Chapter 6 Native Americans: The First Americans. Early European Contacts Misunderstood and ill...

Chapter 6

Native Americans:

The First Americans

Early European Contacts

• Misunderstood and ill treated by their conquerors for several centuries

• Diverse Ethnicity– Culture; Kinship system; Political – economic– In 1500, 700 distinct languages spoken in the

area north of Mexico

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Early European Contacts

• Columbus’ diary

• Estimated 10 million in 1500

• About 600,000 in 1800

• 1n 1900, less than 250,000– This loss of human life can only be judged as

catastrophic


Treaties and Warfare

• US formulated a policy that followed precedents est. during colonial period– Not to antagonize Native Americans

unnecessarily

• Exploits of the Forty-Niners were glorified– Authorities offered bounties to settlers for the

heads of American Indians



• The Case of Sioux– Treatment was especially cruel; remains fresh

in the minds of tribal members even today– Fort Laramie Treaty (1868)

• Whites entered Sioux territory spurred by Col. George Custer’s exaggerated reports of gold

• Battle of Little Big Horn (1876)– Last great Sioux victory



• Millenarian Movement (Ghost Dance)– Originated among the Paiutes of Nevada

• Functionalist perspective – Views millenarian movement as a means of

coping with the domination of White intruders



• Battle of Wounded Knee (1890)– Cavalry arrived & random shot led to death of

300 Sioux and 25 government soldiers

• Despite effects of disease and warfare, 250,000 Indians still lived in 1890

• According to the government, Indian problem still remained


Ruling The Native Americans

• Internal Colonialism– The treatment of subordinate groups like

colonial subjects by those in power

• The Allotment Act (1887)

• The Reorganization Act (1934)– Tribes could adopt a written constitution and

elect a tribal council with a head


Reservation Life and Federal Policies

• Over 1/3rd of Native American live on 557 reservations and trust lands in 33 states– A bit more than 2% of the land throughout the

US

• Many 20th century policies were designed to “get out of the Indian business”


Native American Legal Claims

• Native Americans could not bring a claim against government; need Act of Congress– Prevented most charges of treaty violations– Only 142 claims were heard during this period

• Indian Claims Commission (1946)– Established by Congress to hear claims

against government



• Commission extended until 1978

• Cases are now heard by the U.S. Court of Claims

• The federal government agreed to a settlement of $3.4 billion – Including individual payments of at least

$1,500 to 300,000 individual American Indians



• Congress agreed to pay $106 million for land seized in aftermath of Little Big Horn

• The original settlement, the subsequent unaccepted payments, & accrued interest:– Brought the 2011 total of funds being held for

the Sioux to more than $1 billion


The Termination Act of 1953

• Policy proposed as attempt to give Native Americans greater autonomy – And at the same time reduce federal

expenditures

• Services tribes received should not be viewed as special – And deserving to be discontinued



• Unfortunately, it reduced costs and ignored individual needs

• Services were to be withdrawn gradually but were stopped immediately

• Effect on Native Americans disastrous– Unable to establish some of the basic

services



• In 1975, the government resumed the services

• Signaled the end of another misguided policy – Intended to be good for Native Americans


Employment Assistance Program

• (1952) BIA began programs to relocate young Native Americans

• (1962) Employment Assistance Program (EAP)– Provided educational and business

assistance– Impact on the economic development of the

reservation and the brain drain


Collective Action

• Pan-Indianism– Intertribal social movements; several tribes

joined by political goals • Vividly seen in cultural efforts and political protests

• National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)– Founded in 1944 in Denver, Colorado


Collective Action

• American Indian Movement (AIM)– Founded in 1968 by Clyde Bellecourt and

Dennis Banks in Minneapolis, MN– More radical & created a patrol to monitor

police actions & document police brutality

• 1969 Alcatraz takeover by Francisco Indian Center


Collective Action

• Fish-ins

• Red Power movement

• Alaska Native Settlement Act (1971)– Claim of land rights by Inuit Eskimos and

other Aleuts– Alaskan Federation of Natives (AFN)

• Native Claims Settlement Act (1971)


Collective Action

• Battle of Wounded Knee II– Most dramatic confrontation between Native

Americans and government recently

• Powwows (Pau Wau)– Medicine man/spiritual leader of Algonquian

tribes • But Europeans used word to refer to entire events


Sovereignty

• While collaborative action gathering cannot be minimized– There continues to be a strong effort to

maintain tribal sovereignty or tribal self-rule

• Sovereignty remains linked to both the actions of the federal government – And the actions of individual American Indians


Native Americans Today

• The continuing use of American Indian names as mascots for athletic teams

• Native American population is split between those on and off reservations – And those living in small towns & central cities

• Economic Development– High rate of unemployment and poverty


Native Americans Today

• Tourism and the double edged sword – Source of income but also a source of

degradation

• Indian Arts and Crafts Act

• Cottage industries

• Income from mineral rights


Casino Gambling

• Recent source of significant income and some employment

• Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (1988)

• Gaming money– Supports tribal members, is used to buy back

tribal lands, and help underwrite cost of the: • Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian


Casino Gambling

• Three important factors:– Tribes do pay taxes– Nationwide, economic and social impact of

gambling revenue is limited– Levels of unemployment are higher and family

income lower than for the nation as a whole


Casino Gambling

• Another major source of employment for Native Americans is the government– BIA, federal agencies, military, and state and

local governments

• Dominant feature of reservation life is unemployment– About 50% unemployed


Native American Education

• Dropout rate about 15% compared to 6.4% of Whites– Many found their educational experience so

hostile that they had no choice but to leave

• Kickouts/Pushouts– More appropriate terms experience of Native

Americans with school system



• Problems in Native American Education include:– Under-enrollment at all levels, from primary

grades through college– Need to adjust to a school with values

dramatically different from those of the home



– The need to make the curriculum more relevant

– The under-financing of tribal community colleges

– Language barrier faced by the many children who have little or no knowledge of English


Healthcare

• For Native Americans, “healthcare” is a misnomer:– Another broken promise in the long line of

unmet pledges the government has made

• Contributing to the problems of healthcare and mortality on reservations are often: – High rates of crime


Religious and Spiritual Expression

• American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed by Congress in 1978

• Concern with stockpiling Native American relics, including burial remains

• Native American Church - ritualistic use of peyote and marijuana


Environment

• Concerns:– Environmental literature stereotypes – Many environmental issues rooted in

continuing land disputes arising from treaties – Environmental issues reinforce tendency to

treat first inhabitants of Americas as inferior


Environment

• CERT was formed in 1976 - Council of Energy Resource Tribes– Consisted of 25 of the West’s largest tribes – Other tribes were added later– Purpose to protect and develop tribal natural

resources such as natural gas– Environmental justice


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Chapter 6 Native Americans: The First Americans. Early European Contacts Misunderstood and ill...

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