Federal Indian Policy

OS215 Contemporary Native American IssuesTuesday, January 31, 2012

Major Policy Eras

• 1775-1820s: Sovereign to Sovereign

• 1830s-1850s: Removal

• 1850s-1890s: Reservation

• 1870s-1930s: Assimilation

• 1930s-1950s: Self-Rule

• 1950s-1960s: Termination

• 1960s-1988: Self-Determination

• 1988-Present: Self-Determination/Self-Governance

1775-1820s: Sovereign to Sovereign

• The United States Congress shall have power “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.” (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) (1787)

• Johnson v. McIntosh (1823)

• Treaty Signing

Chief Justice John Marshall

Sovereign to Sovereign

• Treaty with the Chippewa, 1842, ARTICLE 2: “The Indians stipulate for the right of hunting on the ceded territory, with the other usual privileges of occupancy, until required to remove by the President of the United States, and that the laws of the United.”

1830s-1850s: Removal

• Indian Removal Act of 1830

Andrew Jackson

Sandy Lake Tragedy

Zachary Taylor

Ojibwa Delegation to Washington, DC, 1852

Kechewaishke - Chief Buffalo

1850s-1890s: Reservation

• Treaty with the Chippewa, 1854

• L’Anse Indian Reservation:

• 44,379 acres (81% of the total land mass) has been lost since 1854 to present.

1870s-1930s: Assimilation

• Dawes Allotment Act of 1887

• Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

1930s-1950s: Self-Rule

1950s-1960s: Termination

• Immediate termination of Federal relationship with the Menominee

and Klamath tribes in 1953

• Belief that Native Americans would be better off assimilated into

mainstream American society

1960s-Present: Self-Determination

• Next Thursday…