Native Resistance to
Removal & Assimilation
Native Geographies
(Geography / American Indian Studies 322)
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Prof. Zoltan Grossman
NATION
Ethnic group with a common…
• Language
• Identity / customs
• History
• Territory
Treaties recognized tribes as “nations”
Nations have a common…
• Past in a “homeland”
• Present identification
• Future viability
STATE
A legal / political entity with …
• Authority / power to govern
• Outside recognition
• Defined territory / boundaries
Tribes as states?
• Sovereignty limited
by federal gov’t
• Dual loyalties;
internal divisions
• Diminished land control
• Economic dependence/
lack economic viability?
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
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
Binary Thinking
Continues dichotomy
of “bad” and “good”
Indian
“Pendulum”
swings between
Autonomy policy &
Assimilation policy
(Silvern)
Iroquois contributions
Political cooperation
• Met with Franklin to shape
Albany Plan, 1754
• “Grand Council” model for
later Continental Congress
Economic cooperation
• Lewis Henry Morgan
studied classless society
• Marx & Engels read as
“primitive” socialism
Northwest Ordinance, 1787
“The utmost good faith shall
always be observed towards
the Indians; their land and
property shall never be taken
from them without their
consent; and in the property,
rights, and liberty, they never
shall be invaded or disturbed,
unless in just and lawful wars
authorized by Congress; …”
Early Treaty-making Era
(1770s-1830s)
• For land cessions,
setting boundaries
• “Civilize” Indians,
restrict white traders
• Only feds can make treaties
– Recognition of nationhood
• “Supreme Law of the Land”
– Article VI Constitution
Defining set
boundaries
1825 Treaty of
Prairie du Chien
unites bands
as nations, but to
prepare for
land cessions
Migration
• Pressured but not driven out
• Settlers taking land,
or intertribal wars nearby
• Look for new land
with more secure life
Oneida agreement for
Wisconsin land in
Menominee territory, 1838
• Examples: Oneida,
Mohican, Sac & Fox, etc.
Oneida from New York
(Reservation 1838)
Brothertown from New York (Reservation, 1831-39)
Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans
(Reservation 1856)
Indigeneity
• Transport sense of
“indigenousness” to new land?
• Intimate knowledge of
one place can be replaced?
• How is a migrating
group still “Native”?
Oneida girl with corn husk doll
• What about claims that
overlap older group?
Nation-making
• How to fuse bands/dialects
into unified “nation”?
• Standardization of languages,
spelling or script (Bibles)
• Centralize political/
economic decisions
• Stronger single identity
as resistance to outsiders
Sequoyah & the
Cherokee Script
Removal Era
(1820s-1850s)
• Andrew Jackson coveted
land, minerals, timber
• Divide-and-conquer
tribal members
• Move all American Indians
west of Mississippi River
• Backlash resistance
from tribes
(Seminole wars)
Indian Country
before 1854
(Okla., Kan., Nebr.)
“Trail of Tears” to Indian Territory (Oklahoma)
(Cherokee , Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole)
Removal
• 19 tribes removed
• Some resisted
• Some divided
– Cherokee, Seminole
• Some returned
Removal & Assimilation
“Pagans”
Christians
Hunters
Farmers
Customs
Schools
Communal
Private landowners
Navajos in Bosque Redondo
concentration camp
Removal & Autonomy
Resettling Indians …
• Isolates them from negative white influences
• Maintains some self-gov’t; feds as “guardians”
• With the “consent” of leaders or faction?
Cherokee council
in Indian Territory
Marshall Trilogy
(Tribes = federal wards)
• Johnson vs. Macintosh, 1823
– Feds have monopoly in dealing with tribes, not states
• Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia, 1831
– Tribes are “Domestic Dependent Nations”
• Worcester vs. Georgia, 1832
– Tribes are “protectorates” of more powerful feds.
– Treaties do not end sovereignty (Jackson ignored0
Black Hawk
Bad
Axe
massacre
(Victory,
Wis.)
1832
War, 1832
(Sac & Fox resistance
to removal)
Natural
Resources
Copper
Fertile land
(1829-48)
Timber
Timber
Timber
(1837)
Land
Land
Lead
Lead
(1829)
Copper
(1842)
Land
Potawatomi
Ceded
Territories
Potawatomi Removals,
1830s-60s
Skunk Hill
Many removed to KS, OK;
Others hid out in N. WI, MI, Ont.
Potawatomi Removals & northward migration
Potawatomi
in Milwaukee,
1860
Ho-Chunk
(Winnebago)
Treaty Lands
Ho-Chunk Removals, 1830s-70s
Yellow
Thunder
Ho-Chunk Resistance
Removed to Nebraska; many hid out or returned to WI
Ojibwe ceded lands
150 reservations / reserves today; up to 250,000 people
(larger in population/size than 25+ U.N. members)
Lake Superior Ojibwe Treaty Lands
Reservation-making Era
(1830s-1871)
Could not remove Western tribes;
Treaties for limited land parcels
Places to “reform” (assimilate)
Indians at missions
371 treaties
(1775-1871)
Movement restricted by
BIA’s Indian agents
Yet some tribes strengthened
territorial identity, self-gov’t
Xxxxx
Wisconsin
Indian Lands
11 reservations:
more than any other
state east of Miss. R.
Red Cliff
Bad River
Lac du
Flambeau
Lac Courte
St. Croix Oreilles
Mole
Lake
Lac Courte Oreilles, Red Cliff,
Lac du Flambeau, Bad River (1854)
Mole Lake, St. Croix (1934)
Refused removal to Minnesota, 1848;
Reservation, 1854
Forest County Potawatomi Res., 1934
(also Wood County, Milwaukee)
Private homesteads 1874;
Federal recognition 1962
Native resistance
Land Loss
and major
battles
Santee Uprising in Minnesota, 1862
Executions in Mankato and ethnic cleansing
Sand Creek Massacre, 1864
• Chivington massacres 500+ Cheyenne in Colorado
Washita River massacre of Cheyenne, 1868
Custer in command
“Ethnic cleansing” of Apaches
Resisters shipped to Florida, 1886
Lakota military victories
Mahpiya Luta (Red Cloud) defeated U.S.
in battles along “Holy Road” (Bozeman Trail)
Red Cloud speaks to
New York audience, Grant, 1870
1868 Fort Laramie Treaty
protected Lakota lands
Custer invades
Black Hills
for gold, 1874
Little Big Horn, 1876
Uh-oh…
Ghost Dance and
Wounded Knee Massacre 1890
Native Land Losses
1620
1850
1990
Bison & Plains Tribes
xxxxx
Xxxxx
Xxxxx
Bison/Native
Parallels
Native land loss
Bison range loss
Strategy to control land,
using railroads
No buffalo left on
reservations by 1890
Dependency on Rations
“Beef Issue” on Pine Ridge Reservation
to replace Lakotas’ buffalo meat