The Realization of Manifest Destiny
The buffalo are few.
Land decimated by iron rails.
Indian communities torn apart.
Hear the engine puffing down the tracks.
Opiate smiles mask the pain.
Push westward, push
westward,
Indian people moved about
From one useless plot of land to another.
America has been born
Out of rebellion,
God’s perceived given right,
The Realization of Manifest Destiny.
The
“Indian Problem” was a thorn in the sides of the European settlers and got in
the way of pursuing the ideals set forth by “Manifest Destiny.” Ignorance has often ruled, and is usually
“handed down” in families. It continues today to dominate the overall
consciousness of the Euro-Americans. Ignorance is based on fear. It is natural to be afraid of what is not
understood. Prejudices and irrational hostilities are established against the
misunderstood. Most settlers and
political leaders feared and misunderstood the Indian people. Many tactics were
utilized to solve the “Indian problem,” and biological warfare was one of the
destructive methods in a long line of historical abuses used against the Indian
people.
Exposure to smallpox was used in
biological warfare against a segment of the population unprepared to fight off
its lethal properties. The unfortunate
people who contracted this virus can expect to have two outcomes: death or
blindness, along with grotesque scars.
Once smallpox finds a host in a community, it rampantly takes off on its
own. The virus can be easily transmitted
through exposure to contaminated scabs or dried-out body secretions. Hernando
Cortez introduced the first attack of smallpox genocide in 1519. Unsuspecting Aztecs were the victims. They were given blankets that were infected
with the virus, and thousands died.
In 1763,
the British provided the Odawa Indians in Michigan gifts of little insulated
metal boxes. The British instructed them to not open the metal boxes until the
Odawa returned from Montreal to their village near present day Petoskey,
Michigan. Once the metal boxes were
opened, smallpox virus ran rampant amongst the tribal people in the Odawa
villages. Again, thousands lost their lives to the dreadful virus. The same
year, British soldiers spread the virus to the Indian people during Pontiac’s
Revolt in Ohio. In the dry-pus-form stored in insulated metal boxes, the virus
can maintain its virulence for up to two years. Smallpox can be transferred to
hosts through clothing and bedding, being exposed to cadavers who died from it,
and inhaling the virus. Cremation is the only way to destroy the virus.
Livestock
brought into this country by the European settlers are linked to many lethal
diseases existing today. The diseases linked to these deaths are, but are not
limited to, flu, tuberculosis, malaria, plague, measles, small pox and cholera.
The history books defining the outcomes of any war portray the winners by the
maneuvers of the generals and their weapons.
However, many wars have been won by those who had the most horrible and
destructive germs to spread to their foes. The Euro-American germs were so
lethal that they decimated up to 95 percent of the Indian population.[i] Unintentional and intentional acts of
genocide against the Indian people continued after the Declaration of
Independence was signed in the effort to accomplish the goals of expansionism
associated with “Manifest Destiny.”
From 1775
to 1791 the Native Americans won 22 battles and smaller expeditions, such as
the French Creek expedition, against the European and later on the
Euro-American armies. Native American
men were fearless fighters, and well disciplined strategists. The European and
Euro-American armies made the mistake of thinking they were undisciplined,
unknowledgeable “savages.” An English
general, named Braddock, fought against the Native Americans from 1755 to 1758
and lost fifty men to one lost by the Indian people. Indian warriors became
valued, but not completely trusted, and were recruited to become allies for
colonial and Euro-American armies as a part of the expansion endeavors.[ii]
The
Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4th, 1776. The 13 United Colonies of North America
declared their independence from the British Crown. One serious problem was still occurring
during this restructuring period, the “Indian problem.” Included in the Declaration of Independence
were the provisions covering the “merciless Indian Savages.” Indian warfare was
equated to the obliteration of all Euro-American without concern for age, sex
or condition, which painted a picture of Indian people being barbaric.[iii] While some Indian warriors exhibited some
extreme and harsh behaviors, generally speaking, Euro-American soldiers were
far more brutal. Euro-American soldiers
maimed women and children of all ages. Indian babies were even thrown to dogs
as food, while they were still alive in front of their mothers. However, at the
same time these atrocities were occurring, the American government continued to
take steps to address the “Indian problem” under the pretenses that the Indians
were solely at fault for all the problems the Euro-Americans were facing, such
as the takeover of Indian land.
Treaties were mechanisms put into
place as a formalized way of securing land holdings for Euro-Americans where
Indian people used to reside. The first
treaty was established in 1778 and the last was enacted in 1871. Over 400 treaties were established between
Indian tribes and the United States government.
Congress and the commissioners sent to assure that these treaty
documents were secured with the tribes. The Indian people were considered to be
the conquered ones. These meetings were
not based on equality, they exemplified expansionism. For example, the Treaty of Paris in 1783 took
possession of Indian Territory from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.[iv]
Not all of the 550 federally recognized tribes established treaties with the
federal government.[v]
George
Washington was contacted by Henry Knox, Secretary of War, during the summer of
1789. Knox proposed to Washington that
Indian policy needed further clarification and additional revisions. Indian
policy was customarily under the Articles of Confederation. Knox proposed that Indian tribes be
considered foreign nations. Under the Constitution, authorization was given to
Congress to control all commerce with foreign nations, which caused even
further alienation between the Euro-Americans and Indian people.[vi]
During
the 1790s, the United States government was faced with four alternatives
concerning Indian policy. These options
included extermination; re-location of Indian tribes to small plots of land,
while towns sprouted up around them; assimilation by transforming them into
Christian farmers; or relocation to unsettled territories west of the
Mississippi. President Thomas Jefferson
supported assimilation as the only viable and humane process when he addressed
the “Indian problem.”
In 1793,
Congress gave authorization to the President to provide tribes with domestic
animals and farm tools. Agents were sent
to demonstrate how to use these tools.
However, policymakers were pessimistic about the possible outcomes of
these acts of assimilation. They
believed the Indian people would not accept the Euro-American culture and its
value system. It was decided that a more
efficient way of dealing with the Indian problem was to quarantine them.
President
Jefferson’s plan encompassed the transfer of the tribal people from the
southern states to the northern states.
Plantations were set up in the southern states and slaves were utilized
to enhance prosperity for the Euro-Americans by expanding the goods produced by
the wealthy landowners. The land in the
south was divided into territories with a plan to establish states in the
future. The lands vacated in the south
by the Indians would be sold to help pay for part of the cost of Louisiana.
On July
5, 1803 Meriwether Lewis set off on the well-known Lewis and Clark expedition.
William Clark joined Lewis in October of 1803 in the Indiana territory, across
the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.
Jefferson’s plan was that Lewis would inform the tribes about the
election of the new “father” of the United States. The new father’s hopes included tribal people
embracing a commercial system, a system which had the potential to benefit
anyone involved in this economic process. Jefferson wanted to establish peace
and a trading domain in which the Indian people would stop their resistance and
put down their weapons. [vii]
Before
the onset of European occupation of the newly discovered land, Indian Territory
extended from the eastern shores to California. The natural boundary of the
western portion of this country at the end of the American Revolution was the
Mississippi River. In 1803, when Thomas
Jefferson was president the boundary was expanded to the Rocky Mountains. By the 1840s the boundary reached the Pacific
Ocean. Indian people were considered to
be of heathen nature since they only possessed occupancy rights to the lands on
which they were forced to reside. In
other words, reservations served as a dumping ground for the Indian
people. The population of these
unfortunate people was numbered at only a few hundred thousand, reduced from
millions when the Europeans first set foot on the Western Hemisphere.[viii]
The Louisiana Purchase included
all land west of the Mississippi River and east of the continental divide,
which consisted of today’s Louisiana, Arkansas, parts of northeastern Texas,
Oklahoma, eastern Colorado and Minnesota.
During the Lewis and Clark expedition, Lewis and Clark added Missouri,
Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon as
part of the Louisiana Purchase. Jefferson
received fame and notoriety for his ingenuity and foresight leading to
the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson was relentless with ensuring that
these portions of land did not become additions to the British colonies. The Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and
Clark Expedition served a prominent role in the forming of what is known as the
United States.[ix]
William
Henry Harrison put into place an Indian Removal policy in 1809, because Indian
people were thought to lack the capacity to live up to Euro-American
standards. He negotiated the treaty of
Fort Wayne in 1809, which ceded the majority of land in Indiana and Illinois to
the Euro-American settlers. Harrison was
not going to let a few “wretched savages” get in his way of populating an area
that had the potential to support a large civilized population. He backed up his convictions with a large
military garrison. Harrison became the governor of the Northwest Territories
and then was elevated to one of the highest honors when he was elected as the 9th
president of the United States.
Contrary
to how Harrison despised the Indian people, he did recognize the power and
respect held by the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh.
He gave careful consideration to this fearless leader. Harrison paid this tribute to Tecumseh:
“The
implicit obedience and respect which the followers of Tecumseh pay to him is
really astonishing, and more than any other circumstance bespeaks him on those
uncommon geniuses, which spring up occasionally to produce revolutions and
overturn the established order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of
the United States, he would, perhaps, be the founder of an empire that would
rival in glory that of Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him. His activity and industry supply the want of
letters. For four years he has been in
constant motion. You see him today on
the Wabash and in a short time you hear of him on the shores of Lake Erie or
Michigan, or on the banks of the Mississippi, and wherever he goes he makes an
impression favorable to his purposes.”[x]
Despite Tecumseh’s efforts and the efforts of
other Indian warriors, the governmental military conquests were successful at
reducing Indian land holdings east of the Mississippi. Congress passed a bill
in 1819 to establish a “civilization fund.” Ten thousand dollars was allocated
for agricultural and literacy instruction of the Indian people. Those, who were
in agreement with participating with this instruction, were provided assistance
by missionaries. These missionaries served dual roles. First and foremost, they wanted to
Christianize the Indian people.
Secondly, they provided instruction to them about the proper customs
required to obtain citizenship. Missionary sponsored farms and households were
popping up in various locations in the country.
These served as models of acceptable values and customs for Indian
people to copy.
During the
1820s, Henry Schoolcraft visited the Ojibwe tribes and traveled with some of
the Indian men. He was impressed with
the wisdom of these tribal people and the detailed pictographs left behind by
them at each area visited. The Secretary
of War, John C. Calhoun recommended Schoolcraft to the Michigan Territorial
Governor, Lewis Cass, to assist with an expedition. The mission was to explore the land
surrounding Lake Superior. Schoolcraft
served as a geologist on the expedition.
Beginning
in 1822, Schoolcraft conducted ethnological research while he was appointed the
Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
He learned the Ojibwe language from his wife, Jane Johnston, who
happened to be of Ojibwe and Scottish/Irish descent. Schoolcraft’s admiration for the native
people quickly dissipated once he discovered that it would be more profitable
to support the actions of Andrew Jackson.
He took steps to obliterate the very same people who were connected to
his wife’s family, the Ojibwe people.
One of the ways he did so was he took a portion of their written works
and rewrote them to erase some of the Indian history. Schoolcraft also had
strong desires to obtain notoriety for his own written works.[xi]
The United States government has
had long established mechanisms in place empowering those in authority to have
control over the actions and resources of the general population. Public laws become enforced legislation
through the actions of contradictory parties of a two party system, divergent
priorities, and confrontational approaches. So keep in mind how the laws
governing the masses come into enforced legislation. Oftentimes, laws are not
based on sound logic and what is in the best interest of the people. However,
the federal government strived to avoid the pitfalls of what happened in Europe
with regards to land ownership and utilitarian form of leadership. Land in
Europe was controlled by landlords. The giving of parcels of land to settlers
created a country comprised of independent citizens.
“All for the public good” were the
politicians’ claims in their effort to hide their and their supporters’
self-serving agendas. When Andrew
Jackson was elected president of the United States, he was supported by the
wealthiest men in the south. The land in
which the Cherokee, Choctaw, and other tribes resided was targeted by wealthy
entrepreneurs who wanted to expand their cotton plantations. [xii] Jackson despised the Indian people and did
not defend Indian rights. He openly
rejected federal treaty obligations.
Jackson reinstated the Indian Removal Act, which was passed by Congress
in 1830. This act gave the President the
privilege of selecting the tribes to be removed and provided the financing for
this removal. Seeds of greed and hatred
fueled these acts of genocide and discrimination and the joint collaboration
falsely justified the takeover of the Indian people’s land.
Jackson’s agents bribed, used
deception and threatened individual Indian people and groups to accomplish the
President’s goals. Records were falsified. Tribal leaders for the Cherokee nation
resisted their removal from their tribal lands at the state and federal level.
In 1831, the tribe won their case due to their independent sovereign nation
rights. Their victory was the result of Chief Justice John Marshall’s legal
expertise. However, Jackson was not
going to let this setback deter him from his goal, he was determined to remove
the Cherokee people from their land.
The
Choctaw nation was the first to be removed from their ancestral land in Mississippi
during the winter of 1831. Several
groups were pressed to travel through blizzards and subzero temperatures. Many of these individuals were without foot
coverings and were malnourished from lack of food. One blanket was allotted to each family. The Creek nation was driven off their land in
Alabama in 1836 in the same fashion, except many were in chains. 1837 marked the first year of the Cherokee
ejection and the historic “Trail of Tears.” In the same cruel way, the Cherokee
nation lost approximately one-quarter to one-half of their tribal people during
the deadly march to Oklahoma.[xiii]
In 1836, in
support of President Jackson’s efforts, Henry Schoolcraft resolved disputes
over land with the Ojibwe. He employed tribal leadership to bring about the
1836 Treaty of Washington. The Ojibwe
tribe surren-dered to the United States government a considerable amount of
land, more than 13 million acres, which was worth millions of dollars.
Schoolcraft believed these native people would be better off learning how to
farm. Government officials established a
subsidy system through which they were given supplies during the transition
period from hunting to farming.[xiv]
The mid 1840s was a turning point
concerning the ideals of expansionism in the United States. Seeds were planted to adopt the principles of
expansionism by John Adams and John C. Calhoun during the development of the
original Constitution, after the war of 1812 and further propagated by John L.
O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan went further and formally
proposed the phrase “Manifest Destiny.”
“Manifest Destiny” involved the expansion of United States territory,
which was considered prearranged by the divine, and descendents of European
immigrants were to be the beneficiaries. These beliefs further justified the
takeovers of Indian resources, such as water, land, timber, silver, gold and
other valuable reserves. The expansion included a massive move westward to form
a larger civilized land base for those who participated in the acts of freedom
described by the federal government.
“Manifest Destiny” made its public debut in the Democratic Review in the July and August 1845 issues. O’Sullivan founded the Democratic Review and was a co-founder of the New York Morning News.
During this time period, he was considered a scholar, visionary, as well
as a politician, adventurer, and literary artist. With popularity on his side,
the concept he advocated took hold of the American public like a storm.
The
Euro-American infringement of tribal lands continued during the gold strikes of
1858, which offset the equilibrium of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes in
Colorado. The government, in their
effort to appease the white settlers, moved the two tribes to small
reservations. These encroachments
triggered the eruption of a bloody war that ensued until 1865. The white man’s greed for gold led to even
more threats to other tribal nations such as the Santee Sioux nation to the
north. In 1867, Congress organized a Peace Commission to cease the Sioux War. [xv]
Geronimo, Red Cloud, Sitting
Bull, Crazy Horse and thousands of their Indian comrades evaded and fought U.S.
troops in the effort to hold onto their land and its resources. The U.S. Army continued to unwisely think
that Indian people lacked the sophistication to be a threat. In 1866, an
incident took place that came to be known as the Fetterman Massacre. Crazy
Horse, Hump and Little Wolf were the leaders of a decoy group. They managed to
trick the soldiers quite easily into following them. Several warriors ambushed
and killed 81 troops.
In 1868, three years after the
civil war, federal officials implemented a second Fort Laramie Treaty that
established geographic boundaries for the Lakota reservation. This treaty
ensured that encroachments would not occur within these boundaries. Ranchers, settlers, miners and others would
be prevented from stepping foot on this land. However, the treaty was dismissed
soon after its inception when miners wanted to tap into the “Black Hills
gold.” Cattle ranchers, railroad
companies, and farmers followed suit and claimed additional parcels of land
defined in the treaty as trust land.
The nation was starting to be
interconnected by the construction of the transcontinental railroad in
1869. Before Lincoln’s death he was the
driving force behind this project. The building of the railroad was considered
a pivotal accomplishment and the winning of the civil war was credited to it by
many Euro-Americans. Government officials set up a system of military forts to
provide security to the railroads and their associated munici-palities. Before
the completion of the railroads, railroad companies lobbied for free land with
Congress. Congress endowed them with considerable expanses of tribal lands.
Every acre of land that was given to these companies interfered with access to
land, water, and game for the Indian people.
The transcontinental railroad
stretched from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California. The magnitude of resources necessary to
construct this engineering marvel was tremendous. The skills were obtained in American colleges
and perfected through the shackles of war.
The industrious laborers worked with a fortitude developed by following
orders during war time. Chinese men predominantly worked on the Central Pacific
Railroad, and Irish men worked primarily on the Union Pacific. These immigrants
numbered up to 15,000 at any given time during the construction of these
railroads. Captive Indian men were also enlisted to work on the railroads.[xvi]
In 1871, Congress began the
process of dismissing all federal treaties.
Many of the tribal people were forced to live on useless arid plots of
land, suffering slow agonizing deaths due to starvation. Related to the
construction of the railroad and the development of reservations was the
disappearance of bison herds. Bison
served as the main source of sustenance for the Plains Indians and also
furnished meat for the railroad builders.
There was a market for bison hides.
Eastern hunters and sportsmen from Europe visited the plains to hunt the
bison before they became extinct.
Before 1874, three main herds of
bison were known to trek from Texas to Canada annually. By 1876 bison hunters
contracted by the federal government had annihilated all three herds. The
needless slaughter of bison destroyed the balance with nature the Indian people
had maintained by taking only what was needed for food, clothing, and shelter.
Starvation became unavoidable. This extreme suffering led to the surrender of
the Lakota people, one of the most powerful tribes of the northern Great
Plains, to the American military forces during the winter of 1877.
In 1885, the Major Crimes Act was
enacted by Congress.
“…Sec.9. Then immediately upon and after the date of
the passage of this act all Indians, committing against the person or property
of another Indian or other person any of the following crimes, namely, murder,
manslaughter, rape, assault with intent to kill, arson, burglary, larceny
within any territory the United States, in either within or without an Indian
reservation, shall be subject therefore to the laws of such territory relating
to set crimes, and shall be tried therefore in the same courts in the same
manner and shall be subject to the same penalties as are all other persons
charged with the commission of set crimes, respectively; and the said courts
are hereby given jurisdiction in all such cases; and all such Indians
committing any of the above crimes against the person or property of another
Indian or other person within the boundaries of any state of the United States,
with the limits of any Indian reservation, shall be subject to the same laws,
tried in the same courts and in the same manner, and subject to the same
penalties as are all other persons committing any of the above crimes within
the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.”
“To prevent a recurrence of cases
like the murder of Spotted Tail by Crow dog, in which the murderer was set free
because the federal courts had no jurisdiction over crimes committed by one
Indian against another within Indian country, Congress declared that sev3en
major crimes committed by Indians on reservations would fall under the
jurisdiction of the United States courts. This was a major encroachment upon
traditional tribal autonomy.”[xvii]
In the past, Indian people doled
out corrective actions for behaviors that were considered of a criminal nature
against other tribal members and their property. The corrective actions were embraced as a
deeply entrenched cultural practice that maintained order and peace within the
tribal villages. For example, when
someone was killed either intentionally or unintentionally, the family of the
lost one made the determination of what was to happen to the one who committed
the crime. Sometimes, the family would
adopt the guilty party into their family to replace the person who was killed
or the family would put the person to death to avenge their family member’s
death. It was the family’s
decision. When the federal government
took over this responsibility, it caused many problems for the Indian people
and threw off balance an organized system of governance. The authorities would
often abuse these privileges by creating false accusations for crimes they
didn’t commit, and/or by being abusive to Indian people who were accused of
committing crimes.
Along with the beginning of the
boarding and residential school era, the year 1887 was another turning point
for Native American people. Congress passed the General Allotment Act, also
known as the Dawes Act, because Henry Dawes was its chief supporter. President
Grover Cleveland signed this act.
“An act to provide for the
allotment of land in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, and to
extend the protection of the laws of the United States in the territories over
the Indians, and for other purposes.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
That in all cases where any tribe or band of Indians has been, or shall
hereinafter be, located upon any reservation created for their use, either by
treaty stipulations are by virtue of an act of Congress or executive order
setting apart the same for other for their use, the president of the United
States be, and he thereby is, authorized, where whenever and his opinion any reservation
or any part thereof of such Indians is at advantageous for agriculture and
grazing purposes, to cause said reservation, or any part thereof, to be
surveyed, or re-surveyed if necessary, and to allow the lands in said
reservation in severalty to any Indian located thereon…”[xviii]
The General Allotment Act afforded
the President the ability to distribute quarter sections (160 acres) of Indian
reservation lands to each Indian person who was the head of a household.
Bachelors over eighteen years of age received an eighth section. Those who
accepted these allotments were required to live on their homesteads away from
their fellow tribesmen. Another advantage to this initiative was to extend
citizenship to the Native Americans as legal landowners. [xix]
Therefore, Indian land could be and was taxed.
The Dawes Act was strongly enforced
in Michigan. Any reservation land that
was not appropriated to Indian people went to the Euro-Americans. The Dawes Act was a part of the assimilation
process that involved detribalization that caused Indian people to lose their
tribal identities and thus, become American citizens. The “Indian problem”
would fade away because Indian people would disappear into the fabric of
American society and be a part of the large tapestry. The allotment process,
which lasted two decades, caused long-lasting depen-dency and resentment by the
Indian people and served as a catalyst for the accomplishment of the goals set
forth by “Manifest Destiny.”
Another historical event that has
caused long lasting traumatic effects for the Lakota people occurred during the
month of December in 1890, a few days after Christmas. A band of approximately
300 Lakota men, women and children were ordered to travel almost 150 miles
through inclement weather without adequate food and clothing to the Pine Ridge
Agency. After these unfortunate people were held captive by the American
military upon reaching their destination, they were murdered in cold blood. The
United States government awarded 18 of the soldiers, who participated in this
mass slaughter, the Congressional Medal of Honor for shooting mostly children
and women, some of the women were pregnant. This incident is known as the
Wounded Knee Massacre. [xx]
Indian people continued to be plagued with additional hardships during the
Twentieth Century.
Twentieth Century
For centuries federal laws have
been affecting various sectors of the population in a variety of ways and have
exerted control over the actions and resources of the entire population either
directly or indirectly. Many
governmental agencies put into place to serve the Indian population had a hand
in various acts of discrimination, assimilation and genocide including the
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
During the early 1900s, the BIA
worked on coercing tribal people to become peaceful farmers and adopting their
white neighbor’s morality and need for materialism. A BIA directive denounced the Sun Dance and
other spiritual ceremonies. Strong
spiritual connections were associated with these ceremonies and provided a
balance within tribal communities. The
ability to practice these sacred ceremonies was not legally reinstated until
1978.
Today, the
BIA has under its command one hundred and eighty-five federally recognized
tribal or Bureau managed schools.
Congress has taken notice of the problems concerning the administration
of BIA schools from the BIA itself, and has introduced amendments to address
these issues. A public apology was issued by Kevin Gover, Head of the Federal
Bureau of Indian Affairs, concerning the hardships caused by the insensitivity
of the BIA officials towards the Indian population in the past. Refer to Appendix B.
In 1924, Congress implemented the
“Citizen Act.” Indian people were made
citizens of their own country. This act came with high costs such as the taxes
that were imposed which led to the loss of a vast amount of tribal land. During
the next three decades, the BIA continued to break up parcels of communally
held land and allot it to Euro-Americans.
Euro-American businessmen repeating the behavior of “Manifest Destiny”
fanatics, took advantage of unsuspecting tribal people and leased or bought
approximately two million acres per year.[xxi]
By 1928,
most Indian people were living in poverty. That same year, Lewis Meriam conducted
his historical study. His report indicated the vast majority of Indian people
suffered from a lack of health care and educational opportunities. The Euro-American economic and social
standards were of no benefit to them.
The “Great Depression” was another hardship. Policy makers continued to
ignore the needs of tribal people even after the Meriam report was publicized.
During
the late 1940s, the government decided to continue to coerce the tribal people
from their lands and communities for various reasons. One reason was the costs
allotted to provide financial support for Indian people. Another reason
involved the clearing of reservations for purposes of mining. The overarching
reason was to continue the process of assimilation.
In spite
of these acts of discrimination, Indian men continued to “fight the white man’s
wars.” “According to John Collier, then
Commissioner of Indian Affairs, there were 7,500 American Indians in the armed
forces as of June 1942, less than six months after the attack on Pearl
Harbor. By October of that year, another
observer reported that the number of Native Americans in the military had risen
to well over 10,000. By 1944 almost
22,000, not counting those who had become officers, were part of the United
States armed forces. At the war’s end,
there were over 25,000 Native Americans scattered throughout the military
services, with the bulk of them in the U.S. Army.” These numbers represented a
larger proportion than any other ethnic group in the U.S. [xxii]
Native Americans primarily fought in the wars because they
linked being a warrior with honor, and because they felt they were upholding
what the Indian people promised in treaties; however, the Euro-Americans did
not honor their treaty obligations. Many
of the treaties included provisions in which the tribal people would fight in
wars alongside the Americans to protect the rights of all Americans.
During the 1950s and early 1960s,
a massive termination effort was conducted, which was reflected by governmental
policies. During this time, 13 tribes lost their federal recognition
status. Loss of status involved the
disappearance of federal protections and services along with their trust
status. The Menominee tribe in Wisconsin
and Klamath in Oregon were the largest tribes to fall prey to this
calamity. When tribes lost their trust
status, it meant that these tribal entities had to pay taxes. In order to pay these taxes, they had to
start selling off their land. Their reserved land bases shrunk immensely, which
continued to support the goals set forth by “Manifest Destiny.” [xxiii]
Beginning in 1952, federal
policymakers passed legislation that allowed the storing of highly radioactive
waste by-products from the mining of uranium primarily in reservation
areas. Mining was also conducted in
reservation areas in spite of massive amounts of ore deposits located in other
locations. Maximization of profits for
energy corporations served as the motive for these mining practices. The Navajo, Lugunas and other tribal
communities were exposed to highly carcinogenic and mutagenic agents as a
result of these mining maneu-vers. The
storage of nuclear waste has continued to occur on reservations such as the
Mescalero Apache Reser-vation in New Mexico, in the Yucca Mountain area, and
the Navajo treaty land base of the Western Shoshoni.
The
American Indian Movement (AIM) was created in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 as
a means of protecting the rights of the Indian people. This movement replaced
an anti-poverty program based in Minneapolis.
AIM was originally referred
to as Concerned Indian Americans until members recognized the comparison of
titles to the Central Intelligence Agency.
The initial goals of AIM
included the improvement of economic and educational conditions for Indian
people.
Many
Vietnam veterans returned to the United States and found an unbearable
situation and became members of AIM. The majority of Indian people were living
in poverty. Vietnam veterans who experienced “cognitive dissonance” as a result
of fighting in that war turned their psychological distress into political
activism. The term “cognitive
dissonance” refers to when people’s values and beliefs turn out to be
drastically different from the realities he or she is going through.
Many Indian men fought in wars
because they felt they were upholding requirements set forth by treaties
between their tribes and the U.S. government. “Why was I fighting to uphold a
U.S. treaty commitment halfway around the world when the United States was
violating its treaty commitments to my own people and about 300 other Indian
nations?...I was fighting the wrong people, pure and simple…”[xxiv]
According to the Indian activists,
the government was continuing to instill policies associated with sadistic
national colonialism. Native Americans
were openly questioning termination, and relocation which resulted in extreme
levels of poverty and other serious issues that has existed and continues to
exist on reservations. AIM became a part
of a crusade process that strived to restore treaty rights, and change the
educational system. Under the educational system, Indian people were taught
self-hatred, and the goal of AIM was to reestablish and safeguard tribal
identity.
In 1969,
more than 300 Native Americans took over Alcatraz Island in San Francisco
Bay. “…Indians occupied and claimed the
abandoned federal property on the presumed stipulation put in an Indian treaty
that said abandoned federal lands would revert to Indian ownership… A Sioux
treaty of 1868 did indeed contain a provision stating that abandoned American
forts would revert to Indian ownership, but only a few of the activists were
Sioux and none were duly elected tribal officials who could take administrative
control of the property in the name of the tribe. Still, the takeovers continued, if for no
other reason than to publicize the revival of Indian activism and notify whites
that Indians were going to assert tribal rights wherever and whenever
possible.”[xxv]
In September 1971 approximately 60
Indian people, led by Russell Means, descended upon the BIA’s Washington office
to confront Wilma Victor, a past headmistress of the Intermountain Boarding
School near Brigham City, Utah. She
served as Deputy BIA Commissioner, and this new role was considered a conflict
of interest. AIM representatives felt
she may not support the needs of the Native Americans.[xxvi]
“In 1972, Indian activists
organized a massive march on Washington, D.C., known as the Trail of Broken
Treaties. The caravan was to form on the
West Coast and wind its way across the nation picking up followers as it went.
It was to arrive in Washington during the final week of the presidential
campaign. Indians poured into the city.
The bulk of them assembled at the Bureau of Indian Affairs building to
await word regarding where they were to be housed during their stay in the
capital. Eventually they were told that
they were to be housed in the Department auditorium.
As they were leaving the BIA,
guards began to push a number of people out the door. The young protesters
turned on the guards and seized the building.
The occupation of the BIA lasted for nearly a week before the Indian
people agreed to leave. In return, the
federal government agreed not to prosecute the protesters.” [xxvii]
For many years federal agents conducted secret missions to discredit and
eventually put behind bars the entire leadership of the American Indian
Movement. Today, AIM is still an active advocate for Native American rights.
During the
1970s an organization called the Indian Health Service (IHS) was established to
provide services to Indian people. The same IHS program implemented
sterilization services for Indian women.
This program resulted in involuntary and oftentimes uninformed
sterilization of 42 percent of all Indian women of childbearing age, in an
attempt to decrease the Indian population and as part of the genocide efforts. The
sterilization program was ceased in 1976. During the same time period,
approximately 13,000 Navajos residing in the Big Mountain region in Arizona
were removed from this land base to make way for the Peabody Coal Company.[xxviii]
The
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was passed by Congress on November 8, 1978 and
was signed by President Carter after numerous hearings were held in the Senate
to cover all issues regarding the status of Indian people in the United
States. The most significant discovery
from these hearings was the high percentage of Indian families that were
disrupted by the removal of their children by private and public agencies. The purpose of this act was to protect the
best interests of Indian children and support the permanence of tribal
communities and families. However, child
abuse and neglect continues to occur at higher rates for tribal children than
for the rest of the population.
During the
1980s, Inuit children residing on the oil rich North Slope in Alaska served as
guinea pigs for field testing hepatitis vaccines, which happened to be banned
by the World Health Organization (WHO) from international distribution due to a
possible link to the transmission of Human-immunodeficiency (HIV) microbes.
When Alaskan parents refused to allow further inoculation, the field tests were
transferred to the lower 48 states, and the unfortunate targets were
reservation children. The profits of two
major pharmaceutical corporations were connected to this study.[xxix]
In order for tribal people to access services, such as
medical care and food subsidies provided by the federal government, they need
to present identification cards to prove their tribal lineage. This created
another dilemma faced by many Indian people. A definition needed to be
developed by the various tribal and governmental entities in order to determine
who would share the benefits of tribal membership.
Blood quantum
issues have created dissention amongst Native Americans. To define what it meant to be Indian, not
only predicated biological factors, but a cultural sense and feeling of
belonging to a distinct tribal nation. Historically, Indian people welcomed
anyone into their tribal community who wished to participate in their cultural
practices. This interference by governmental officials created further
alienation within tribal communities, due to preserving and securing tribal
benefits as a means of survival. The idea of blood quantum has been based on
the quantitative approach to determining tribal membership that dates from the
early nineteenth century. The
determination of tribal identification, loss of tribal lands and other cruel
and harsh treatment continues to cause many problems for Indian people.
The
introduction of “Manifest Destiny” supported the Euro-American belief that they
had the divine right and privilege to pursue the takeover of all land and
resources between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. As a result, tribal people throughout the
United States and Canada have had to work diligently to rebuild their tribal
governments and begin to regain a sense of balance after they have been
victimized over and over again by acts of discrimination, assimilation, and
genocide. In spite of the social welfare programs put into place to address the
problems Indian people are facing, many still experience the social ills of
domestic violence, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect more than any other
segment of the population.
Notes:
NN
NN
[i] Diamond,
J. (1999). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The
Fates of Human Societies. New York: Simon and Schuster, 197.
[ii] Holms,
T. (1996). Strong Hearts Wounded Souls:
Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War. Texas: University of Texas
Press, 83-89.
[iii] Hall, M., Schaessens, C., Connelly, K., &
Connelly, R.(Eds.). (2007). Great
American Documents: The Landmark Documents in Our History. London: Quercus Publishing, 29.
[iv]
Ellis,J. (2007). American Creation. New
York: Vintage Books, 131 – 132.
[v] Utter,J.
(1993). American Indians: Answers to
Today’s Questions. Nebraska: University of Oklahoma,86.
[vi]
Ellis,J. (2007). American Creation. New
York: Vintage Books, 135.
[vii]
Ambrose, S. (1996). Undaunted Courage: Meriwther Lewis, Thosmas Jefferson, and the Opening
of the American West. New York:
Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 154.
[viii]
Merk,F. (1963). Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History. Toronto: Random House of Canada Limited, 24-60.
[ix]
Ambrose, S. (1996). Undaunted Courage: Meriwther Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening
of the American West. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 13-14.
[x]
Sugden,J. (1997). Tecumseh: A Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 215.
[xi] Henry
Schoolcraft accomplished many things from exploration and geologic survey to
many published works. He served at Fort Brady
in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Fort
Brady
[xii]
Nies,J. (1996). Native American History:
A Chronology of a Culture’s Vast Acheivements and Their Links to World Events. New
York: Ballantine Books, 242 – 243.
[xiii]
Nabokov, P. (1992). Native American
Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophecy to the Present,
1492-2000. New York: Penguin Books, 145- 151.
[xiv] Ibid.
[xv]
Dewing,R. (2000). Wounded Knee II. South Dakota: Pine Hill Press Inc., 3-4.
[xvi]
Ambrose,S. (2000). Nothing Like It in the
World: The Men Who Built the
Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, 17-22.
[xvii]
Prucha,F. (2000). Documents of United States Indian Policy. Nebraska: University of
Nebraska, 166.
[xviii]
Ibid, 170-173.
[xix] Nies,
J. (1996). Native American History: A
Chronology of a details about more than
sex to permanently change the color of forCulture’s Vast Acheivements and Their
Links to World Events. New York: Ballantine Books, 17-22.
[xx]
Holms,T. (1996). Strong Hearts Wounded
Souls: Ntive American Veterans of the Vietnam War. Texas: University of
Texas Press, 179.
[xxi]
Churchill, W. (1997). A Little Matter American
History: A Chronology of a Culture’s Vast Acheivements and Their Links to World
Events. New York: Ballantine Books, 328.
[xxii]
Holms, T. (1996). Strong Hearts Wounded
Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War. Texas: University of
Texas Press,104.
[xxiii]
Churchill, W. (1997). A Little Matter American
History: A Chronology of a Culture’s Vast Acheivements and Their Links to World
Events. New York: Ballantine Books, 328.
[xxiv]
Holms, T. (1996). Strong Hearts Wounded
Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War. Texas: University of
Texas Press, 175.
[xxv] Ibid,
173.
[xxvi]
Dewing, R. (2000). Wounded Knee II. South Dakota: Pine Hill Press Inc., 21 –
28.
[xxvii]
Holms, T.(1996). Strong Hearts Wounded
Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War. Texas: University of
Texas Press, 173-174.
[xxviii]
Churchill, W. (1997). A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and
Denial in the Americas 1492 to the Present. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 249.
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