Native Americans & US History: Effects of “manifest destiny” Photos: (top) “Jajuk, Selawik from northwestern Alaska, ca. 1929”; (left) “Wife of Modoc Henry, Klamath tribe, on June 30, 1923”; (right) “Three Eagles, Nez Perce, ca. 1910”. (Library of Congress/Edward S. Curtis) Kimberly Josephson English Teaching Assistant 2014

Policies Removal Act 1830Trail of Tears “Peace” Policy 1868/9Assimilation Dawes Act 1887 “Fractionation” 138 million acres  48 million Indian Reorganization Act 1934Policy reversal Termination Policy 1940s – 1960s Reversal… again “Self-Determination” & Education Assistance Act 1975 Resources, law enforcement, education, etc.

Assimilation Era (1880s – 1920s) Photo: “Chiricahua Apaches as they arrived at Carlisle from Fort Marion, Florida” by John N. Choate, November 4, 1886

Assimilation Era (1880s – 1920s) Photo: “Chiricahua Apaches four months after arriving at Carlisle” by John N. Choate

Native American Boarding Schools “…kill the Indian and save the man” (Capt. Richard H Pratt) Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879 – 1918) Means of assimilation Appearance: Victorian era-style clothing, shaved heads Language: English only (“those caught ‘speaking Indian’ were severely punished.”) Religion: Forced Christian prayer Schedule: Military-like daily regimen Curriculum: Academic, vocational, & farming techniques Argentina?

“Soul Wound.” Some schools remained open until the 1980s Forced enrollment ended in the 1930s Similar system adopted by Canada Investigations (US & Canada) into emotional, sexual, and physical abuse: reports of poisoning, starving, electric shock, beating, sterilization, rape “Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School”

“ ‘ Native America knows all too well the reality of the boarding schools,’ writes Native American Bar Association President Richard Monette, who attended a North Dakota boarding school, ‘where recent generations learned the fine art of standing in line single-file for hours without moving a hair, as a lesson in discipline … where the sharp rules of immaculate living were instilled through blistered hands and knees on the floor with scouring toothbrushes; where mouths were scrubbed with lye and chlorine solutions for uttering Native words.” Excerpt: “Soul Wound: The Legacy of Native American Schools” (Andrea Smith, Amnesty, March 2007)

Self-Determination Era (1970s – ) Washington Post article “The hard lives – and high suicide rate – of Native American children on reservations” by Sari Horwitz(March 9, 2014) “Richard Stone, left, and Tyler Owens stand near the tree where a Native American girl and her father both committed suicide in Sacaton, Ariz. Owens, who lives across the street from this tree, said: “In Indian Country, youths need to have somebody there for them. I wish I had been that somebody for the girl in the tamarisk tree.” Linda Davidson/The Washington Post

Populations & reservations today 2.9 – 5.2 million people (0.9 – 1.7%) Most (78%) of the population lives off reservations Largest tribes: Cherokee and Navajo California, Arizona, Oklahoma Local sovereignty for 562 tribes Government contracts with tribes, like other states “domestic dependent nations” Critiques?

Historical trauma & other issues Disproportionate [documented] rates of: PovertyCrimeAlcoholism DiabetesTuberculosisSuicide Depression Sports mascots Washington Redskins (NFL) Cleveland Indians (MLB) “Native American” vs. “American Indian” Native American Gambling Industry

Native Languages Near extinction in most tribes Attempts at rebirth: Wampanoag communities of Massachusetts “There is nothing I know of that's anything like the Wampanoag case.” Noam Chomsky

Sources Pictures: americans-portraits-from-a-century-ago/100489/; assimilation/ americans-portraits-from-a-century-ago/100489/ assimilation/ Policies: content/uploads/2010/03/Indian-Policies.pdfhttp://lawlib.lclark.edu/blog/native_america/wp- content/uploads/2010/03/Indian-Policies.pdf Boarding schools: Washington Post article: lives--and-high-suicide-rate--of-native-american- children/2014/03/09/6e0ad9b2-9f03-11e3-b8d ff66b28_story.html lives--and-high-suicide-rate--of-native-american- children/2014/03/09/6e0ad9b2-9f03-11e3-b8d ff66b28_story.html