Trail of Death (Potawatomi Removal)

 

“When we quitted this camp later, we left behind six graves in the shadow of the cross. We soon found ourselves on the grand prairies of Illinois, under a burning sun and without shade from one camp to another. They are as vast as the ocean, and the eye seeks in vain for a tree. Not a drop of water can be found there – it was a veritable torture for our poor sick, some of whom died each day from weakness and fatigue.”

-Father Benjamin Petit

 

In September of 1838, 859 Potawatomi Indians, forced from their homeland near Plymouth, Indiana, marched at gunpoint 660 miles to present-day Osawatomie, Kansas. During the arduous journey, their tribe lost 42 of its members, mostly children, of typhoid fever and the stress of the removal. Approximately the same amount escaped during the journey. When they arrived at their final destination, only 756 remained. The removal resulted from the Indian Removal Act passed by U.S. Congress and signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. The Five Civilized Tribes, who resided in the Southeast part of the country, were the original targets for removal. Some of the Potawatomi tribes moved earlier without being forced. The Pokagon Potawatomi managed to stay at their homeland in southern Michigan due to the efforts of their leader Leopold Pokagon, and partially because of their participation in Catholicism. Menominee’s tribe did not want to leave their homeland. The Potawatomi had nine distinct groups, seven residing in the United States and two ended up residing in Mexico and Canada. Many tribal groups signed treaties which enforced their removal from their homelands. The Potawatomi bands signed more treaties than any other tribes, 40 in all, which added a lot of confusion to where they were supposed to live.

 

We are like birds in a windstorm. The tree boughs keep

moving, and we don’t know which one to land on.

-Quito, a Potawatomi Elder

 

            All tribal nations have their own creation story. Some stories portray how the Potawatomi have always been in existence. Other stories tell about a migration from the Eastern coast with the Ojibwe and Odawa nations. The three tribes formed the Three Fires Confederacy, with each nation having served a vital role. The Ojibwe were keepers of Tradition; the Odawa were keepers of the Trade; and the Potawatomi served as keepers of the Fire. Originally, the Potawatomi migrated to north of Lakes Huron and Superior, to Wisconsin, southern Michigan, northern Indiana, and northern Illinois (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, ND).

            Potawatomi warriors fought in battles which were either lost or won such as the Battle of Fallen Timbers in Ohio in 1794. Tippecanoe (the Prophet and Tecumseh’s brother) was defeated by General William Henry Harrison in 1811. Potawatomi warriors participated in the siege of Fort Dearborn (Chicago) and Fort Wayne in 1812.  Over 20 years after the battles, they resided peacefully in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. They made an attempt to be farmers and live amongst white men. Many were baptized by the Catholic and Baptist missionaries. Some of the old warriors from the aforementioned battles were part of the removal in the 1830s (Willard, S. and Campbell, S., 2003).

The first Potawatomi band, who were removed from their homeland, lived near the Iroquois River by the Illinois-Indiana border. Thousands were removed from northeastern Illinois in 1835. Large and smaller groups traveled together. The 1833 Treaty of Chicago enforced the conditions for the removal of the Potawatomi from the Great Lakes Area when Michigan became a state in 1837. The journey involved approximately 500 Potawatomi and it was a hazardous trip in which one in every ten people died during the excursion. News traveled fast and small groups of families fled to northern Michigan and Canada to avoid removal to the western part of the country (Weiser, 2017).  

Leopold Pokagon’s village was at what is now Niles, Michigan. In 1838, Leopold and a small group of Potawatomi visited the Odawa at L’Arbre Croche (Petoskey, Michigan area) to find out if they could relocate to their area. The 1833 Treaty allowed them to remain in Michigan. Their future plan involved moving to reside with Odawa within five years. The 1836 Treaty of Washington signed between the Odawa, Ojibwe and the U.S. government ceded most of their land. There was no room for the Potawatomi to reside on the Odawa land. Leopold purchased land at Silver Creek Township by utilizing the tribe’s annuity monies accumulated from previous treaty negotiations. The Pokagon and other groups moved to the Silver Creek area which is now Dowagiac, Michigan. Brigadier General Hugh Brady made an attempt to force Pokagon’s Band out of Michigan. Pokagon, an elder man in bad health, traveled to Detroit to obtain a written judgment from Epaphroditus Ransom of the Michigan Supreme Court. He was granted the judgment and the Pokagon group could remain on their land. Other Potawatomi groups were not so lucky.

By August 1838 most of the Potawatomi bands migrated from their homelands in Indiana and Michigan to Kansas, which started in 1832. Menominee and his band refused to sign treaties and relocate to Kansas. Hundreds who did not want to move out west, joined Menominee’s band. The band grew from 4 wigwams in 1821 to 100 wigwams by 1838. Indiana Governor David Wallace was infuriated and ordered General John Tipton to remove the tribe.

On August 30^th, General Tipton, along with 100 troops, burned crops and the homes of the Potawatomi to discourage them returning to the area. They ordered at gunpoint 859 Indians to begin their march on September 4^th. Chief Menominee and two other chiefs, No-taw-kah and Pee-pin-oh-waw were transported in a horse-drawn jail wagon. The rest of the band traveled by foot or rode horseback behind the jail wagon. The group made the trek each day which started at 8:00a.m. each morning until 4:00p.m., when they received their first meal of the day.

Father Benjamin M. Petit accompanied the group of travelers and provided ministry to the tribe to aid them spiritually, emotionally, and physically. He took care of the sick. During that fall a drought occurred and there was little water available for the travelers, what they found was stagnant. Many became sick with probably thyroid disease. More and more died along the way and Father Petit became sick. While sick he conducted ministry to the sick. On November 13, 1838, he sent a letter to Bishop Simon Brute in Vincennes, Indiana, to describe the march (Wiemer, 2017).

“The order of march was as follows: the United States flag, carried by a dragoon; then one of the principal officers, next the staff baggage carts, then the carriage, which during the whole trip was kept for the use of the Indian chiefs, then one or two chiefs on horseback led a line of 250 to 300 horses ridden by men, women, children in single file, after the manner of savages.

On the flanks of the line at equal distance from each other were the dragoons and volunteers, hastening the stragglers, often with severe gestures and bitter words. After this cavalry came a file of forty baggage wagons filled with luggage and Indians. The sick were lying in them, rudely jolted, under a canvas which, far from protecting them from the dust and heat, only deprived them of air, for they were as if buried under this burning canopy – several died” (Wiemer, 2017, paras. 8 and 9).

They marched across the prairies of Illinois and crossed the Mississippi River at Quincy, Missouri and continued until they reached the Kansas territory and Osawatomie, Kansas, the final destination. The tired group reached their final destination on November 4, 1838. Winter was coming on and there were no houses for the Native Americans which the government promised. The Potawatomi and a very sick Father Petit stayed with them for a few weeks until Jesuit Father Christian Hoecken agreed to provide them with a place to stay at the St. Mary’s Sugar Creek Mission, 20 miles away from Osawatomie.

Father Petit traveled to Indiana accompanied by Nan-wesh-mah Burnett. He had to be held on the horse and had sores all over his body. He ended up traveling by wagon because he was so sick. He died at the seminary in St. Louis, Missouri on February 10, 1839 at the age of 27. The Potawatomi thought he was a saint.

Three years after their arrival, Mother Rose Phillippine Duchesne arrived at the mission in 1841. She taught school to the Potawatomi children and was known to have established the first Indian school for girls west of the Mississippi River. When she turned 72, her health was failing so she dedicated her life to prayer and prayed day and night. The Indians called her Quah-kah-ka-num-ad (woman who prays always).

The Potawatomi remained at the mission for ten years. In 1848 they moved further west to reside close to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Reservation at Mayetta, Kansas. While at the first mission, 600 of the Potawatomi died, many shortly after their arrival. Chief Menominee died on April 15, 1841 when he was 50. All of the dead Potawatomi were buried at the site (Weiser, 2017).

Today, seven distinct Potawatomi bands reside in the United States: Citizen Potawatomi, Forest County Potawatomi, Hannahville Indian Community, Match-e-he-nash-whi-wish Potawatomi, Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi, Pokagon Potawatomi and Prairie Band Potawatomi. The Coahuila Potawatomi reside in Mexico and the Walpole Island First Nation people live in Canada. The group that resides in Mexico, fled to Mexico to avoid the “white man’s war” (the Civil War) in December 1864 (Godfrey, 2015).

The Potawatomi have history of fighting in battles during the 1700 and 1800s. They decided to settle down to a life of farming and tried to live in harmony next to the white settlers. Leopold Pokagon managed to remain in Michigan because of the band’s willingness to embrace Catholicism and Pokagon’s ability to negotiate with a member of the supreme court. Many traveled west to settle in Kansas voluntarily. Michigan became a state in 1837 and the fertile land was needed for the onslaught of white settlers. Menominee’s band decided to hunker down in Indiana and refused to sign treaties. His band ended up being forced to march westward at gunpoint in what is known as the “Trail of Death.” Many died during the march and shortly after they arrived at their final destination. Various groups of Native Americans ended up leaving their homelands, but managed to continue their legacy.

Termination Era

 

“In Washington’s infinite wisdom, it was decided that tribes should no longer be tribes,

never mind that they had been tribes for thousands of years.”

-Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell

 

“This era marked another abrupt change in what can only be described as

a schizophrenic federal Indian policy.”

-Nez Perce Tribe

           In 1945, congressional opponents pursued endeavors to enforce assimilation of Native Americans to the white populations’ cultural practices. John Collier, who was forced to resign, emphasized cultural pluralism for American Indians. The revised approach involved termination. Terminating Indian reservations, terminating all treaty obligations, and terminating all government programs that served Indians were some of the methods of the proposed enforced assimilation. Indian cultures considered immaterial and anti-American, did not hold historical, cultural or legal ramifications for those who pursued the elimination of tribal status and involved in such status. Reservations were viewed as segregation and believed to have slowed the process of assimilation. They intended to dismantle the reservation system and utilize the natural resources located on specific reservations for private non-Indian companies, and to place the responsibility of Indian affairs on state and county governments. They wanted the federal government out of the Indian business. Termination policies ended the federally recognized status of approximately 100 tribal nations. State jurisdiction was lorded over the affected tribes. Many Native Americans suffered cultural shock when they were forced to relocate to urban slums and other areas. The termination process weakened tribal governments and had a long-lasting, damaging effect on their civil liberties.

            The motivation behind the termination tactics involved money and a sense of superiority over Native Americans. The United States faced enduring debt due to the rebuilding of war-torn countries and it did not want to be burdened with treaty rights, tribal governments, and the cost of Indian programs. Upon termination of various tribes, the reservation lands could be sold and/or be subject to local property taxes. The latter concept was highly supported by local governments who had rallied against Native Americans. After World War II, the United States faced a need for major housing expansion which involved an increased demand for natural resources, especially lumber. The tribes that resided in areas with valuable timber and mineral resources were picked to be relocated. The termination policies afforded these resources to be privatized and to be transferred from public domain to ownership by corporations to be further developed. The U.S. government struggled to fight against the cold war, against Communism and to maintain a certain way of life, an Americanized way of life. At the time, many people viewed Native Americans as if they were foreigners, aliens and tribal ownership of land was considered a form of Communism and anti-American. Native Americans received little to no support from the local governments. Others looked upon the termination policies as freeing Indians from federal control.

The first step towards termination and assimilation began with House Joint Resolution 698 in 1952 which included an examination of previous Indian affairs conduct and a list of tribes to be relocated. At first a rendered choice was given which consisted of tribes falling under basic categories of being economically self-supporting, have experienced a significant degree of acculturation and those willing to terminate governmental services. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) utilized an extensive questionnaire to evaluate each tribe. Reservation superintendents and BIA staff prepared a report of the results without Native American input (Native American Partnership, 2013).

In 1953, House Concurrent Resolution 108 called for formal termination of specific tribes which ignored that tribal people had been granted citizenship in 1924 and again in 1940 and were not wards of state governments. Again, Native Americans were not consulted on the termination process. Congress pushed for withdrawal from treaty obligations (Native American Partnership, 2013).

 

“Most of the pending legislation, if passed, would result in the end of our last holdings on this continent and destroy our dignity and distinction as the first inhabitants of this rich land.”

-National Congress of American Indians President Joe Garry (Coeur d’Alene)

 

“Either the United States government will recognize its treaty and statute obligations to the Indians… or we will continue down the bitter road toward complete destruction.”

-Apache tribal leader Clarence Wesley

 

The Menonimee Tribe in Wisconsin, terminated in 1954, became self-sufficient through their lumber business and sales enterprises which permitted them to pay for their members’ health, social welfare and education services before the termination effort. As a result of the termination effort, their economically advantaged competitors took over their timbered land holdings (Wilson, 2018).

Between 1945 and 1960 Congress terminated 113 tribes and bands which caused them to lose legal status as recognized tribes. 11,500 Native Americans lost their legal status as Indians and Native Americans lost 1.4 million acres of trust land. None of the Native Americans who were forced to lose their tribal status improved economically. Most existed in poverty. Many non-Indians profited substantially as a result of the termination process (Native American Partnership, 2013).

            In 1970, President Richard Nixon requested Congress to pass a resolution to cease the termination. He said the following.

            “Because termination is morally and legally unacceptable, because it produces bad practical results, and because the mere threat of termination tends to discourage greater self-sufficiency among Indian groups, I am asking the Congress to pass a new Concurrent Resolution which would expressly renounce, repudiate and repeal the termination policy as expressed in House Concurrent Resolution 108 of the 83^rd Congress” (Native American Partnership, 2013, para. 20).

            Since the end of the termination implementation, 78 of the 113 terminated tribes have had their tribal status reinstated by the United States government, 24 of the terminated tribes have become extinct, and ten have received state recognition but not federal recognition, and 31 ended up being landless (Native American Partnership, 2013).

            Many relocated Native Americans suffered from identity crisis and their families and communities were torn apart. The history of the Indian people involved traditions such as story telling that could no longer exist among the relocated tribal bands. They were dispersed amongst different ethnic and racial backgrounds and emersed in mainstream gender issues in a multicultural society. They suffered from a transition from communalism to a foreign individualism. To overcome their alienation, they escaped reality through drugs and alcohol. These unfortunate people shared many other problems such as unemployment, substandard housing, and a high rate of suicide. The termination policies led to cultural adjustments, socioeconomic struggles and psychological problems (Fixico, 2000).

             The Termination Era led many Native Americans to flee from reservations to urban and rural areas. Congress, after World War II, entertained ways to save money to rebuild war ravaged countries and provide homes for the growing population during the baby boom years. Spooked by the belief that Communism could take over the United States during the Cold War, many people believed the Indian peoples’ reservations represented a form of communism. One of  main reasons Congress sought to eliminate reservations was their desire to acquire the natural resources on specific reservations. A need for timber pushed tribes such as the Menominee tribe in Wisconsin to forfeit their homeland. For many years a multitude of tribal bands fought to reinstate their tribal status while enduring alcoholism, unemployment, high suicide rates and other societal ills.     

 

Termination Policies of the 1950s into the mid-1960s 

Federal Policy seeking to further assimilate American Indian into mainstream American society.  Focus on terminating the US Government's treaty-based, trust responsibilities to Indian communities, having individuals assume all responsibilities of full citizen.  Abrogating all treaty provisions, rights and responsibilities, extinguishing any rights to land, hunting and fishing, along with health care and educational programs, and police and fire fighting services.  Would be subject to federal and state taxes.  

House Concurrent Resolution 108

House Concurrent Resolution 108 of 1953 was a formal statement by the United States Congress announcing the official federal policy of termination. The resolution called for the immediate termination of the Flathead, Klamath, Menominee, Potawatomi, and Turtle Mountain Chippewa, as well as all tribes in the states of California, New York, Florida, and Texas. Termination of a tribe meant the immediate withdrawal of all federal aid, services, and protection, as well as the end of reservations. Individual members of terminated tribes were to become full United States citizens and receive the benefits and responsibilities of any other United States citizens. The resolution also called for the Interior Department to quickly find more tribes who appeared ready for termination in the near future.  

A total of 109 Indian Tribes and Bands were terminated within the United States, with approximately 1,365,00 acres of land removed from trust protection, effecting a total of 11,000 Indians or 3% of the total Indian population.

Public Law 280

Public Law 280, passed in 1953, gave State governments the power to assume jurisdiction over Indian reservations, which had previously been excluded from state jurisdiction. It immediately granted the state criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indian populations in California, Nebraska, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wisconsin. Special clauses prevented this law from being invoked on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota and the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. After being admitted as a state in 1958, Alaska was added to the list of covered states where termination would be the goal. Public Law 280 also allowed any state to assume jurisdiction over Indian lands by a statute or an amendment to the state constitution. This law made both the states and Native Americans unhappy: the former because they had new responsibilities without any increase in funding to support additional staff and supplies, the latter because they were subject to new laws.

The main effect of Public Law 280 was to disrupt the special relationship between the federal government and the Indian tribes. Previously the tribes had been regulated directly by the federal government.  In Worcester v. Georgia in 1832, the Supreme Court had ruled that state laws cannot be enforced on Indian land. While this preserved a kind of sovereignty and independence for tribes on reservations, in other ways they depended on a complex bureaucracy for too many services.

Source: https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/329termination_.htm

 

 

 

 

 

Death by Uranian

 

Uranium mines and mining has made a significant negative impact on Native Americans of the southwest by exploiting the impoverished residents of the Navajo Nation. Language barriers undermined their ability to comprehend the considerable danger to their health and environment associated with mining Uranian.  The United States government was culpable as the sole customer of the Uranian product.  The health and welfare of these people was compromised while mining and continued to have repercussions today with hundreds being affected.  Government officials have been aware of the contamination caused by the mining of Uranian but refuse to clean up the affected areas. This neglect and the exposure to the toxins during the mining process represents a form of genocide.

                The use of uranium didn’t begin with the atomic age.  Its use started in the 1500’s as a coloring agent for glass and porcelain by the use of pitchblende obtained from silver mines.  What is now known as Uranium was obtained in areas of Germany and Czechoslovakia which occurred for centuries. By the late 1800’s, scientific papers associated the mining of uranium containing products with lung disease.  By the 1930s lung disease in miners mining uranium was a compensable occupational disease in the aforementioned countries.

                World War II and the Manhattan Project propelled new uses for uranium in the defense and energy industries.  1946 saw the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and passage of legislation which mandated that the United States government was to be the sole purchaser of uranium followed a short time later.  While uranium was being mined in the United States since the late 1890’s in Western Colorado, it wasn’t until the discovery by Paddy Martinez in Grants, New Mexico in 1950 that a mining boom took off in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah (Brugge, D. and Goble, R., 2002).

                Numerous ore deposits were found on the Navajo reservation and surrounding area.  Economic necessity enticed many Native American men to seek work in the mines, hired by private companies which obtained the rights to mine given parcels of land.  Many men were hired without the proper disclosure as to how dangerous the work could be, often due to the language barrier because many only spoke Diné.  Consistent with history, the primary positions filled by Native Americans were general laborers; these were typically the lowest paying positions, they spent the most time in the mines and sustained the most exposure to toxic elements.  These laborers were paid minimum wage or less.  Mines began to develop in numerous areas of the reservation.  Given the times, many men traveled on foot or by horse and wagon so it became necessary to move their families to the areas of employment, often mining camps constructed by the mine.  Often buildings, including homes, were built out of materials withdrawn from the mines such as dirt and ore converted to bricks and adobe.

                In the 1950’s, as time progressed, there was an increase in certain diseases which weren’t as prevalent prior to mining.  Among these were lung cancer, other respiratory illness and renal cancer/failure.  Public Health Service (PHS) studies eventually concluded what European studies had already concluded years earlier, that exposure to ore products containing uranium was hazardous and that personal protective equipment (PPE) along with other steps to reduce exposure was essential for safety.  It still took time for PPE to reach many workers and for proper ventilation in mines to be put in place.

                The impact on health has extended beyond the workers themselves.  Family members and others working in the mining camps who provided secondary services had succumbed to the toxins as well.  Exposure has resulted from contamination of water and water supplies, aerosolized radiation in wind born dust and from soil contamination.  As noted previously, buildings were often built out of mining waste.  Statements have also been made that children would swim in mining holes filled with waste water.  Those being directly exposed aren’t the only victims, there was also a higher incidence of birth defects in children born to higher risk parents.

                In the end, approximately 520 mines were created on Navajo land.  In the mid 1960’s the U.S. government concluded it didn’t need all the uranium being mined and in 1966 allowed some product to be sold to commercial industry.  By 1971, the AEC stopped purchasing uranium.  With this the price dropped, diminished demand and forced the closure of many mines.  Often the companies would go out of business.  It wasn’t uncommon for the mines to be walked away from and abandoned without regard to the danger they presented (Brugge, D. and Goble, R., 2002).

                The United States government had been reluctant to assume full responsibility for the health problems associated with mining operations to miners, those concomitant with the industry such as ore processing and to those suffering from incidental exposure such as environmental exposure.  At times when compensation was authorized, ways to side step payment would be initiated.  One way this was accomplished was deferring payments if the victim indicated they were a smoker, even if the smoking only occurred in a ceremonial setting.  Another method to avoid holding the mining companies accountable was the fact that coverage by worker compensation precluded lawsuits against an employer for health and safety injuries or illness, all the while many were denied claims (Nez, J. and Lizer, M, 2019).

                The Navajo Nation’s leadership have been persistent in its efforts to rectify the problems concerning the health of its membership and the damage to Mother Earth.  Efforts were underway to secure the old, abandoned mines and processing facilities but it has been a costly endeavor and less than half of the mines on the reservation were addressed.  Additionally, with many of the companies no longer in business they can’t be held liable.  It would appear to be a situation where the Navajo were taken advantage of and now no one wants to step up and do the right thing, often the case where Native Americans have been concerned and Uranian mining has served as an unintentional form of genocide reveled by U.S. government officials’ lack of concern for the well-being of the Navajo people.