-
The Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation line of 1763 was the first time that any European government used the term "Indian country." This Indian Country was delegated to the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains as a place where the English colonists could not go and buy land, and where the laws of the Indian nations applied and the laws of Great Britain did not. -
Period: to
Formative Period
-
Northwest Ordinance Enacted
The Northwest Ordinance was enacted, stating "the utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians in their property, rights, and liberty they shall never be disturbed."
The Northwest ordinance intended to rightfully state claims on land prior to and after their populations increased enough to evolve into states, It only further complicated the issues of land ownership between the natives and migrated population. The ordinance also established the foundation of f"ree state." -
First Federal Treaty Enacted with the Deleware Indians
From 1787 to 1868, 371 treaties were ratified with the US government. While treaty provisions varied, they commonly included a guarantee of peace and friendship; clarification of boundaries and understanding of any specific lands ceded to the federal government; guarantee of Indian hunting, fishing, and gathering rights; statement that the tribe recognized the authority and protection of the US government; and an agreement about trade regulation and travel of non-Indians in Indian territory. -
Commerce Clause added to the US Constitution
Clause 3 stated "The Congress shall have Power... to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." This clause is generally seen as the principal basis for federal rather than state governmental plenary power over Indians. The clause is often paired with the Necessary and Proper Clause, the combination used to take a broad, expansive perspective of these powers. -
Indian Trade and Intercourse Act
The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act passed, placing nearly all interaction between Indians and non-Indians under federal, rather than state control. It established the boundaries of Indian country, protected Indian lands against non-Indian aggression, subjected trading with Indians to federal regulation, and stipulated that injuries against Indians by non-Indians were a federal crime. The conduct of Indians among themselves, while in Indian country, was left entirely to the tribes. -
Johnson vs. McIntosh
This case involved the validity of land sold by tribal chiefs to private persons in 1773 and 1775. The Court held that that Indian tribes had no power to grant lands to anyone other than the federal government. The government, in turn, held title to all Indian lands based upon the "doctrine of discovery" - the belief that initial "discovery" of lands gave title to the government responsible for the discovery. -
Period: to
Removal, Real Estate, and Reservation period
-
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830, authorizing the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders. A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. During the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears. -
Indian Territory
Under the Western Territory bill of 1834, Congress created Indian Territory in the west that included the land area in present-day Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts of what later became Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming. The area was set aside for Indians who were removed from their ancestral lands which, in turn, would be given to non-Indians. The area steadily decreased in size until the 1870s, when it was the size of today's Oklahoma, excluding the panhandle. -
Seminole Nation vs. United States
Forcible relocation of Indian tribes of the Eastern states to west of the Mississippi River; opening of Indian lands for colonization; Indian title to lands extinguished; Indians become wards of federal government as “domestic dependent nations;” Federal government assumes trusteeship of Indian lands, resources, and affairs. -
First Treaty of Fort Laramie
In this treaty, the Sioux, as well as several other Plains tribes, allowed non-Indians to pass through their territory on their way to the far west. In return, the US government declared that most of the present-day states of North and South Dakota and parts of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Montana (134 million acres) comprised the territory of the Great Sioux Nation. -
Sand Creek Massacre
A peaceful camp of Cheyenne and Arapahos were attacked by the Third Colorado Cavalry whose soldiers mutilated and killed nearly 165 unarmed Indians, 110 of which were women and children. -
Second Treaty of Fort Laramie
Treaty guaranteed the Sioux, Cheyenne, & Arapaho rights to the Black Hills and recognized tribal hunting rights beyond reservation boundaries. The federal government agreed to abandon the Bozeman Trail and pledged to keep non-Indians out of the Great Sioux Reservation and other tribal lands. The treaty also creates the Great Sioux Reservation and agrees that the Sioux do not cede their hunting grounds in Montana and Wyoming territories. The Army agreed to abandon the forts on the Bozeman Trail. -
Period: to
Assimilation and Allotment period
-
Indian Appropriation Act
This money bill included a rider that allowed the House of Representatives to ratify Inidian treaties along with the Senate. Thereafter, all future Indian policies would be made by both houses of Congress, rather than by treaty. -
Battle at Little Bighorn
This battle occurred when General Custer and the 7th Cavalry were involved in a campaign to forcibly place the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho onto reservations. In retaliation for Custer's attack on a hunting camp in the Little Big Horn Valley, Indians responded by killing Custer and the majority of his regiment. The federal government spent the next two years tracking down these nations, killing some of their people and forcing most others onto reservations. -
Dawes Act
This law authorized the President to allot portions of certain reservation land to individual Indians and to establish private farms, and authorized the Secretary of Interior to negotiate with the tribes for purchasing excess lands for non-Indian settlements. The law tried to destroy Indian communities where property sharing encouraged tribalism, subjected alloted land to taxation, and opened Indian lands for non Indian purchase and settlement.Congress abolishes treaty making with Indian nations -
Ghost Dance Movement
a manifestation of Native Americans' fear, anger, and hope regarding the onslaught of white invaders, U.S. Army brutalization, and the U.S. legislative oppression of indigenous nations. Ghost Dance was the term Plains Indians applied to the new ritual; Paiutes, from which it sprang, simply called it by their traditional name, Round Dance. -
Wounded Knee Massacre
Considered the last battle between white soldiers and Native Americans. The massacre occurred shortly after non-Indians in South Dakota became alarmed by reports of Indians performing the Ghost Dance. Non-Indians feared that such actions would result in war with the whites. The Seventh Cavalry reacted by massacring more than 450 men, women, and children of Big Foot's band of Miniconjou Dakota and of Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa people at Wounded Knee. -
Indian Education
This statute authorized the Commissioner of Indian Affairs "to make and enforce by proper means" rules and regulations to ensure that Indian children attended schools designed and administered by non-Indians. Also, this Act of Congress allowed the BIA to withhold rations and government services if parents did not send their children to school, as provided in
the Civilization Regulations. -
Meriam Report
The problem of Indian Administration. This report, commissioned by the Department of Interior in 1926, focused on the poverty, ill health, and despair that characterized many Indian communities. It recommended reforms that would increase the BIA's efficiency, promote the social and economic advancement of Indians; end allotment; and phase out Indian boarding schools. -
Period: to
Reorganizaton Period
-
Indian Reorganization Act
A measure enacted by the U.S. Congress, aimed at decreasing federal control of American Indian affairs and increasing Indian self-government and responsibility. -
Period: to
Termination Period
-
Indian Termination Act
The policy of the US from the mid1940s to the mid1960s.The belief was that Native Americans would be better off if assimilated as individuals into mainstream American society. Congress proposed to end the special relationship between tribes and federal government. The intention was to grant Native Americans all the rights and privileges of citizenship, and to reduce their dependence on a bureaucracy whose mismanagement had been documented. The policy terminated US recognition of sovereign tribes -
Period: to
Self Determination Period
-
Federal Acknowledgement Project
An end to coercive forms of displacement; gov't under Kennedy admin. turns to economic development on Indian reservations to deal with Indian poverty; federal government under Nixon officially renounces termination policies & declares self-determination with federal assistance and protection; trust status and public assistance programs reinstated and created; many tribes assume control over programs and education previously administered by federal gov't intended for assimilation.
