Native American Experience Flashcards
(36 cards)
What are the four points that should be understood when studying Native Americans?
(1) There is much that is unwritten, unstudied, and underappreciated about Native Americans.
(2) Native Americans are unique. Not an immigrant group, as all other minority groups were.
(3) Their relationship with the dominant group lends itself to analysis from the conflict perspective.
(4) Native Americans are stereotyped as ‘the Indians,’ with every member of this vast, heterogeneous group lumped into a single category.
Native American cultural characteristics (four were discussed)
Humans are simply a part of a larger reality.
“You ask me to plow the ground… Shall I take a knife and tear my mother’s bosom? You ask me to cut grass and make hay… but how dare I cut my mother’s hair”
Land simply existed, the notion of owning, selling, or buying it was foreign to Native Americans.
More group oriented.
Tribes were organized around egalitarian values.
Proclamation of 1763
All land west of the Appalachian mountains was “Indian Country.”
Any settlers west of the Appalachian who had not acquired a legal title to their land from the Indians must return to the colonies.
All future purchases from the Indians must be conducted in public meetings attended by representatives of the king.
Northwest Territory Ordinance (1787)
The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress.
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Indian tribes now considered domestic dependent nations (sovereign nations, but some limitations on sovereignty
Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
Could laws be passed that superceded the laws of Native Americans?
- Although tribal sovereignty has limits, the remaining sovereignty is great.
- Tribal powers can make treaties.
- Should be protected from state encroachments.
- Enjoy basic immunities.
The Indian Removal Act of 1830
This act was designed to force all of the Indians in the southeastern states to move west of the Mississippi.
What events symbolized Separatism in regards to Native Americans?
Proclamation of 1763, Northwest Territory Ordinance, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia; and Worcester v. Georgia
What events symbolized Anglo Conformity in regards to Native Americans?
BIA; Dawes Allotment Act; and boarding schools ; Indian Citizenship Act ;
The Trail of Tears
The ordeal of removal took about twenty years, during which more than 15,000 people died of famine and disease along the way.
By early 1840, over 100,000 Indian people had relocated.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs
BIA was created in 1824 in order to coordinate federal relations with Indians.
Supervised reservations and administered supplies.
Under BIA domination, indigenous Indians leaders were often set aside and replaced by white-controlled leaders.
The action of the BIA is a clear example of the role of government in defining and controlling racial and ethnic groups.
The Dawes Allotment Act
Divided land into tracts which then were allotted to members of the tribes. Any extra land left over after each tribal member received their allotment could be sold to the US.
The Dawes Act was the centerpiece of the general effort to bring Native Americans into the mainstream of American society.
The main effect of the act was that Native Americans lost land.
Another effect was that Dawes Act increased the power of the BIA.
Boarding Schools
BIA sent children to boarding schools
Required to speak English, covert to Christianity, and become educated in the ways of Western civilization
Children of different tribes were mixed together
Between sessions, children were boarded with local white families
ANGLO-CONFORMITY:
The model of Assimilation by which
minority groups conform to
Anglo-American
culture
The Indian Reorganization Act (1934)
By this act, the federal government abandoned the effort to require Indians to adopt the dominant’s group’s lifestyle and embraced instead a pluralist policy.
IRA restored the right of the Indian tribes to govern themselves provided they were willing to adopt the American model of representative democracy.
- Rescinded Dawes Allotment Act (programs to recover lost land)
- Boarding school system was dismantled
- Financial aid and expertise were made available for economic development of the reservation (natural resources)
- Financial assistance for college education
- Proposed an increase in self governance (reduced role of BIA)
The “Termination” Policy (1953)
Indians should be freed from Federal supervision and control.
All laws and treaties currently in effect should be nullified.
Rejected the Indian Reorganization Act and proposed a return to private land ownership.
Tribes would no longer exist as legally recognized entities.
(Repealed 20 years later)
Indian Civil Rights Act 1968 / Self Determination Act 1975
- Renunciation of the Termination Policy
- Terminated and unrecognized tribes may apply for federal recognition
- Reaffirmed the rights of Indians “to remain Indians while exercising their rights as Americans.” Encouraged self determination among Native Americans.
The Society for American Indians
Prior the Indian Reorganization Act
- Many Indians who were bicultural, recognized that White-dominated industrial American society would destroy all things Indians, unless Indians joined together and created a “Pan-Indian Identity.”
- Integrationist (pursue goals within framework of American Society)
- Well respected leaders (among whites and Native Americans)
- Adopted a constitution to promote the advancement of the Indian rights.
Major goals of the society for american indians
Two major goals: (1) the abolition of the BIA; (2) Citizenship to all Indians [achieved in 1924] / active for 13 years
New Tribalism or Red Power:
During the 1960s and 70s, group of college students organized to create a new policy concerning Indian affairs.
Stressed self-determination and pride in race and cultural heritage.
Fish-ins: State of Washington nullified eleven federal treaties that had guaranteed the fishing rights of Indians in that state.
Alcatraz Island (1969)
The American Indian Movement (1970s):
National organization that argued for Indian sovereignty and the protection of Indian treaties.
During the 80s and 90s, they organized and participated in protests over land rights; the rights of tribes to sell cigarettes without state or federal taxes; and misuse of cultural symbols and religious rituals (e.g., team mascots, gestures, and logos).
Pushed for legal action.
Cultural Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present
The maintenance of tribal cultures and the development of pan-Indian culture both serve to assure that the Native Americans will have the option to remain American Indians even as they continue to assimilate the dominant culture.
Secondary Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present
The long period of conflict with the dominant group, unwillingness of tribes to accept dominant group culture, and prejudice and discrimination, has hindered Native Americans from participating equally in the educational, occupational, and financial spheres.
Primary Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present
Native Americans living on reservations, both by choice and circumstance, are unlikely to have very many contacts with non-Indians.
Native Americans living in urban areas may have numerous opportunities to form friendships with non-Indians.
