Native American Civil Rights 1865-1992 II

Question 1

2 with 2 EG

To what extent did the NA benefit from the Gilded Age - yes

Answer 1

• Two off reservation boarding schools were set up in Virginia and Pennsylvania which provided vocational training for boys and skills for domestic service to girls. Education provided NAs to find opportunities - better jobs with the Indian Agency and others as interpreators or scouts for the army
• Reservations set up farming communities - have some NAs opportunity for better healthcare and tribal lifecontinued on reservations in spite of US gov

Navajo - 4M acres to 10.5M and number of sheeps and goats from 15K to 1.7M
Dawes Act gave theoretical rights as US citizens as they turned into landowners

Question 2

To what extent did the NA benefit from the Gilded Age - no

Answer 2

• In practice reservation life was a failure. NAs lost their freedom, dendied civil rights and dependent on fed. gov aid (and insuffecient - national priorities and corrupt officials sold). Ghost Dances and attempts to escape the reservations led to massacres at Fort Robinson and Wounded Knee - land was hard to farm and lost - surplus - 2/3
• Education on the reservations were poor quality - confined to basic literacy, numeracy and agricultural skills and those taken away to reservation boarding schools (killed NA culture (kill the Indian, save the man) failed to get jobs
• Cultural insensitivity - women in tribes lost status after land given to family - affected Cherokee with matriachy. Sympathetic whites like Alice Fletcher - patronising, didn’t consult before imposing Dawes Act

Question 3

The Jerome Commission

Answer 3

In 1889 Pres. Benjamin Harrison appointed the Cherokee Commission, also known as the Jerome Commission after David Jerome, its chairman, to negotiate with Lone Wolf (refused to farm, found ways to subvert the ration system, harassed the Kiowa who coop with missionaries) the Cherokee and other Oklahoma tribes for their agreement to allotment and the sale of their surplus lands to the government.

440,000 acres home to 2,759 tribal citizens
Mamay-day-te challenged leigtimacy of agreement

Question 4

The Misleading Medicine Lodge Treaty

Answer 4

Any changes in the terms of the treaty required the consent of 3/4 of the male population and federal commission misled the people

Question 5

Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock

Answer 5

The Court held that an act of Congress must prevail over any specific article in a treaty with an Indian tribe. The court further held that, in any event, the land did not belong to the tribe. It was controlled by the United States, with Indians as mere occupants.

Led to 3M acres in Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache diminished to 3000
Power shifting away from tribal governing institutions and systems of justice

Question 6

The Society of American Indians 1911

Answer 6

• A progressive group formed in Colombus, Ohio in 1911 by 50 NAs, mostly middle class professional aimed to address the problems facing them - health, education, civil rights
• Not united in their vision, some sympathised with the position of the majority of Indians who were resisting assimilation, however majority thought assimilation was the only route to real improvement - collapsed 1920s

Question 7

WW1 effect on NA

Answer 7

• 10K men fought, gave recognition from gov of bravery, no seg units so had to integrate with whites
• Gov sponsored some to move away from reservations in defense industries - civilising influence - 1st stage of urbanisation
• Code breakers, arguably led to citizenship

Question 8

WWI effect on AA

Answer 8

• Great migration (1916-1970) - from rural south to midwestern north from agriculture to industrial work
• 350K served, most famous was 396th infantry regiment - Harlem Hellfighters
• Heightened AA expectations for equality - growth of NAACP

Question 9

WW1 effect on Women

Answer 9

• Increased participation in workforce - filled roles traditionally held by men - munition
• Took front lines as nurses and in military hospitals - Red Cross saw increase in female volunteers amd Womens Army Auxillary Corps formed
• Assumed responsibilities including managing household, finances, challenging pre-existing steroretypes
• Strengthened arguments for womens suffrage, catalyst in transforming lives of women

Question 10

To what extent did attitudes towards American Indians begin to change in the 1920s

Answer 10

• Devastating impact of the allotment policy began to be recognised - 80% latter of NA land lost - began to change attitudes and bring in new reformers who were prepared to try to respect and understand NA culture
• Pueblo Indians of New Mexico - 1921 - lost land and Dance Oreder, prohibited them from performing some of their traditional tirual dances
• In reaction, 1923 - American Indian Defense Association - campaign for lands for laws which protected the land rights and culture - successful - blocked Bursum and Leavitt bills

Question 11

The Indian Citizenship Act 1924

Answer 11

• Must really be seen in the contexrt of the US governments drive for Indian assimilation - US citizenship was not a goal for NAs
• Could be argued that it did empower NAs as right to vote increased to 2/3rd of the American Indian population - partly due to inter-marriage
• Many western states used legal arguments and voting qualifications similar to those used against blacks in the south to restrict the voting rights of Native Americans

Question 12

The Meriam Report 1928

Answer 12

• On the ‘problem of Indian administration’ in 1928 - painted a bleak picture of the impact of forced assimilation and said the government should prioritise the economic and social advancement of Indians
• Response to further encroachment onto the reservations to exploit the oil fields which they contained
• Condemned the allotment policy of the Dawes Act for depriving the American Indians of their land, and failing to provide support

STILL AN ASSIMILATIONIST STANCE

Question 13

Cultural impact the Wheeler-Howard Act had on NAs

Answer 13

• Overthrew 1883 law banning ceremonial dances - can practice religion and involved in admin in reservations
• Intended to recognise and preserve traditional culture of the Indian traibes - radical reversal of gov policy
• Laid foundation for further reform in the 70s

Question 14

Economic impact the Wheeler-Howard Act had on NAs

Answer 14

• Unallocated land between 1900-1930 restored to tribes
• Encouraged women to produce Indian arts and crafts as an econ incentive
• BUT limited in control over econ. affairs - fed. funds not suffecient

Question 15

Social impact the Wheeler-Howard Act had on NAs

Answer 15

• Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian divison built hospitals, schools and irrigation systems on reservations to improve conditions
• 1983 - NA pop. increased at a faster rate nationally
• NA women encouraged to aspire to higher education - Gladys Tantaquidgeon studied anthropology at uni of Pennsylvania and worked at Indian Bureau ion 1930s

Question 16

Political impact the Wheeler-Howard Act had on NAs

Answer 16

• NAs more involved in the work of the Bureau of Indian Affairs but some lacked legal issues when dealing with fed. authorities - general consensus STILL assimilationist - gov paternalistc
• Collier had to compromise - treated all NAs as homogenous group and did not recognise diversity - antoginising the Navajo people
• Only 39% voted for it - 172 tribes accept, 75 rejected it
• Extended political rights to NA women gave them the opportunity to train for domestic work

Question 17

Did the New Deal improve the position of NAs - yes

Answer 17

• Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 gave NAs a greater role in the administration of the reservations including the resotration of tribal self gov. Corportations were established to ensure that resources on the reservations were better managed
• First attempt by whites to protect the NA right to practice their own religion and assert their cultural identity - included the use of peyote and women arts and crafts and the Dance Act repealed
• Children allowed to attend local schools and learn more about NA culture rather than have western culture forced upon them - closure of Indian Boarding Schools completed in NA and NA women enocuraged to go to school (Gladys)
• Ended the allotment policy and called for the restoration of unallocated land. Fed. gov funding provided to improve conditions.

Question 18

Did the New Deal improve the position of NAs - no

Answer 18

• Poverty of American Indians was so great these measures did little to relieve their situations. Traditional life had been so irrevocabely destroyed by the extinction of the buffalo and land seizrues during the Gilded Age so any attempt to revive their traditional culture was bound to be superficial
• Although tribes were organised into self-governing bodies most NAs were suspisicous of Collier’s plan for self gov, many preferring assimilation - only 39% voted for the IRA
• Secret ballot among tribes were unpopular - democracy was seen as alien as part of ‘white man’s culture’ - didn’t bother asking what they wanted
• These improved were not maintained after WW2 - funds were diverted to the war effort and the Termination policy of the 1950s marked a return to forced assimilation

Question 19

Was WW2 a turning point - yes

Answer 19

• During the war approximately 100K NAs left the reservations or their homesteads. 25K NAs served with distinction in the armed forces, 75K moved to urban areas to work in the defence industry - first experience working outside
• National Congress of American Indians formed in 1944 - united in protest, copied the actions of NAACP and worked through the courts to challenge discrimination in employment and education
• WW2 began the process of urbanisation of the American Indians - argued to be the most powerful force in accelerating assimilation in the post war years

Question 20

Was WW2 a turning point - no

Answer 20

• Iroquois tribe refused to drafted in the army, and for those who remained it was a time of great hardship as resources were poured into the war resulting in reduction of money spent on the reservations
• Many returning NA soldiers were effecitvley forced back onto the reservations at the end of the war
• Many munition workers were also driven back to the reservations by prejudice and discrimination

Question 21

1945-1969 Urban Indians

Answer 21

• Between 1930 and 1960 the number of Americans Indians living in cities like NYC and Chicago increased x4 - many existed in transience between the reservation and the city
• War accelerated this, but did not increase the rights of NAs
• 1948 the Bureau of Indian Affairs tried to reduce the suffering on the reservations by setting up job placement centres in many of the cities in the west

Question 22

Indian Claims Commission

Answer 22

• Ostensibly appeared to be the means where they would regain the lands by treaties in the 19th century - 370 petitions
• Did few favours - worked sloely, little regard to evidence by Indian tribes
• Settlements were made in the form of financial compensation instead of returning the land - Sioux refused this for the Black Hills of Dakota
• Not as altruistic as might have appeared - further drive by the federal gov to complete assimilation of NA and end responsibility of reservation Indians - ‘wards’

Question 23

Policy of Termination from 1953

Answer 23

• More aggressive measures to hasten total assimilation in 1953 - Indians no longer ‘wards’ of the gov and end fed. control of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and make NA subject to the same laws and rights of US citizens - ended recognition of NA tribes and treaty rights
• Voluntary Relocation Program and Indian Voluntary Training Act - intended for comfortable housing and employment opportunies but 109 tribes terminated, 2.5M acres taken

Question 24

End of Termination in 1968

Answer 24

• NAs had the highest rate of illiteracy, disease and unemployment in the US and lived in the poorest accommodation
• President Lydon Johnson set out a programme to promote Indian self-help and respect - proposed a National Council of Indian opportunity to administer an ambitious programme of education for children of all ages funded by the fed. gov - would also provide better quality homes with proper sanitation and legal aid to provide NAs knowledge of their rights

Question 25

The impact of urbanisation on NA

Answer 25

• 1960, 60K of NA left reservations and garvitated towards cities - Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland - similar reaction to AA when migrating into cities - white hostility more common
• Small % of educated NA found a place amongst urban middle class, NA married white, cultural assimilation less challenging but ultimately 40-70% of resettled NAs returned to reservations
• Reality of urban dwelling - poverty, alcoholism, unemployment, 25% classified as poor and living in shanty houses. Life expectancy 44, 20 below average