One hundred years ago, the primary thrust of American policies with regard to American Indians was assimilation. The goal at this time was to assimilate Indians into the mainstream of American society, to break up the tribes and their reservations, and to continue the process of transferring Indian wealth, in the form of land, from … Continued
Estimating the economic well-being of American Indians is a complex task. In general, American Indians tend to have higher poverty rates, higher unemployment rates, and lower educational achievements that other Americans. However, the picture is complicated by the fact that some Indians live on reservations and some don’t. The poverty rates on reservations are significantly … Continued
With the death of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1945, Vice-President Harry Truman became President. Truman called for the elimination of the Indian Office (now called the Bureau of Indian Affairs) within three years. According to Truman, the Indian Office- “has segregated the Indian from the general citizenry, condemned him to an indefinite if not perpetual … Continued
In 1606, guided by the Discovery Doctrine which declared that Christian nations had the right to conquer and rule all non-Christian nations, England gave a Royal Charter to the Virginia Company to develop a market in the New World for English commerce and for “Propagating of Christian Religion to such people, as yet live in … Continued
For many non-Indians, any discussion of modern Indians brings forth an image of casinos. For some people, this image of tribal casinos is a good one: one that brings forth memories of good times, good entertainment, and good food. For others, it brings forth an image of corruption, greed, evil, sin, and all of the … Continued
When the European invasion of New England started in the seventeenth century, the American Indian people of the region had a varied and savory cuisine. As farmers they raised a variety of crops, including many different kinds of maize (corn), beans, squash, pumpkins, and strawberries. They supplemented these foods with wild foods obtained through hunting, … Continued
William Howard Taft served as President of the United States from 1909 to 1913. Like most American Presidents, Taft took office with little background in or awareness of American Indians. Yet during his term as a progressive Republican he impacted the lives Indian people. Administration of Indian Affairs: In the United States, the administration … Continued
The French, unlike the English and the Spanish, saw Indians as trading partners. The French saw that their best opportunity for economic gain was to be found in the fur trade in which their Native American trading partners would retain their autonomy and provide them with furs. The French explorers quickly established trading relations with … Continued
By the late nineteenth century, all Americans, except for American Indians, knew for a fact that all Indian tribes would be extinct in the twentieth century and that all individual American Indians, like other immigrants, would be fully assimilated into mainstream American culture in which they would be English-speaking, Christian farmers. While this American fantasy … Continued
A number of different Indian cultures used long-distance signaling systems in war and in hunting. The most stereotyped of these is the use of smoke-signals. Unlike the Plains Indian Sign Language which facilitated intertribal communication, there was no standard set of meanings for the puffs of smoke used in smoke signals. Each tribe established its … Continued
