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Indian Reservation Timline
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First Official Indian Reservation Established
On August 1, 1758 the "first" North American Indian reservation was established. It was created by the New Jersey Colonial Assembly. The reason I put first in quotes is because this was the first official reservation, but there were examples of reservation type settlements that predate the creation of this rservation. -
Hopewell Treaty with the Cherokee
Georgia officials initiate agreements with the Cherokee Indians that began the ultimate disposession of the Iindian's claims to the land. The treaty was named beacuse of the site - Hopewell, Georgia. The treaty established boundaries for Cherokee hunting grounds, erected limitations on culturally significant land.
The treaty concluded with a line stating that the "hatchet has been forever buried" and that peace and friendship between colonizers and Natives was re-established -
Purchase of Louisiana territory
With the purchase of the lousiana territory from France, Thomas Jefferson was finally able to implement his plan of clearing out Eastern tribes and "relocating" them west of the Mississippi river. Jefferson had a vision that with the entire eastern coast of America free from indian tribes, the two could live in harmon, retain their autonomy, and not have to constantly be under conflict with European settlers. Although many Cherokee rejected the offer, many still moved west to the Arkansas river -
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lottery distribution of land in Georgia
The state of Georgia holds a total of 8 lotteries to allot land seized from the Cherokee and Creek tribes -
Treaty of Cherokee Agency
This treaty marked the beginning of a new attempt by the US government to divide the Cherokee with the ultimate goal of mass/complete removal. It included MASSIVE land seizure. The Cherokee combatted the new laws by creating a new form of tribal government that modeled the United States'. They made a constitution, created a two house legislature, formed a written language, began learning English, and adopted Christianity. This process made settlers consider the Cherokee a "civilized tribe". -
Indian Civilization Fund Act
An act passed by congress that was designed to help prevent any further decline in the indian population but had the opposite effect. The act encouraged "benevolent societies" (the government and multiple missionary groups) to help to process of assimilation of native Americans via education. The act was the catalyst for the creation of the native American boarding schools. the goal was to "civilize" the natives by teaching them to read and write in missionary schools. -
Andrew Jackson Elected President
The election of Andrew Jackson as president would forever change Native American policy. He was responsible the Indian Removal Act which resulted in the infamous trail of tears. He was known for his many controversial acts and programs that affected Native Americans. -
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was a law put into place by congress under the presidential watch of Andrew Jackson. The U.S. government was trying to negotiate the removal of Indians from their homelands in the south to federal land West of the Mississippi river. -
the Trail of Tears
Resulting from the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the trail of tears is the name given to the ethnic cleansing and forced relocation of natives living in the Southeastern states. Around a fourth of the people forced to relocate died during the trek due to disease and starvation. Most of the relocation went to what is present day Oklahoma. -
Appropriation Bill for Indian Affairs
This bill passed by the US government allocated funds to move many western tribes onto designated reservations. It was designed to further push tribes that had already been already relocated from the SouthEast to the Midwest westward. Most of the Reservation lands established under this bill still remain today. The bill was also fueled by the Jacksonian ideology that Native Americans needed to be settled westward for their own protection (or else settlers would kill them for their land). -
The Homestead Act
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The Dawes Act
The Dawes Act of 1887 was an act that was adopted by Congress in 1887. It was signed by the President in order to survey land that belonged to American Indian tribes land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. The individuals who accepted allotments and left their tribes were to be given US citizenship. -
Indian Claims Commission Act of 1943
The purpose Indian Claims Commission Act of 1943 was to create the Indian Claims Commission which gave Native American groups the ability to make claims against the United States Government. This act made recovery of things like land much easier, because it gave broad grounds that could be used for recovery. -
House Concurrent Resolution 108
House Concurrent Resolution 108 of 1953 was a formal statement by the United States Congress to terminate tribes in an attempt to assimilate tribes out of reservation and into mainstream society. It's purpose was to give citizenship to tribes, and reduce the tribes dependancy on federal aid. The US officially ended it's recognician of tribe's soviernty. -
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is a 1988 United States federal law that provides specific rules for Indian reservation gambling. Before this act, there was no official government regulation or structure for gambling before this act. The purpose of the act is to providing a legal basis for how Indian gamblign should be regulated. And, officially it is to protect gambling sas a source of income tribes. -
Cobell v. Salazar
Cobell v. Salazar is a 1996 legal case between Native American representatives and two sections of the US government. The Native American Representitives claim that the U.S. government has unfairly accounted for the income from Indian trust assets.
The case was eventually settled for $3.4 billion years later in 2009. $1.4 billion of that went to the plaintiffs and went to $2 billion allocated to repurchase land that was distributed under the Dawes Act to return it to communal tribal ownership.
