Native American Experience

Question 1

What are the four points that should be understood when studying Native Americans?

Answer 1

(1) There is much that is unwritten, unstudied, and underappreciated about Native Americans.
(2) Native Americans are unique. Not an immigrant group, as all other minority groups were.
(3) Their relationship with the dominant group lends itself to analysis from the conflict perspective.
(4) Native Americans are stereotyped as ‘the Indians,’ with every member of this vast, heterogeneous group lumped into a single category.

Question 2

Native American cultural characteristics (four were discussed)

Answer 2

Humans are simply a part of a larger reality.

“You ask me to plow the ground… Shall I take a knife and tear 	my mother’s bosom?  You ask me to cut grass and make hay… 	but how dare I cut my mother’s hair”

Land simply existed, the notion of owning, selling, or buying it was foreign to Native Americans.

More group oriented.

Tribes were organized around egalitarian values.

Question 3

Proclamation of 1763

Answer 3

All land west of the Appalachian mountains was “Indian Country.”

Any settlers west of the Appalachian who had not acquired a legal title to their land from the Indians must return to the colonies.

All future purchases from the Indians must be conducted in public meetings attended by representatives of the king.

Question 4

Northwest Territory Ordinance (1787)

Answer 4

The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress.

Question 5

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

Answer 5

Indian tribes now considered domestic dependent nations (sovereign nations, but some limitations on sovereignty

Question 6

Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Answer 6

Could laws be passed that superceded the laws of Native Americans?

• Although tribal sovereignty has limits, the remaining sovereignty is great.
• Tribal powers can make treaties.
• Should be protected from state encroachments.
• Enjoy basic immunities.

Question 7

The Indian Removal Act of 1830

Answer 7

This act was designed to force all of the Indians in the southeastern states to move west of the Mississippi.

Question 8

What events symbolized Separatism in regards to Native Americans?

Answer 8

Proclamation of 1763, Northwest Territory Ordinance, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia; and Worcester v. Georgia

Question 9

What events symbolized Anglo Conformity in regards to Native Americans?

Answer 9

BIA; Dawes Allotment Act; and boarding schools ; Indian Citizenship Act ;

Question 10

The Trail of Tears

Answer 10

The ordeal of removal took about twenty years, during which more than 15,000 people died of famine and disease along the way.

By early 1840, over 100,000 Indian people had relocated.

Question 11

The Bureau of Indian Affairs

Answer 11

BIA was created in 1824 in order to coordinate federal relations with Indians.

Supervised reservations and administered supplies.

Under BIA domination, indigenous Indians leaders were often set aside and replaced by white-controlled leaders.

The action of the BIA is a clear example of the role of government in defining and controlling racial and ethnic groups.

Question 12

The Dawes Allotment Act

Answer 12

Divided land into tracts which then were allotted to members of the tribes. Any extra land left over after each tribal member received their allotment could be sold to the US.

The Dawes Act was the centerpiece of the general effort to bring Native Americans into the mainstream of American society.

The main effect of the act was that Native Americans lost land.

Another effect was that Dawes Act increased the power of the BIA.

Question 13

Boarding Schools

Answer 13

BIA sent children to boarding schools

Required to speak English, covert to Christianity, and become educated in the ways of Western civilization

Children of different tribes were mixed together

Between sessions, children were boarded with local white families

Question 14

ANGLO-CONFORMITY:

Answer 14

The model of Assimilation by which
minority groups conform to
Anglo-American
culture

Question 15

The Indian Reorganization Act (1934)

Answer 15

By this act, the federal government abandoned the effort to require Indians to adopt the dominant’s group’s lifestyle and embraced instead a pluralist policy.

IRA restored the right of the Indian tribes to govern themselves provided they were willing to adopt the American model of representative democracy.

• Rescinded Dawes Allotment Act (programs to recover lost land)
• Boarding school system was dismantled
• Financial aid and expertise were made available for economic development of the reservation (natural resources)
• Financial assistance for college education
• Proposed an increase in self governance (reduced role of BIA)

Question 16

The “Termination” Policy (1953)

Answer 16

Indians should be freed from Federal supervision and control.

All laws and treaties currently in effect should be nullified.

Rejected the Indian Reorganization Act and proposed a return to private land ownership.

Tribes would no longer exist as legally recognized entities.

(Repealed 20 years later)

Question 17

Indian Civil Rights Act 1968 / Self Determination Act 1975

Answer 17

• Renunciation of the Termination Policy
• Terminated and unrecognized tribes may apply for federal recognition
• Reaffirmed the rights of Indians “to remain Indians while exercising their rights as Americans.” Encouraged self determination among Native Americans.

Question 18

The Society for American Indians

Answer 18

Prior the Indian Reorganization Act

• Many Indians who were bicultural, recognized that White-dominated industrial American society would destroy all things Indians, unless Indians joined together and created a “Pan-Indian Identity.”
• Integrationist (pursue goals within framework of American Society)
• Well respected leaders (among whites and Native Americans)
• Adopted a constitution to promote the advancement of the Indian rights.

Question 19

Major goals of the society for american indians

Answer 19

Two major goals: (1) the abolition of the BIA; (2) Citizenship to all Indians [achieved in 1924] / active for 13 years

Question 20

New Tribalism or Red Power:

Answer 20

During the 1960s and 70s, group of college students organized to create a new policy concerning Indian affairs.

Stressed self-determination and pride in race and cultural heritage.

Fish-ins: State of Washington nullified eleven federal treaties that had guaranteed the fishing rights of Indians in that state.

Alcatraz Island (1969)

Question 21

The American Indian Movement (1970s):

Answer 21

National organization that argued for Indian sovereignty and the protection of Indian treaties.

During the 80s and 90s, they organized and participated in protests over land rights; the rights of tribes to sell cigarettes without state or federal taxes; and misuse of cultural symbols and religious rituals (e.g., team mascots, gestures, and logos).

Pushed for legal action.

Question 22

Cultural Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present

Answer 22

The maintenance of tribal cultures and the development of pan-Indian culture both serve to assure that the Native Americans will have the option to remain American Indians even as they continue to assimilate the dominant culture.

Question 23

Secondary Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present

Answer 23

The long period of conflict with the dominant group, unwillingness of tribes to accept dominant group culture, and prejudice and discrimination, has hindered Native Americans from participating equally in the educational, occupational, and financial spheres.

Question 24

Primary Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present

Answer 24

Native Americans living on reservations, both by choice and circumstance, are unlikely to have very many contacts with non-Indians.

Native Americans living in urban areas may have numerous opportunities to form friendships with non-Indians.

Question 25

Marital Assimilation in regards to Native Americans in the present

Answer 25

Rates of intermarriage for Native Americans are high compared
with those of other groups.

Areas with a large population of Native Americans, 37% men marry outside of their race

Areas with a small population of Native Americans, 62% men marry outside of their race

Question 26

What does colonization migration mean?

Answer 26

Unlike other migration, colonization migration involves the conquest and domination of preexisting societies

Question 27

internal migration

Answer 27

Internal migration refers to human migration within one geopolitical entity, usually a nation.

Question 28

what does acculturation mean?

Answer 28

The process by which one group (generally a minority or immigrant group) learns the culture of another group (generally the dominant group).

Question 29

the concept of blood quantum

Answer 29

Blood Quantum Laws or Indian Blood Laws is an umbrella term that describes legislation enacted in the United States to define membership in Native American tribes or nations. “Blood quantum” refers to describing the degree of ancestry for an individual of a specific racial or ethnic group, for instance, 1/4 Omaha tribe

Question 30

What is the difference between a secondary labor market and a primary labor market?

Answer 30

the primary sector contains good jobs with high
wages, good work conditions, and job stability.

In contrast, the secondary sector contains less desirable jobs with low wages, poor work
conditions, and, most importantly, job instability.

Question 31

What are millenarian movements?

Answer 31

Millenarianism (also millenarism) is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed, based on a one-thousand-year cycle.

Question 32

What is manifest destiny?

Answer 32

Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.

Question 33

xenophobia

Answer 33

Fear or hatred of immigrants. Paleoconservatives are often accused of being Xenophobic.

Question 34

anti- statism

Answer 34

Anti-statism is a term describing opposition to state intervention into personal, social, and economic affairs.

Question 35

RAHOWA

Answer 35

The expression “Racial Holy War,” signifies the battle that white supremacists believe will pit the white race against minorities and Jews and lead to Aryan rule over the world.

Question 36

Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978)

Answer 36

It was enacted to protect and preserve the traditional religious rights and cultural practices of American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians.

These rights include, but are not limited to, access of sacred sites, freedom to worship through ceremonial and traditional rights and use and possession of objects considered sacred. The Act required policies of all governmental agencies to eliminate interference with the free exercise of Native religion, based on the First Amendment,