Reservation system of the United States

SIGNIFICANCE: As the United States expanded and increasing numbers of White Americans moved westward, the confinement of Native Americans to reservations was deemed the most efficient way to separate Indigenous people and White people while allowing White settlers access to the greatest amount of land.

In colonial times and the earliest years of the United States, there was little thought given to the need for a permanent answer to the competition for land between Europeans and Native Americans. Because there were vast uncharted areas of wilderness to the west, it was generally thought that the Native population could be pushed westward—eventually, across the Mississippi—whenever problems arose. This was the main policy of the pre-Civil War era, as eastern tribes were “removed” westward, many to land in present-day Oklahoma.

The movement to place all Indigenous people on reservations began in earnest after the Civil War during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877). The policy came about because of the failure of previous programs and the desire of White Americans to open more western land for White settlement. From the end of the American Revolution to 1830, Indigenous tribes had been treated as if they were foreign nations within the United States. The federal government sent ambassadors to negotiate treaties with the tribes, and many groups, such as the Cherokee in northern Georgia, had established their own governments and states within the United States. Others had traded territory in the East for land farther west. Trouble began in Georgia after the discovery of gold on Indigenous land. Eventually, Congress passed a law, supported by Andrew Jackson, offering territory west of the Mississippi River to tribes willing to relinquish their lands in the East. All Indigenous people would have to accept this trade or face forced removal. Several wars and the infamous Trail of Tears, which saw the deaths of thousands of Native Americans, followed the imposition of this removal policy.

Early Reservation Policy

Most of the new Indigenous lands were in the Plains region—or the “Great American Desert,” as White individuals, who at first believed that it was too hot and dry for farming, called it. In the 1840s, thousands of White settlers began crossing this “desert” on their way to California and Oregon. Travel through Indigenous Territory could be dangerous and difficult because of Indigenous attacks, so travelers and settlers called for a safe corridor to be maintained by the army. From this proposal a concentration policy developed, under which Indigenous tribes would be driven into southern and northern colonies with a wide, safe passageway to the Pacific in the middle. These Indigenous enclaves, it was said, would be safe from White settlement. In the early 1860s, these Indigenous lands were closed to all White people except those on official business. In 1869, Congress created a Board of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior to control the reservations, and two years later ended the policy of treating Indigenous individuals as residents of foreign states within the United States. On March 3, 1871, the Indian Appropriation Act declared that tribal affairs would be managed by the U.S. government without consent of the tribes.

Indigenous tribes were supposed to have enough land on their reservations so that they could continue to hunt, but this idea lasted only briefly as land hunger among White farmers and ranchers after the Civil War led to demands for greatly reducing the size of Indian Territory. If Native Americans learned to farm rather than hunt, Indian affairs commissioners and congressmen (and most White people) believed, more land could be put to productive use, and the natives would give up their “wild” ways and enjoy the fruits of civilization. Native Americans were given a choice: Either they could relocate, or volunteer armies would be recruited to force them to move. On the reservations, Native Americans were to get education for their children, rations from the government until they knew how to grow their own crops, and certain other benefits. By 1877, more than 100,000 Indigineous people had received rations on reservations.

Reservation education programs did not work quickly enough to satisfy many in Congress; additionally, some claimed, they cost too much money. Maintaining a large army in the West to keep Native Americans within their boundaries also proved expensive. The notion that Native Americans would become farmers proved false. Congress reacted to these problems by reducing rations, which caused terrible suffering and malnutrition among Indigenous people, and by reducing the number of reservations as more tribes were moved into Indian Territory (Oklahoma). The federal government mandated that all Indigenous males receiving rations would have to work, but since few jobs existed on reservation lands, this policy proved a miserable failure. To improve education and force Native Americans to become more like White Americans, Congress commanded that all instruction take place in English and that the teaching of Indigenous religions be banned.

General Allotment Act

In 1887, Congress changed Indigenous policy by passing the General Allotment Act (Dawes Severalty Act). Designed by Senator Henry Dawes of Massachusetts, who considered himself a friend of the Indigenous tribes, the new policy provided for an eventual end to the reservation system and the abolition of tribal organizations. In the future, Native Americans would be treated as individuals, not as members of tribes. Each head of a family would be allotted 160 acres of reservation land, and each adult single person would get 80 acres. The government would keep this land in trust for twenty-five years, and at the end of that period Indigenous individuals would get the title to the land and full citizenship rights. Land on reservations not distributed to Indigenous members would be declared surplus land and could be sold to the highest bidder.

When the bill was passed, there were about 138 million acres of land on reservations. Between 1887 and 1900, Native Americans had been allotted only 3,285,000 of those acres, while almost 30 million acres were declared surplus and ceded to White settlers. In addition, of the 32,800 Indigenous families and individuals getting allotments, fewer than one-third managed to remain on their land for the required twenty-five years to attain full ownership. The program was never applied among the Indigenous of the Southwest, and these were the tribes most successful in retaining their traditional cultures. In 1891, Indigenous people received the right to lease their lands for agriculture, grazing cattle, and mining. The pressure for leases from cattle ranchers and mining companies was enormous, and hundreds of thousands of acres found their way to White control through leasing provisions that took advantage of Indigenous poverty. Many reformers and politicians denounced leasing, but only because it made Indigenous individuals who lived off their leases idle—not because it took advantage of them and made them poor.

Between 1900 and 1921 Congress made it easier for Indigenous people to dispose of their allotments. A 1907 law, for example, gave Indigenous people considered too old, sick, or “incompetent” to work on their land permission to sell their land to whomever they wished. White reservation agents decided questions of competency. Under this program, millions more acres were lost as impoverished Indigenous people sold their property at very low prices just to survive. This policy was speeded up in 1917 under the “New Policy” of Indian Commissioner Cato Sells, who declared that all adults one-half or less Indigenous were “competent,” as were all graduates of Indian schools once they reached twenty-one years of age. Under this policy, more than twenty-one thousand Indigenous gained control of their lands but then quickly lost them because they could not afford to pay state property taxes or went bankrupt. This policy was reversed in 1921, but Indigenous people faced new problems as the federal government in the 1920s moved to end all responsibility over Indians.

In 1923, John Collier, a White reformer, became executive secretary of the American Indian Defense Association (AIDA), the major lobby defending Native American interests before Congress. Collier believed Indigenous civilization, especially Pueblo culture, to be superior in many ways to the materialistic, violent society found in the United States and Europe. For the first time, under Collier’s leadership, Indigenous people presented a program to Congress aimed at preserving their traditional values and way of life. Reservations, it was argued, had to be retained to save these old ways but needed economic assistance to survive. Collier’s program called for civil liberties for Indigenous people, including religious freedom and tribal sovereignty.

The “Indian New Deal”

The Great Depression hit Indian reservations, particularly the poorest in South Dakota, Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico, very hard. By 1933, thousands of Indigenous people faced starvation, according to reports from the Emergency Relief Administration. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Collier to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and deal with the crisis. Collier, with the president’s help, pushed the Indian Reorganization Act through Congress in 1934. This law radically changed Indigenous-White relations and gave Native Americans control of their lands; it was nicknamed the Indian New Deal. The law ended the allotment system, gave local councils authority to spend relief money, and allowed Native Americans to practice traditional religions and customs. Congress increased appropriations for reservations from twelve million dollars to an average of forty-eight million dollars while Collier held his post. The commissioner had his critics, mainly advocates of assimilation and western senators and congressmen fearful of Indian self-rule. In 1944, the House Indian Affairs Committee criticized Collier’s policy and called for a return to the old idea of making Indians into Americans. The next year Collier resigned, and many of his programs ended.

Policy After World War II

Creation of the Indian Claims Commission in 1946, which was empowered by Congress to settle all Indigenous land claims against the government, resulted in victories for some tribes. Between 1946 and 1960, the commission awarded more than 300 million dollars to Indigenous tribes wrongfully deprived of their lands, but Congress saw this as an excuse to end other assistance to reservations. Some BIA officials foresaw the abolition of the reservation system. In the 1950s, relocation became a popular idea. More than sixty thousand Indigenous people were moved to cities such as Denver, Chicago, and Houston. To save money and hasten the end of separate development for Native Americans, Commissioner Dillon S. Meyer took away powers of tribal councils and returned decisions concerning spending to BIA headquarters.

In 1953, Congress terminated federal control over Indigenous people living on reservations in California, Florida, Iowa, New York, and Texas. The states now had criminal and legal jurisdiction over the tribes. Results proved disastrous, especially after removal of federal liquor control laws. Unemployment and poverty increased under the termination program. The BIA tried to resolve the unemployment problem by expanding the relocation program, hoping that jobless Native Americans would find work in cities, but by 1958 more than half of the relocated workers had returned to the reservations.

In the 1960s, Congress reversed direction yet again and revoked the termination policy. During the federal government’s War on Poverty, it increased tribal funds for education, health care, and job training. Expanded federal aid greatly improved living conditions for Indigenous poeple, and the reservation population increased from 367,000 in 1962 to 452,000 in 1968. Life expectancy improved from a dismal 51 years (1940) to 63.5 (1968), not yet up to White American levels but a great improvement nevertheless. In 1975, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act gave tribes control over school funds and returned most important economic decision-making powers to locally elected councils. Three years later, Congress established a community college system on reservations in which native languages, religions, and cultures were taught.

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978) protected traditional practices, and the Supreme Court advanced Indigenous self-determination by authorizing tribal courts to try and punish even non-Indigenous people for violations of the law committed on Indigenous territory. In a key ruling in 1978, the Court said that tribes could be governed by traditional laws even if they conflicted with state and federal laws. In the 1980s, such ideas of separate development continued to dominate reservation policy, and the Reagan administration followed a policy of “government-to-government relationships” among the states, the federal government, and the tribes. In many ways, this “new” policy greatly resembled ideas first enunciated by George Washington in 1794, when Americans also doubted the possibility of assimilation and opted for a policy of pluralism and cultural separation. In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act passed, which officially allowed gambling and gaming venues such as casinos to be established by tribes on reservation lands. Such developments brought economic improvement to their tribes by attracting tourists, although they often attract controversy.

Although a few reservations became quite rich because of gaming or the lease or sale of mineral rights, most remained very poor. When a Bureau of the Census study of poverty in the United States in the 1980s listed the ten poorest counties in the union, eight of them were on reservations. Cultural self-determination, improved education, and increased financial assistance had not yet improved economic conditions for many Native Americans. Reservations in South Dakota and New Mexico were the poorest; they also had the highest levels of alcoholism, divorce, and drug addiction found anywhere in the United States. These findings remained largely consistent into the twenty-first century, compounded by a general lack of preventative efforts by the federal government and law enforcement agencies and the inability of tribal governments to effectively prosecute criminals. Incidents of assault, rape, gang violence, and abuse, including against children, also proved widespread, with crime rates on reservations ranging from two to twenty times the national average by 2010. That same year, the Tribal Law and Order Act was passed in an effort to fix the reservation justice system. However, challenges persisted on reservations into the 2020s, and rates of violent crime remained higher than national averages. The US government has worked to improve data collection to gain a more accurate picture of crime on reservations, and new initiatives have been employed to address the problem. Yet, many communities lack the funding and training needed to make significant improvements. In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) deployed agents to tribal lands in an attempt to help solve violent crimes and cold cases.

Bibliography

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