Native American turning points

Question 1

Dawes Act 1887 land and resources

Answer 1

Yes

• First time NA land claims were recognised under law
• 160 acres given to each NA family
• Previous treaties had been broken, 1868 Second Treaty of Fort Laramie recognised the Sioux’s claims to the Black Hills of Dakota, broken when gold was discovered in 1874, 22.8 million acres seized.
• This was a solid land claim

But

• Same pattern of land reduction
• Whilst it was the first time land was formally recognised, NA still lost ⅔ of their land in the following three decades through failed farms due to poor provision and selling off of reservation land.
• Same pattern of exploitation, NA were given the worst quality land from each reserv

Question 2

Dawes Act 1887 self determination

Answer 2

Yes

• First time citizenship was an option for NA, if they cultivated the land for 25 years, number of people taking this up is demonstrate by the fact that by 1924 and the Indian Citizenship act almost half the NA population already had citizenship.
• Elk v. Wilkins 1884, it was ruled that NA could not become citizens, this was therefore a U turn
• Marks a wider turning point from NA being an external nation to being part of the US, this was the first major act which treated NA as wards of the state, a paternalistic approach which continued to dictate policy towards NA until the later part of the 20th century with the 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act.

But

• On the whole a pretty convincing turning point
• However this was yet another example of the federal government dominating the NA population, paternalism was not necessarily a turning point from a previous age of domination

Question 3

Dawes Act 1887 social and cultural

Answer 3

Yes

• Breaking down of the tribal unit due to allotment, a process of Americanisation which set the scene for later NA policy as demonstrated by the Termination Policy of 1953
• The tribal unit was key to NA social and cultural rights so this was certainly a turning point

But
- Just a continuation attacks on NA culture, for example the Prohibition of the Sun Dance in 1884

Question 4

Indian Citizenship Act 1924 self determination

Answer 4

Yes
-It granted citizenship to every NA, bringing all NA under the US government, ending the concept of wardship, 125,000 were given citizenship

But
-This is only true for half the nation, due to the Dawes Act and mixed marriages half of NA already had citizenship, therefore not a massive turning point

Question 5

Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 land and resources

Answer 5

Yes

• Marked the stopping of the sale of NA land to white settlers
• First time land was granted back to NA with 2.1 million acres being returned to tribes, a small amount but the act of giving was hugely estranged to previous policy

But
- Issues of longevity, the Termination Policy of 1953 was less than two decades away

Question 6

Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 self determination

Answer 6

Yes

• In making the Act NA leaders were informed, their political structure for the first time since the Indian Appropriation Act of 1871 recognised, the voted 181 for 78 against
• The Nationalities Act 1940 recognises the identity of the tribe

But
- Hugely significant but not as significant as losing the tribal identity, after the damage of allotments to the tribal system, it could never recover

Question 7

Indian Reorganisation Act and the New Deal 1934- 1941 social and cultural

Answer 7

Yes

• Tribal dances and practices were unbanned as the laws of 1884 were repealed
• The federal government for the first time encouraged traditional NA culture, Collier forming many NA women’s cooperatives to make and sell items

But
- After the destruction of the NA tribal culture with allotments this is a minor turning point

Question 8

Termination 1953 land and recourses

Answer 8

Yes

• Was a turning point from the protection of NA lands originating from the New Deal 1934
• 100 reservations were closed and 60,000 NA were given assistance and training to become urbanised

But

• The actual proportion of Indian Land terminated was not significant, these were the 100 smallest reservations, any sizeable reservations were felt due to political tension.
• This policy ran at the same time as the Indian Claims Commission 1946 showing conflict in the situation, no clear turning point in land rights

Question 9

Termination 1953 self determination

Answer 9

Yes
- Destruction of the reservations would lead to the final decimation of tribal identity as a political unit

But

• This was not the reality as it was only 100 very small reservations that were terminated
• By no means a turning point urbanisation was already a trend

Question 10

Indian Civil Rights Act 1968 self determination

Answer 10

Yes

• Began a pattern of increased self determination with the Education Act 1972, Self Determination 1975
• Coming after a period of Americanisation originating from the Dawes Act 1887

But
- There had already been instances of a backlash to Americanisation, the 1934 Indian Reorganisation Act and the 1940 Nationalities Act

Question 11

WWII cultural

Answer 11

Yes

• 25,000 served, their culture was celebrated as the art of the warrior
• Begins a pattern of urbanisation
• 75,000 move to the cities
• Between 1930 and 1960 numbers of urban Indian increase four fold

But

• Short term shift