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Timeline of Native Peoples' Relations with the US Government, 1787-1956

Timeline of American Indian Relations with the Federal Government, 1787 to 19561

1787 to 1886:

1787 - First [US] federal treaty enacted with the Delaware (Lenni Lenapi) Indians.

From 1787 to 1868, 371 treaties were ratified by the US
government. (Between 1607 to 1776, at least 175 treaties
had been signed with the British and colonial governments.)
While treaty provisions varied, they commonly included a
guarantee of peace and friendship; clarification of boundaries;
an understanding of any specific lands ceded to the US
government; guarantee of Indian hunting, fishing, and gathering rights (sometimes on ceded lands); a 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.

1789 - Indian Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Article I, Section 8, 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.

1790 - Indian Trade and Intercourse Act. This first federal
Indian statute outlawed all Indian land transactions that were
not federally approved.

1823 - Johnson v. McIntosh. First of the Marshall Trilogy’s
Supreme Court decisions that limited certain exercises of Indian sovereignty.

1824 - The Indian Office. This federal agency was administered by the War Department. The Office became the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1849 and was relocated in the Interior Department in 1854.

1830-1875:

1830 - Indian Removal Act. This law mandated the removal of Indians east of the Mississippi River to territory west of the Mississippi in Oklahoma.

1831 and 1832 - Cherokee v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia. US Supreme Court ruling that Indian tribes were not foreign nations, but rather “domestic dependent nations.” Both cases provided the legal [sic] basis for the federal trust relationship. [Note: Under the Separation of Powers, the Judicial Branch does not have the power to make or change legislation.]

1834 - 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.

1835-1871 - The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal. Between
1835-71, between 150,000 and 300,000 Indians were forcibly removed from their ancestral homes and relocated in Indian
Territory. In 1838, President Jackson sent federal troops to
forcibly remove almost 16,000 Cherokee who had refused to
move westward. In May, American soldiers herded [sic] most into camps where they remained imprisoned throughout the summer and where at least 1,500 perished. The remainder began an 800-mile forced march to Oklahoma that fall. In all some 4,000 Cherokee died during the removal process.

1851 - First Treaty of Fort Laramie. In this treaty, the Sioux [sic], 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 [sic] Nation. [Note: "Sioux" is the word the Anishinaabe Peoples, being forced into our land, used to refer to us. It means "little snake or "little enemy". In actuality, we are a tripartite People, composed of Santee (Eastern, Dakota dialect), Teton (Western, Lakota dialect), and Yankton (Far Eastern, Nakota dialect) Peoples.]

1864 - Sand Creek Massacre. A peaceful camp of Cheyenne
and Arapahos was attacked by the Third Colorado Cavalry
whose soldiers mutilated and killed nearly 500 unarmed
Indians. [Note: The soldiers returned to cheering crowds in Denver, brandishing body parts of the mutilated victims as they paraded through the city.]

1868 - Second Treaty of Fort Laramie. Treaty guaranteed the Sioux [sic], Cheyenne, and 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 [sic] Reservation and other tribal lands. [Note: Uner this Treaty the US "gave" us a minute portion of the land "given" to us in the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie.]

1871 - Indian Appropriation Act. This money bill included a rider that allowed the House of Representatives to ratify Inidian treaties along with the Senate. Thereafer, all future Indian policies would be made by both houses of Congress, rather than by treaty. [Note: This is the LEGISLATIVE termnination of sovereign nation status for Indian Peoples.]

[1874 - Custer led an illegal expedition into the He Sapa (Black Mountains), seeking and finding gold there.]

1876 to 1877:

1876 - Battle at Little Big Horn [Greasy Grass]. This battle occurred when General George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry were involved in a campaign to forcibly place the Sioux [sic], 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 [all of his troops]. The federal government spent the next two years tracking down these nations, killing some of their people and forcing most others onto reservations.

In 1877, [US] Congress annexed the Black Hills and the million acre reservations guaranteed by treaties were vastly reduced.

[Note: July 25, the Date of the Battle of the Greasy Grass, is celebrated as Victory Day among us.]

1878 - Carlisle Indian School. This first off-reservation military-style boarding school for Indians was established in Pennsylvania. The school created a model curriculum, disciplinary regime, and educational strategy designed to “kill the Indian and save the man.”

[Note the death, physical and psychological damage inflicted by Christian and governmental Boarding Schools is infinite, and continues to this day. See Kill the Indian, Save the Man, by Ward Churchill, Childred Left Behind, by Tim Giago.]

1880 - [US] Civilization [sic] Regulations. These US Interior Secretary rules (re-issued in 1884, 1894, and 1904) set forth a series of offenses and penalties that applied only to Indians. They outlawed Indian religions, the practices of “so-called” medicine men, religious ceremonies, and unauthorized roaming off the reservations. They remained in place until 1936.

[Note: Desecration of our Sacred Ground; persecution and effective prohibition of our Sacred Ceremonies and Objects remain rampant today.]

1886 to 1934:

1887 - [US] General Allotment Act (Dawes Act). This law authorized the [US] President to allot portions of certain reservation land to individual Indians - 160 acres to each head of family and 80 acres to others - to establish private farms, and authorized the [US] Secretary of Interior to negotiate with the tribes for purchasing “excess” lands for non-Indian settlement. The law sought to destroy Indian communities where property- sharing encouraged “tribalism,” subjected alloted land to taxation, and opened Indian lands for non-Indian purchase and settlement. The result was that from 1887 to 1934 (when the Act was repealed), Indian land holdings decreased from 138 million acres to 48 million.

1888 - The Sioux [sic] Act. This law divided the Great Sioux [sic] Reservation into six separate [distant] reservations in an effort to dilute their power and make much of their land available for non-Indian settlement.

1889 - Oklahoma Organic Act. This statute divided Indian
land into two territories in what is currently the state of Oklahoma: the Territory of Oklahoma in western Oklahoma was opened up to non-Indian settlement; and the Indian Territory in eastern Oklahoma was retained for continued Indian settlement.

1890 - Wounded Knee Massacre. 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.

[Note: The "fear" of the Ghost Dance is a pretext for the massacre of imprisoned, sleeping, unarmed children, women, and elderly men. Reprisal for our victory over Custer, desire for free access to the resources of the He Sapa (Black Mountains or "Hills"), and the desire to exterminate our People ("The only good Indian is a dead Indian" - General Phil Sheridan) are more realistic motivations.]

1891 - Indian Education. This statute authorized the [US] 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.

1893 - Indian Education. This Act of [US] Congress allowed the [US] BIA to withhold rations and [US] government services if [Native] parents did not send their children to school, as provided in the Civilization [sic] Regulations.

1898 - Curtis Act. This law ended tribal governments refusing
allotments and mandated the allotment of tribal lands in
Indian Territory.

1906 - Antiquities Act. This law declared that Indian remains
and objects found on federal land were the property of the
United States.

1919 - [US] Congress extended American citizenship to all Indian veterans of World War I.

1924 - Indian Citizenship Act. This law extended US citizenship and voting rights to all American [sic] Indians. Some Indians preferred to maintain only their tribal membership.

1928 - Meriam Report, “The Problem of Indian Administration.” This report, commissioned by the [US] 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 [US] BIA’s efficiency, promote the social and economic advancement of Indians; end allotment; and phase out Indian boarding schools.

1934 to 1968:

1934 - The “Indian New Deal.” The brainchild of [US] BIA Commissioner John Collier, the Indian New Deal was an attempt to promote the revitalization of Indian cultural, lingual, governmental, and spiritual traditions. This blueprint for reform was written by non-Indians who had championed Indian rights [sic] for decades through private organizations.

1934 - Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). The IRA was the centerpiece of the Indian New Deal. It encouraged Indians to “recover” their cultural heritage, prohibited new allotments and extended the trust period for existing allotments, and sought to promote tribal self-government by encouraging tribes to adopt constitutions and form [US] federally-chartered corporations. Tribes were all but required to adopt a US-style constitution are were given two years to accept or reject the IRA. Tribes who accepted it could then elect a tribal council. 174 tribes accepted it, 135 of which drafted tribal constitutions. But 78 tribes rejected the IRA, most fearing greater federal control.

1946 - [US] Indian Claims Commission. The Commission established by [US] Congress was to end tribal grievances over treaty enforcement, resource management, and disputes between tribes and the US government. Tribes were given five years to file a claim, prove aboriginal title to the lands in question, and bring suit for settlement. The Commission would then review the case and assess the amount, if any, that was to be paid in reparations. Until the Commission ended operations in 1978, it settled 285 cases and paid more than $800 million in settlements.

1953 - Termination. Under [US] House Concurrent Resolution 108, the [US] federal trust relationship with many Indian tribes was terminated. Terminated tribes were then subject to state laws and their lands were lost to taxes and sold to non-Indians. Eventually, [US] Congress terminated over 100 tribes, most of which consisted of a few hundred members. The Menominee of Wisconsin and the Klamath of Oregon were exceptions, with 3,270 and 2,133 members respectively.

1953 - [US] Public Law 280. This law transferred jurisdiction over most tribal lands to state governments in California, Oregon, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Alaska was added in 1958. Additionally, it provided that any other state could assume such jurisdiction by passing a law or amending the state’s constitution.

1954 - [US] Public Law 83-568. This law transferred responsibility for American Indians and Alaskan Natives’ health care from the [US] BIA in the [US] Department of Interior, to the [US] Public Health Services within the [US]Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

1956 - Relocation Act. This Act allowed the [US] BIA to offer grants to Indians willing to leave the reservation to seek work in urban locations. By 1975, more Indians lived in urban areas than on reservations.

1 important benchmarks in federal-tribal relations and is not intended to be an exhaustive or definitive timeline of such events or issues.

DavidYeagley.org

DavidYeagley.org
Han, Dr. Al Carroll,

I just read your essay, "Republicans Do Nothing for Indians But Kill Them" in the Yahoo Group Necessary Dissent. I am a half Blood, whole Spirit, Native, who was adopted out to, and abused by, (Republican) European people. I found a job - and published a book - where you did, at the University of Nebraska. It has been sheer hell here, but I found the Red Road, in the Oglala Lakota Way, and that made all the hell worthwhile. I am leaving that job now, to work for our people.

I am writing to tell you, OHAN!!!! for your essay. I am going to post it in every Native Internet Group in which I am involved. WOPILA!!!!

Mitakuye Oyasin,
Hante Unpan Winyan (Cedar Elk Woman)