1Sociology 220, Pamela OliverAMERICAN INDIANS IN THE 20TH CENTURY: ISSUES AND DEBATESHistorySociology 220, Pamela OliverEras 1870-1890 Final defeat, loss of land & control 1890-1920 Neglect, misery, despair 1920s-1940s Period of reform, constrained self-government. Cultural/religious recognition, pan-IndianismSociology 220, Pamela Oliver 1950s Counter-reform: termination, relocation, urbanization 1960s-1970s: Activism inspired by civil rights (Courts start supporting legal claims) 1980s-1990s: Growing resurgence of culture, growing emphasis on economic development & legal/political autonomy1870-1890 Final Defeat US starts reneging on treaties Loss of political self-control Much land earlier reserved to native peoples is lost to whitesSociology 220, Pamela Oliverto whites Many reservations become “checkerboarded” with whites owning land inside reservations Population reaches low point of 200,000 in 1890. (From 2 million – 30 million before Europeans.) Near genocide.1890-1920 Largely ignored by whites Starvation, despair, surviving on food rations only sometimes deliveredContinued attacks on political cultural autonomySociology 220, Pamela OliverContinued attacks on political, cultural autonomy Boarding schools: children taken from parents, forced cultural & linguistic & political assimilation1920-1940 Age of reform, concern Anthropologists & missionaries: respect culture, religion, language. First protection for religious, cultural freedom.Citi hi 1924 Sociology 220, Pamela OliverCitizenship 1924. Some were US citizens before by treaty. Unilateral by US to deny special status of indigenous people, who did not generally want this Indian Reorganization Act 1934. Permits self-government, but under rules of US making. (Alaskans 1836)21960s-1970s Inspired by Civil Rights Movement, renewed activism Disruptive protests, occupations Militant exercise of treaty rights Fish-ins etc. Militant exercise of treaty rights as a protest.Sociology 220, Pamela Oliverss e c. M a e e c se o ea y g s as a p o es . Occupation of Alcatraz Island 1969-1972 Trail of broken treaties Development of Indian legal defense teams Assertions of nationhood, cultural autonomy Urban Indians & reservation Indians interact.Trail of Broken Treaties 1972 demands Recognition of sovereignty New treaties and enforcement of old Increase land base of native peopleFd f i d d ti l d l tSociology 220, Pamela OliverFunds for economic and educational developmentAlcatraz Proclamation (1969) - excerptsTo the Great White Father and his PeopleWe, the native Americans, reclaim the land known as Alcatraz Island in the name of all American Indians by right of discovery.We wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with the Caucasian inhabitants of this land, and hereby offer the following treaty:We will purchase said Alcatraz Island for twenty-four dollars in glass beads and red cloth, a Sociology 220, Pamela Oliverprecedent set by the white man’s purchase of a similar island 300 years ago. We know that $24 in trade goods for these 16 acres is more than what was paid when Manhattan Island was sold, but we know that land values have risen over the years. Our offer of $1.24 per acre is greater than the $0.47 per acre the white men are now paying the California Indians for their lands.We will give to the inhabitants of this island a portion of the land of their own to be held in trust . . . by the Bureau of Caucasian Affairs . . . in perpetuity -- for as long as the sun shall rise and the rivers go down in the sea. We will further guide the inhabitants in the proper way of living. We will offer them our religion, our education, our way of life --ways in order to help them achieve our level of civilization and thus raise them and all their white brothers up from their savage and unhappy state. We offer this treaty in good faith and wish to be fair and honorable in our dealings with all white men.Alcatraz Proclamation, more excerptsWe feel that this so-called Alcatraz Island is more than suitable for an Indian reservation, as determined by the white man’s own standards. By this, we mean that this place resembles most Indian reservations in that:•It is isolated from modern facilities, and without adequate means of transportation. •It has no fresh running water. •It has inadequate sanitation facilities. •There are no oil or mineral rights Sociology 220, Pamela Oliver•There are no oil or mineral rights. •There is no industry and so unemployment is very great. •There are no health-care facilities. •The soil is rocky and nonproductive, and the land does not support game. •There are no educational facilities. •The population has always exceeded the land base. •The population has always been held as prisoners and kept dependent upon others.Alaskans Similar patterns in Alaska, but less White settlement, not forced into reservations Alaska oil pipeline: settlement creates corporations of native people who will own some of the rights. Sociology 220, Pamela Oliverpp g 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Alaskan people able to benefit from some of the lessons of those in the “lower 48”Alaskan regional corporationsSociology 220, Pamela Oliver31980s –2000s Growing cultural revitalization – powwows, etc. Specific tribal culture & language Pan-Indian movements, cooperationGrowing emphasis on economic development on the Sociology 220, Pamela OliverGrowing emphasis on economic development on the reservation so a separate life can be viable Continuing legal actions to defend treaty rights, press land claims & political sovereignty Emphasis on separateness, distinctiveness of indigenous people. “We are still here.”“We are still here” American Indian Movement Native American Rights Fund National Congress of American IndiansEi dl t itiSociology 220, Pamela OliverEconomic development organizations Pow-wows, spiritualitySaved copy of HTML version of BIA FAQ fileFAQs about AmerIndsSociology 220, Pamela OliverPan-Indianism Emphasis on own tribe/culture Teach the language; bilingual instruction May be hostility/conflicts with other tribesvsSociology 220, Pamela Oliver Emphasis on commonalities as “indigenous peoples” National Congress of American Indians American Indian Movement Ties with indigenous people
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