A treaty is simply an agreement between two or more sovereign nations. When the European nations began their invasion of the Americas, they generally viewed Indian nations as sovereign entities and negotiated treaties with them. The concept of making treaties was not new to American Indian nations and Antone Minthorn, in an essay in As … Continued
A treaty is simply an agreement between two or more sovereign nations. Following the Constitution, the United States recognized Indian nations as sovereign entities and thus negotiated treaties with them. In negotiating treaties with Indian nations, the Americans viewed the treaties, and the Indians themselves, as being temporary. Convinced that Indians were destined to vanish, … Continued
During the nineteenth century, the United States aggressively pursued a policy of manifest destiny to spread out between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. At the beginning of the century, President Thomas Jefferson had felt that the future of the United States depended on acquisition of land for the rapidly growing population. Thus, the future … Continued
Lakota leaders including (clockwise from top left) Standing Rock’s Phyllis Young, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner, Cheyenne River Chairman Harold Frazier, and Rosebud President Rodney Bordeaux have come together to call for a public hearing on a proposal which would nearly double the oil running through the Dakota Access pipeline. The following is … Continued
A treaty is simply an agreement between two or more sovereign nations. Following the Constitution, the United States recognized Indian nations as sovereign entities and thus negotiated treaties with them. From the viewpoint of American law, there are three basic steps involved in the treaty process: (1) the treaty is negotiated, (2) it is then … Continued
During the first part of the nineteenth century, the American Indian policy was to remove Indians from east of the Mississippi River and to “give” them reservations in Indian Territory. Under the U.S. Constitution, Indian tribes were considered to be domestic dependent nations which meant that the federal government had to negotiate treaties with them. … Continued
A treaty is an agreement between two or more sovereign nations. Under the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution, Indian tribes are legally considered to be nations. During the nineteenth century, the United States government negotiated a number of treaties with Indian nations. While often called “peace treaties,” these treaties were … Continued
In 1821 Mexico obtained independence from Spain. In the Plan of Iguala, Mexico did away with all legal distinctions regarding Indians and reaffirmed that Indians were citizens of Mexico on an equal basis with non-Indians. In what is now New Mexico and Arizona, this means that the various Navajo bands now had to deal with … Continued
A treaty is an agreement between two or more sovereign nations. Under the U.S. Constitution, Indian tribes are considered sovereign nations-or as dependent domestic nations, in the words of the Supreme Court-and thus the United States negotiated treaties with the tribes in order to obtain title to Indian land and open Indian lands to non-Indian … Continued
By the mid-nineteenth century, the American obsession with private property was guiding policies regarding American Indians. The idea that Indian people held property-that is, land-in common rather than having individuals own it, was repulsive to Americans. In 1850, the policy of “civilizing” Indians was described this way by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: “When civilization … Continued
