6 ICSA TODAY
In 1823, the Christian Doctrine of Discovery was adopted into
US law by the Supreme Court in the case of Johnson v. McIntosh,
which stated that the title to land that had been “discovered
and conquered” belonged to the conquering nation, and the
indigenous peoples of the land had only a “right of occupancy”
(Toensing, 2011, p. 22). Huge numbers of Native people were
also forced into slavery before Africans were brought to this
country for that purpose (Loewen, 2007).
The Indian Wars also had been going on for almost 300 years
at this point. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Native
Peoples fought only in defense, when they were attacked
or defending their homes or land. The attacks by the US
military were often brutal, with the intent to dehumanize and
demoralize those being attacked.
Assimilation and Acculturation
US federal policies slowly changed over time to those of
assimilation and acculturation of indigenous people through
their involuntary removal from land imposition on them
of an unnatural social order suppression of their language,
ceremonies, culture and spirituality and destruction of their
indigenous family systems and residential schools, and denial
of their historical importance (Stone, 2005). From 1815 to
1860, the government began relocating Indians to west of
the Mississippi. In 1830, President Jackson signed the Indian
Removal Act, which began the process of exterminating many
tribes and forcing others to move west, many to Oklahoma.
Wallace (1993) wrote,
It was a disaster that never really ended. The
government thereafter pursued the same policy of
buying Native lands and relocating Native tribes as
the nation moved westward. The Indian Territory
became a vast, poverty-stricken concentration camp
for dispossessed Natives, administered by a federal
bureaucracy—The Office of Indian Affairs—that
largely controlled the economy, the local police and
local schools. (as cited in Hunt, 2012, p. 23)
In 1851, the Indian Appropriations Act formalized the process of
reservations and forced relocations. The Trail of Tears refers to the
forced removal of five tribes from the Southeastern regions of
the United States between 1831 and 1838. The Navajo Long Walk
refers to the forced relocation of these tribes from 1864 to 1868.
The history of the Jicarilla Apache, with whom my husband
and I work and live, is an example of this forced process: At the
1854 battle of Cieneguilla, in which Kit Carson was working
with the army in Santa Fe, near Taos, New Mexico, drunken
soldiers picked a fight with the Jicarilla Apache. Many soldiers
died, and the Jicarilla were forced to march to the Mescalero
Apache reservation 365 miles away in southern New Mexico.
They walked back to their homeland, were forced to march
once again back to Mescalero, and walked yet again to their
homelands in northern New Mexico before, on February 11,
1887, by executive order, a reservation was established for the
Jicarilla Apache in their homeland (Nordhaus, 1995).
In 1871, a revision by Congress to the Indian Appropriations
Act discontinued treaty making (such as it was) and made all
Indians wards of the US government. In 1887, the Dawes Act
was passed, whereby the government divided reservation
land into parcels that were awarded to individuals. This act
was promoted as an attempt to improve the conditions of the
Natives. In reality, it was another attempt at assimilation by
breaking personal and family ties with the tribes. More Indian
lands were taken away, reducing those Native lands from 138
million to 48 million acres (Toensing, 2012 Newcomb, 2012).
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which declared Native
people US citizens, was presented as an effort to recognize
Native people by granting them citizenship. But the law was
another assimilation attempt by the government, which again
destroyed tribal ties and replaced them with US citizenship.
And even though Natives were officially granted US citizenship,
all states did not go along with this policy, and full voting rights
for all Native Americans were not in place until 1948.
The Boarding-School Era
The education of Native Americans became a major concern
of non-Natives in the latter half of the 1800s, and related
funding was allocated and given to churches and missionary
schools. Lessons were often taught in both English and the
Native language, but with the religious teaching given more
importance than general education. This policy was soon
changed to an English-only policy (Hunt, 2012).
The Federal Indian Boarding School system was developed and
implemented by Richard Pratt, for the Anglicization of tribal
students, through Pratts’ belief in “killing the Indian to save
the man.” Pratt implemented the strategy of taking children
away from their parents and reprogramming them under the
auspices of the government. In 1879, Carlisle Boarding School
in Pennsylvania was opened and Native youth began the forced
trip there. Natives who attended this type of school endured
daily punishment for speaking, writing, or even acting in an
Indian fashion. Boarding-school students spent the first half of
a typical day learning and the second half doing manual labor,
which it was thought would help them when they finished
school. The goal was to make Natives dress, speak, and act
like Whites. (Hunt, 2012). The structure was military discipline
and the goal was to assimilate the children completely into
American culture (Hunt, 2012). In the beginning years of this
policy, children were not allowed family contact for at least
8 years. As the Carlisle School succeeded, the model was
…the Christian Doctrine of Discovery
… stated that the title to land that
had been “discovered and conquered”
belonged to the conquering nation…
In 1823, the Christian Doctrine of Discovery was adopted into
US law by the Supreme Court in the case of Johnson v. McIntosh,
which stated that the title to land that had been “discovered
and conquered” belonged to the conquering nation, and the
indigenous peoples of the land had only a “right of occupancy”
(Toensing, 2011, p. 22). Huge numbers of Native people were
also forced into slavery before Africans were brought to this
country for that purpose (Loewen, 2007).
The Indian Wars also had been going on for almost 300 years
at this point. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Native
Peoples fought only in defense, when they were attacked
or defending their homes or land. The attacks by the US
military were often brutal, with the intent to dehumanize and
demoralize those being attacked.
Assimilation and Acculturation
US federal policies slowly changed over time to those of
assimilation and acculturation of indigenous people through
their involuntary removal from land imposition on them
of an unnatural social order suppression of their language,
ceremonies, culture and spirituality and destruction of their
indigenous family systems and residential schools, and denial
of their historical importance (Stone, 2005). From 1815 to
1860, the government began relocating Indians to west of
the Mississippi. In 1830, President Jackson signed the Indian
Removal Act, which began the process of exterminating many
tribes and forcing others to move west, many to Oklahoma.
Wallace (1993) wrote,
It was a disaster that never really ended. The
government thereafter pursued the same policy of
buying Native lands and relocating Native tribes as
the nation moved westward. The Indian Territory
became a vast, poverty-stricken concentration camp
for dispossessed Natives, administered by a federal
bureaucracy—The Office of Indian Affairs—that
largely controlled the economy, the local police and
local schools. (as cited in Hunt, 2012, p. 23)
In 1851, the Indian Appropriations Act formalized the process of
reservations and forced relocations. The Trail of Tears refers to the
forced removal of five tribes from the Southeastern regions of
the United States between 1831 and 1838. The Navajo Long Walk
refers to the forced relocation of these tribes from 1864 to 1868.
The history of the Jicarilla Apache, with whom my husband
and I work and live, is an example of this forced process: At the
1854 battle of Cieneguilla, in which Kit Carson was working
with the army in Santa Fe, near Taos, New Mexico, drunken
soldiers picked a fight with the Jicarilla Apache. Many soldiers
died, and the Jicarilla were forced to march to the Mescalero
Apache reservation 365 miles away in southern New Mexico.
They walked back to their homeland, were forced to march
once again back to Mescalero, and walked yet again to their
homelands in northern New Mexico before, on February 11,
1887, by executive order, a reservation was established for the
Jicarilla Apache in their homeland (Nordhaus, 1995).
In 1871, a revision by Congress to the Indian Appropriations
Act discontinued treaty making (such as it was) and made all
Indians wards of the US government. In 1887, the Dawes Act
was passed, whereby the government divided reservation
land into parcels that were awarded to individuals. This act
was promoted as an attempt to improve the conditions of the
Natives. In reality, it was another attempt at assimilation by
breaking personal and family ties with the tribes. More Indian
lands were taken away, reducing those Native lands from 138
million to 48 million acres (Toensing, 2012 Newcomb, 2012).
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which declared Native
people US citizens, was presented as an effort to recognize
Native people by granting them citizenship. But the law was
another assimilation attempt by the government, which again
destroyed tribal ties and replaced them with US citizenship.
And even though Natives were officially granted US citizenship,
all states did not go along with this policy, and full voting rights
for all Native Americans were not in place until 1948.
The Boarding-School Era
The education of Native Americans became a major concern
of non-Natives in the latter half of the 1800s, and related
funding was allocated and given to churches and missionary
schools. Lessons were often taught in both English and the
Native language, but with the religious teaching given more
importance than general education. This policy was soon
changed to an English-only policy (Hunt, 2012).
The Federal Indian Boarding School system was developed and
implemented by Richard Pratt, for the Anglicization of tribal
students, through Pratts’ belief in “killing the Indian to save
the man.” Pratt implemented the strategy of taking children
away from their parents and reprogramming them under the
auspices of the government. In 1879, Carlisle Boarding School
in Pennsylvania was opened and Native youth began the forced
trip there. Natives who attended this type of school endured
daily punishment for speaking, writing, or even acting in an
Indian fashion. Boarding-school students spent the first half of
a typical day learning and the second half doing manual labor,
which it was thought would help them when they finished
school. The goal was to make Natives dress, speak, and act
like Whites. (Hunt, 2012). The structure was military discipline
and the goal was to assimilate the children completely into
American culture (Hunt, 2012). In the beginning years of this
policy, children were not allowed family contact for at least
8 years. As the Carlisle School succeeded, the model was
…the Christian Doctrine of Discovery
… stated that the title to land that
had been “discovered and conquered”
belonged to the conquering nation…
