1 / 51

Recent Indian Policies

Allotment / boarding schools, 1880s-1920s Indian New Deal / Reorganization, 1930s-40s Termination/ Urban Relocation, 1950s-60s Political Self-Determination, 1970s-80s Economic/Cultural Self-Determination 1990s?. Recent Indian Policies. “Pendulum” of Indian policy.

wynter-barton
Download Presentation

Recent Indian Policies

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Allotment / boarding schools, 1880s-1920s • Indian New Deal / Reorganization, 1930s-40s • Termination/ Urban Relocation, 1950s-60s • Political Self-Determination, 1970s-80s • Economic/Cultural Self-Determination 1990s? Recent Indian Policies

  2. “Pendulum” of Indian policy • Cycles of binary thinking (“good” or “bad” Indian) • Policy swings between Autonomy and Assimilation • Policies intended to assimilate often backfired on gov’t

  3. Autonomy model(Self-determination) • Cultural Traditions, identity, language protected • Political Limited self-rule; “bilateralism” of federal & Indian gov’ts • Economic Increased self-sufficiency • Geographic Control/jurisdiction of tribal territory

  4. Assimilation model(Detribalization) • Cultural Loss of traditions; more Christian/”white” • Political Only U.S. citizenship; under state/counties; “unilateralism” of federal gov’t • Economic Dependency; only farmers or workers • Geographic Tribal loss of control; Private ownership

  5. Pendulum of Federal Indian Policy Era Policy trend Global trend 1880s-1920s: Assimilation Imperialism/racism 1930s-1940s: Autonomy Economic reform 1950s-early 60s: Assimilation Cold War/individualism 1970s-early 90s: Autonomy Civil rights/liberation Late 1990s-2000s: Assimilation? Anti-multiculturalism

  6. INDIAN NEW DEAL ERA1930s-1940s • Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), 1934 (Wheeler-Howard Act) • Identified with FDR & BIA’s John Collier • Intended to end allotment, start autonomy

  7. Autonomy Effects of IRA • (Altered) self-rule restored on some rezes • Resisted by some tribes - Hopi, Pueblos • Tensions between traditional Chiefs & IRA “tribal councils” on some reservations - Lakota, Iroquois ak

  8. Assimilationist Effects of IRA • Replaced traditional governance with U.S. model like corporate boards • Companies had picked Tribal Council to sign mineral leases (Standard Oil on Navajo) • Tribes to develop constitutions, hold elections, use foreign parliamentary procedures • Interior/BIA controlled funds, could veto tribal decisions

  9. Indian Claims Commission, 1946 Settled (extinguished) tribal land claims until 1978 Tribe paid estmated “price per acre” of the land at time it was illegally taken ($1200 each to Potawatomi) ICC did not return land; some tribes turned down $$

  10. Cultural Survival through “Dark Ages”

  11. TERMINATIONERA, 1950s-60s Termination Resolution (1953) to “free” successful tribes from federal gov’t, communal lands Ended 109 tribes, subjected to state/local control Federal services lost; private lands lost via tax foreclosure Major cause stimulating Indian rights movement; 13 tribes restored Menominee terminated, 1961-73

  12. Federal moves vs. sovereignty NW Shoshone decision, 1942 (treaty rights only for “temporary occupancy”) Public Law 280, 1953 (state law enforcement on rezes in 5 states, include. WI) Tee-Hit-Ton decision, 1955 (Alaskan tribe has no pre-Conquest “aboriginal rights”)

  13. Activism in 1950s-early 1960s Returning WWII, Korean war veterans fight for rights National Congress of American Indians, 1944 American Indian Chicago Conference, 1961; NIYC 1963 Iroquois protest at U.S.-Canada border for Jay Treaty

  14. Relocation Act, 1956 Force Indians off reservation by offering job training opportunities in urban areas. Individuals made to sign agreements that they would not return to their reservations. Urban populations grew in LA, NY, Chicago, Mpls, Denver, Albuquerque, OKC, etc.

  15. Effects of Urban Relocation, 1960s Loss of Native culture & languages, yet kept touch with rural reservation Increased contact among different tribes; growth of pan-Indian identity Common experience of urban poverty & struggle Exposure to civil rights activism, successes Chicago American Indian Center powwow

  16. POLITICAL SELF-DETERMINATION ERA, 1970s-1980s

  17. American Indian Movement, 1968 Founded at Stillwater Prison; inspired by Black Panthers Urban Indians monitored Minneapolis police brutality on Franklin Avenue Made contact with traditional chiefs on reservations; fused urban and rural activism

  18. Alcatraz 1969 Indians of All Tribes occupies abandoned San Francisco Bay prison Cites law that unused federal property reverts to tribes First major national pan-Indian action

  19. Trail of Broken Treaties 1972 Caravan to Washington, DC for self-determination Unplanned occupation of BIA headquarters before 1972 election Nixon White House embarrassed by clashes

  20. AIM 1972-73 AIM protests beating death of Lakota elder in Gordon, Nebraska Police attack on courthouse protesters in leads to Custer, SD riot AIM backs Lakota traditionalists vs. corrupt Pine Ridge Chairman Dick Wilson, and his Guardians Of the Oglala Nation (GOON)

  21. AIM 1972-73 AIM protests beating death of Lakota elder in Gordon, Nebraska Police attack on courthouse protesters in leads to Custer, SD riot AIM backs Lakota traditionalists vs. corrupt Pine Ridge Chairman Dick Wilson, and his Guardians Of the Oglala Nation (GOON)

  22. Wounded Knee 1973 Taking a stand at the site of 1890 massacre on Pine Ridge

  23. Wilson’s tribal government backed by BIA, FBI, U.S. Marshalls, military

  24. AIM and Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization in W.K.

  25. Traditional Lakota Chiefs redeclared an Independent Oglala Nation Drew Indians from around North America Example of traditional self-rule?

  26. 2 AIM killed; many injured; surrendered after 71 days

  27. AIM leaders tried, but few convicted ( FBI misconduct & COINTELPRO files) After W.K.: 3 years of violence on Pine Ridge; up to 80 Lakota died Oglala, June 26, 1975: 2 FBI , 1 AIM die; Day after land transfer. Peltier later convicted. Aftermath of Wounded Knee Siege

  28. 1960s-1970s romanticism • Support for Native environmentalism • Rebirth of “Noble Savage” images • Chief Seattle speech rewritten to emphasize ecological themes Iron Eyes Cody ad vs. pollution

  29. Pendulum swings to autonomy 1975: Indian Self-determination and Educational Assistance Act lets tribes manage own housing, law-enforcement, health, social service, development. 1978: Indian Child Welfare Act gives tribes authority over most Indian adoption and child custody

  30. Wisconsin occupations, 1970s Menominee still poor after 1973 restoration; needed hospital Menominee Warrior Society occupies Alexian Novitiate near Gresham Battles with white vigilantes; National Guard separates sides Milwaukee Coast Guard Station occupied, 1971 (used as school) Gresham Milwaukee

  31. 1970s Activism International Indian Treaty Council, 1974; hemispheric networks United Nations Indigenous Peoples Conference, Geneva, 1977 Longest Walk (SF to DC) opposes legislation, 1978

  32. Treaty rights backlash, 1980s • Began in Northwest fishing conflicts, 1960s • Sportsmen & reservation whites oppose tribal land use • “Wise Use” resource & corporate interests • WI, MN groups part of national movement

  33. Self-Determination extends to economy & culture,early 1990s Seminole casino • Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 1988 • Tribes allowed same level of games as their states • Casinos give tribes new jobs, influence • Public awareness of Columbus, mascots, sacred sites, etc. Reburial ceremony Columbus Day

  34. Big Foot Memorial Ride Commemorating journey leading up to 1890 Wounded Knee massacre

  35. Oka 1990 Armed standoff between Mohawk Warrior Society & Canadian Army over burial site threatened by golf course

  36. Early 1990s romanticism • “Noble savages” in Dances with Wolves • New Age groups exploit spirituality • But growing support for Native environmental movement

  37. 2000s backlash? • Gaming revenue conflicts • “Rich Indians” message (like Termination, anti-Semitism?) • Reservation jurisdiction conflicts • More conservative judges • Tribes now have means to fight back in this cycle? WI Republican video of tribes “scalping” taxpayer Schwarzenegger ads against tribal campaign donations : The New “Terminator”?

  38. 2000 CENSUS1.5% of U.S. population American Indian or Alaska Native alone 2.5 million (26% higher than 1990)(0.9%) In combination with other “races” 1.6 million (0.6%) Total = 4.1 million (1.5%) (110% higher than 1990)

  39. Native Population Distribution 100 million acres = 4% of U.S., BUT…..

  40. Modern Indian Lands = 4% of U.S.? 322 entities in Lower 48 = 56 million acres BUT much of rez land is allotted ( non-Indian ownership)

  41. Modern Indian Lands = 4% of U.S.? 229 Alaska villages = 44 million acres BUT Alaska Native lands held as village & regional corporations, not as sovereign reservations

  42. Percentages by County Reservations

  43. 19 states above U.S. average (1.5%) MN 1.6% WI 1.3%

  44. Population by County

  45. Top 10 states = 62% of Native pop.

  46. Urban Population

More Related