from the British. However, the United States feels as though they still need to continue their Westward expansion and the Kentucky militia attacks. The Blue Jackets (Shawnee) and the Little Turtle (Miami) join forces in order to essentially shut down the Ohio River. Arthur St. Clair, the Governor of the NorthWest Territory feared that their strategic move would only lead to further resistance and retailed sending Josiah Harmar with a militia over one thousand. This would come to be known as the Battle of Maumee on October 22, 1970. Conflict continues to rise, leading to George Washington becoming involved, resulting in the first cabinet meeting and congressional hearing. “Mad” Anthony Wayne joins in on the conflict and eventually tensions escalate to the Battle of Fallen Timbers after various peace attempts. In 1795, the Treaty of Fort Greenville was signed and the cost of their resistance was handed over to the United States. With the treaty signed, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa (Shawnee) began to understand their lost opportunities, dependency on outside aid/resources, and issues of alcohol abuse within their tribe and region. Tecumseh during his life even reached out to the indigenous tribes in the South of the U.S., pleading with them to understand the implications of assimilation and what the white Americans are trying to achieve. The situation in the U.S. South was just as tenuous and conflict ridden as that to the North. In the Southeast, the Cherokee resisted American expansion, failed, and were ultimately met with brutal repercussions. Attempts at mission work and “christianization” took place in the early eighteen hundreds, but was unable to “civilize” the Cherokee like the U.S. expected. Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828, and is an outspoken ally of American Indian removal. He passes a new policy which he coins as separation, a combination of gradualist and removalist ideas. The Removal Act was then passed on March 28, 1830, and approved the removal of the Southern Indian Nations. What comes to be known as the Trail of Tears is a devastating and horrifically macabre event in American history. For the Creek (removed in 1832) ten thousand died on the trail, and for the Choctaw (removed in 1830) four thousand perished. The Cherokee attempt to stop their removal with various court hearings including the Cherokee v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832), during which it is determined that American Indians are “domestic dependent nations” and that the states have no jurisdiction over 2 their dealings and communities. However, even with these victories and advocacy, the Cherokee cannot avoid the same fate as the Creek and Choctaw and General Winfield Sott forces their removal with four thousand dying on the trail. After 1845, American Indians continued to face challenges of American westward expansion and an increase in federal control of their nations. Recent arguments over the Thornton Affair and disagreements with the British over the Oregon Territory only increased the U.S.’s self-entitlement of “manifest destiny”. At this same time, Westward expansion was having massive detrimental environmental impacts on the Great Plains including: disease,competition for grass for livestock, competition for resources, bison nearing extinction, and competition for physical space itself. The Lakota and Southern Cheyenne among other tribes continued to resist the U.S. and their attempts to settle, ending in massacres and more conflict. Perhaps the most known is Custer’s 1874 Black Hills Expedition. In which he faces a wipeout in battle against the Souix, and Custer meets his own death from White Cow Bull. The U.S. and world’s reaction to Custer’s Last Stand was one of shock at the “savagery” of American Indians. This notion of “savagery” would continue to follow tribes across the nation. In this new period of U.S. assimilation efforts, the era of Direct Policy Assimilation (1851-1920) would reflect two goals of the U.S. for American Indians: total assimilation and preparation for “American” life. The Reformer’s believed that Indians' family life had to be reimagined, their communities broken up, their religion abolished, and their children “educated” in the ways of civilization and Christianity. Their answer in 1851, reservations. American Indian Reservations were a place of deep turmoil and difficulty. Their economics were crushed and their cultural life with their families was essentially eradicated. The U.S. outlawed Poylgamy and established boarding schools for children. Religious practices were persecuted with Medicine Men facing arrests, and the Sun-Dance and Bundles were later outlawed in 1884 and 1888 respectively. In 1887, the General Allotment Act of the Dawes Severalty Act was riddled with corruption and intentions to cripple indiegnous populations. The Act was only accelerated with the Burke Act (1906) and resulted in an unbelievably massive loss of land for American Indians across the United States. Legal and court trials continued throughout this period included the United States v. Kagma (1886) which upheld the Major Crimes Act (1885) and gave the U.S. 3 Federal Government control over cases in which “Indian-on-Indian” crime occurred even if it was under their jurisdiction on their own Reservation. In 1903, Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock gave Congress the ability to abrogate treaties. These legal moves and others led to both the erosion of tribal sovereignty and their control of resources in time. Additionally, this was a major shift from a process of assimilation and gradualism to that of segregation, isolation, and resource extraction. The relationship between American Indians and the U.S. Federal Government continued to develop in new ways. In the 1960s and 1970s, a major shift in thinking took place for American Indians, as was depicted in part Lakota in Woman. The Indian Civil Rights Act (1968) and Santa Clara v. Martinez granted more autonomy to the nations with tribal membership now being under their own control. Strides were also made in regards to education and boarding schools, the indian Education Act of 1972 allocated funds for American Indian children to attend public schools and the Indian Child Welfare Act (1978) keeps indigenous children with their own families. Social services were also expanded with the Indian Self-Determination Act (1975) which allowed tribal governments to contract and provide services previously carried out by the Department of the Interior. Religious freedom was also expanded on, wth the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 guaranteeing sacred objects, sites, and ceremonies. Although many artifacts still remain in Museums and Archives across the U.S. and not in tribal territory, the act sought to return them and still today protects religious acts of American Indians. Tremendous strides were made for American Indians in the 1900s, from legal Supreme Court cases that guaranteed essential, inalienable, human rights to the Indian Civil Rights Act, developments and strides for autonomy for tribal nations occurred throughout. Moving forward, with movements such as those seen protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock and current movements addressing missing and murdered indigenous women suggest a further development of American Indians rights and culture in the decades to come. 4 5