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Oct 6, 1492
Columbus First Contact
Christopher Columbus come into first contact with the Native Americans -
Jul 8, 1524
First Kidnapping in America
Florentine explorers kidnapped an Indian child to bring to France -
French and Indian War
This war was fought between the colonies of British America and New France for America's land. Indian tribes were involved on both sides. The war ended in 1763 so it is also reffered to as the Seven Years War. -
Indian Removal Act
During the presidency of Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The law authorized the president to negotiate with Indian tribes in the Southern U.S for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral homelands. -
Worcester vs. Georgia
Recognition of sovereignty was articulated into the constitution and by the Supreme Court, excluded taxing Indian country. -
Trail of Tears 1838-39
Part of the Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation gave up its lands east of the Mississippi River and marched westward to an area in present-day Oklahoma. -
The Homestead Act
U.S. government opened up Indian land in the Midwest to anyone who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government (including freed slaves and women), was 21 years or older, or the head of a family. They could file an application to claim a federal land grant up to 160 acres. -
The Indian Act of 1876
A Canadian statute that estabished a status system to control benefits from the government, that if an Indian man married a non-Indian, she gained Indian status and could live on the reserve, but a Indian women would lose her status marrying an non-Indian man. -
Dawes Act of 1887
The provisions of this law were: 1. The head of the family would receive a grant of 160 acres, a single person or orphan under 18 years of age would receive a grant of 80 acres, and persons under the age of 18 would receive 40 acres each; 2. The allotments would be held in trust by the U.S. Government for 25 years; 3. Eligible Indians had four years to select their land; afterwards the selection would be made for them by the Secretary of the Interior. -
Murder of Sitting Bull
Sioux chief Sitting Bull was killed by Indian police attempting to arrest him, in thoughts that he would unite Indians to start a war against white settlements and federal authority in the Dakota Territory. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
300 people were killed, most were women and children, after the Seventh Cavalry attacked the Sioux camp on the Wounded Knee Creek. This event was the end of resistance from the European expansion in the West. -
Railroad Right-of-Ways
Congress allowed railroad companies to build over Indian lands without their concent. -
Winters v. United States Supreme Court
Indians from the Fort Belknap reservation in Montana sued to prevent a white settler from damming the Milk River and diverting water from their reservation. Indians now have the federal right to reserce and protect their waters. -
Indian Citizenship Act
This Act extended citizenship and voting rights to all American Indians. Some Native Americans still just maintain their tribal membership. -
Reorganization Act of 1934
This Act funded economic development and vocational education for Indian children, encouraging a tribal constitution for self-government, and granting incorporation to tribes so that they could manage their own lands. It established the right to form businesses and other organizations, a system of credit, and vocational education. -
National American Indian Heritage Month
President Clinton declared November of each year to be National American Indian Heritage Month
