Exam 3 Flashcards
How has U.S. Policy towards Native Americans changed since 1800?
-Focus on pluralism rather than assimilation.
-Greater outreach to social scientists.
Indian Reorganization Act 1934:
-Self Government - tribes could establish a tribal government, with limited power, as municipal organizations.
-Education - BIA had to provide educational services for specific careers.
-Native lands - refocus on communal land use as a corporation for greater efficiency, end allotments, and end surplus land sales
What is the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and what are its current functions?
-Created in 1781 as a part of the Dept. of War, it was transferred to the Dept. of Interior in 1849 and eventually became the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
-Many cities had BIA Field Relocation offices and Field Employment Assistance offices.
-Charged with providing education, health, and other services on tribal lands.
-Management of tribal lands held in trust for some tribes.
What is Native American Sovereignty, according to Sutton?
-Sovereignty is the power of a nation to govern itself independently.
What are the problems of Tribal recognition by the federal government?
-574 officially recognized tribes – over 200 of which are in Alaska.
-Determining what tribes exist has proven difficult, especially for groups in the Eastern US.
-Some tribes were also “terminated” because they were no longer seen as being in need of assistance.
-Applications can take years for approval - membership criteria, descent from definite Native Americans, etc.
Blood Quantum
-Used as a criterion for tribal membership eligibility for certain benefits or rights.
-Tribes may have specific blood quantum requirements for individuals to be considered members, which can vary among tribes.
-Laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry.
Indian Claims Commission
-Existed for decades – resolving controversies such as tribes who believed they were cheated out of rights, etc.
-Charged with hearing and deciding claims made against the United States by any tribe, band, or other identifiable group of American Indians residing within the territorial limits of the United States or Alaska
Assimilation
-Saving Indians by “killing” their cultural identity. The absorption and/or purging of Native American, ideas, or culture in order for them to integreate into American society.
-Religious-operated boarding schools.
-Reservations often were abolished, and the BIA no longer recognized some tribal governments.
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
-The Indian boarding school system started in 1879 with the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
-Regimented program, with emphasis on basic reading. Writing, math, and trade skills.
-Stressed western education of Native Americans and devalued reservations because of corruption and lack of mainstreaming.
General Allotment Act (Dawes Act)
-Tribal land (as set aside by treaties) was allowed to be assigned in lots (40-160 acres) to native individuals or sold to Euro-Americans.
-Tribes were paid 1.25 per acre for land sold in the process.
-Land sold to non-Indians often was more valuable than what was allotted to native families.
-The allotted land could not be sold or transferred for 25 years but could be leased to non-natives.
-Inherited land was divided among heirs, leading to fragmentation.
Black Seminole
-An ethnic group of mixed Native American and African origin associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma.
How have gaming and tourism become essential to some groups?
-Many tribes are implementing tourism programs. Large numbers of non-Native tourists will sometimes hinder normal life in a town, forcing the Indians to close the town to tourists for certain periods so they can conduct their ceremonies.
-Native nations are increasingly gaining control of their own economies and have developed a variety of enterprises, including tax-free tobacco sales, gaming, and tourism.
Why do some people object to the use of Native American images/symbols for sports teams?
-The use of such mascots further exploits Native Americans and that, as many other mascots are animals, this equates them with animals.
-Native American mascots have resulted in Native people being viewed negatively by most people.
Who was Vine DeLoria?
-Ridiculed Euro-American scientists, especially ethnologists, archaeologists, and museum scientists.
-“If you are not with us, you are against us” mindset.
-Critical of ideas like misguided protectionism, salvage ethnography, the idea that natives were a “dying population.”
What is the complaint over museums displaying Native American skeletons and/or material culture in a natural history setting?
-The way they were displayed differed from European remains, even if it was of the same topic: the unequal display of human remains.
-Natural history vs. American history: natives were seen as having a “natural” history.
-Often obtained without informed consent.
What is the purpose behind the National Museum of the American Indian, and where is it? How is it designed and organized differently than traditional museums exhibiting Native American materials?
-Opened in Washington, DC in 2004.
-The Smithsonian Institution was required to inventory human remains.
-A repatriation procedure was established for those remains and associated materials.
-Purposefully designed not to resemble a European museum; curved, serpentine walls; avoided traditional right angles.
-Focused on decolonization tactics and showing Native Americans in a contemporary context.
