Recent Indian
• Allotment / boarding
Policies schools, 1880s-1920s
• Indian New Deal /
Reorganization, 1930s-40s
• Termination/
Urban Relocation, 1950s-60s
• Political Self-Determination,
1970s-80s
• Economic/Cultural
Self-Determination 1990s?
“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
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
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
INDIAN NEW DEAL ERA
1930s-1940s
• Indian Reorganization
Act (IRA), 1934
(Wheeler-Howard Act)
• Identified with FDR
& BIA’s John Collier
• Intended to end
allotment, start
autonomy
Autonomy Effects of IRA
• (Altered) self-rule
restored on some rezes
ak
• Resisted by some tribes
- Hopi, Pueblos
• Tensions between
traditional Chiefs &
IRA “tribal councils”
on some reservations
- Lakota, Iroquois
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
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 $$
Cultural Survival through “Dark Ages”
TERMINATION
ERA, 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
Menominee terminated, 1961-73
Major cause stimulating
Indian rights movement;
13 tribes restored
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”)
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
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.
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
Chicago
American
Indian
Center
powwow
Common experience of
urban poverty & struggle
Exposure to civil rights
activism, successes
POLITICAL SELF-DETERMINATION
ERA, 1970s-1980s
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
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
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
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)
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)
Wounded Knee 1973
Taking a stand at the site of 1890 massacre on Pine Ridge
Wilson’s tribal government
backed by BIA, FBI,
U.S. Marshalls, military
AIM and Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization in W.K.
Traditional
Lakota Chiefs
redeclared an
Independent
Oglala Nation
Drew Indians
from around
North
America
Example of
traditional
self-rule?
2 AIM killed; many injured; surrendered after 71 days
Aftermath of
Wounded Knee Siege
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.
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
Pendulum swings to autonomy
1975: Indian Self-determination and Educational
Assistance Act lets tribes manage own housing, lawenforcement, health, social service, development.
1978: Indian Child Welfare Act gives tribes
authority over most Indian adoption and child custody
Wisconsin occupations, 1970s
Gresham
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)
Milwaukee
1970s Activism
International Indian
Treaty Council, 1974;
hemispheric networks
United Nations
Indigenous Peoples
Conference,
Geneva, 1977
Longest Walk
(SF to DC) opposes
legislation, 1978
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
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
Columbus Day
Reburial ceremony
• Public awareness of
Columbus, mascots,
sacred sites, etc.
Big Foot Memorial Ride
Commemorating
journey leading up to
1890 Wounded Knee
massacre
Oka 1990
Armed standoff between
Mohawk Warrior Society &
Canadian Army over burial
site threatened by golf course
Early 1990s romanticism
• “Noble savages”
in Dances with Wolves
• New Age groups
exploit spirituality
• But growing support for
Native environmental
movement
2000s backlash?
• Gaming revenue conflicts
WI Republican video of
tribes “scalping” taxpayer
– “Rich Indians” message
(like Termination, anti-Semitism?)
• Reservation jurisdiction
conflicts
– More conservative judges
• Tribes now have means
to fight back in this cycle?
Schwarzenegger ads against
tribal campaign donations :
The New “Terminator”?
2000 CENSUS
1.5% 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)
Native in
combination
40%
Native alone
60%
0
200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000
C h e rok e e
730
Nava jo (Di nŽ
)
298
Lati n Am er. In di an
181
C h octaw
159
S iou x
153
C h i ppe wa (O jibwe )
Apach e
Tribe alone
(in 1000s)
Tribe in
combination
149
97
Bl ack fee t
86
Iroqu ois
81
Pu e blo
74
Tribe not
specified
26%
Tribe
specified
74%
Native Population Distribution
Northeast
9%
Midwest
17%
South
31%
West
43%
100 million acres =
4% of U.S.,
BUT…..
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)
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
Percentages by County
Reservations
0
5
10
15
Alaska
19
Oklahoma
11.4
New Mexico
10.5
South Dakota
9
Montana
7.4
Arizona
5.7
Nor th Dakota
5.5
Wyoming
3
Washing ton
2.7
Oregon
20
2.5
Native
percentage,
2000
19 states above U.S.
average (1.5%)
MN 1.6%
WI 1.3%
Population by County
0
200
400
600
628
C al iforn i a
392
O k l ah om a
293
Ariz on a
216
Te xas
191
Ne w Me xi co
Ne w York
W as h i n gton
North C aroli n a
Mi ch igan
Al as k a
800
172
159
Native
population
(in 1000s)
132
124
119
Top 10 states =
62% of Native pop.
Urban Population
Native alone
in NonMetro area
43%
Native alone
in
Metropolitan
Area
57%
All Natives in
Non-Metro
area
34%
All natives in
Metropolitan
Area
66%
0
5
10
An ch orage , AK
15
10.4
8
Tu ls a, O K
6
O k l ah om a C i ty, O K
Al bu qu e rqu e , NM
5
Gre e n Bay, W I
4.1
3.6
Tacoma, W A
Mi n n e apol is , MN
3.3
Tu cs on , AZ
3.2
S pok an e , WA
3
S acrame n to, C A
2.5
Native
urban
percentage,
2000
0
50
100
87
Ne w York , NY
53
Los An gel e s, C A
35
Ph oe ni x, AZ
30
Tu ls a, O K
29
O k l ah om a C i ty, O K
27
An ch orage , AK
Al bu qu e rqu e , NM
22
C h i cago, IL
21
S an Di e go, C A
16
Hou s ton , TX
15
Native
urban
population
(in 1000s)
Top 10 cities =
8% of Native pop.