Native American Land
A (Very) Short History
Introduction
As is common with many minorities and people of color in United States history, Native Americans have faced discrimination, injustice, and genocide. Since the first colonial settlements were established on U.S. soil, settlers began to take Native American resources and more. This pattern of exploitation and greed would continue throughout United States History to even modern times. While there are many issues that Native Americans face today because of their historical subjugation and exploitation, the focus of this StoryMap will be on how land was used by tribes, how the United States has taken the land, and the state of Native American land today. This is an important topic to cover because of the current events concerning minorities today. Many are ignorant to the more cruel and discriminatory aspects of history, especially concerning Native Americans. By helping inform people of this history, we can help people understand the struggles of Native Americans today.
Native American land had decreased significantly throughout U.S. history.
Native American Use of Land
One of the most common statements heard talking about the early United States is that the settlers found the land "empty". In actuality, the land was full of Native American tribes who covered and claimed land from coast to coast. Upon arriving, settlers did not consider Native Americans to be using their land effectively. This, in combination with a limited understanding of Native American culture, led to increasing settler encroachment on Native American lands.
We now know that Native Americans' land served multiple purposes and was an integral resource for many tribes. Below are some of the ways Native Americans used their land:
United States Interference with Land
Multiple events, wars, treaties, and legislative acts have changed Native American land. While there are many more events and legislative acts that can be described, here are some that have had a massive impact on Native American land.
The French and Indian War
- This war lasted from 1756 to 1763
- Imperial war between Britain and France.
- This conflict began due to increasing British settler encroachment on France's lands and turned into a full blown war as tensions increased on both sides. [4]
- Ended with a British Victory which consolidated Britain's supremacy in North America [5]
- Native Americans fought on both sides, but this had a large effect on the future of Native Americans. This opened up Native American lands for settlement.
The Treaty of Hopewell
- Signed in 1785 in Georgia
- Placed the Cherokee tribe under the protection of the U.S. government by setting boundaries for their land.
- Settlers soon encroached on Cherokee land once again, forcing another treaty to be drawn up where the Cherokee gave up all land outside their borders. [6]
- Government encouraged Cherokee to become farmers and Christians
- This set an example of things to come.
The Louisiana Purchase
- Land bought by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 from France
- Napoleon Bonaparte, then France's leader decided to sell the land thanks to economic difficulties and other shortcomings in North America, such as the Haitian Revolution. [7]
- Effectively doubled the size of the United States
- Jefferson commissioned Explorers Lewis and Clark to explore the new territory [8]
- Agreement made without the consent of the Native American tribes in the territory but still opened their lands to settlement
Indian Removal Act
- Signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830
- Gave Native American tribes plots of land in "Indian Territory" West of the Mississippi river in exchange for their lands. [9]
- Government would pay for relocation of the tribes [10]
- Major of loss of land for multiple tribes
Trail of Tears
"In 1838, President Martin Van Buren sent federal troops to march the remaining southern Cherokee holdouts 1,200 miles to Indian territory in the Plains." [11]
- Forced migration of thousands of Cherokee, who had no food or water on the journey
- Caused by the Indian Removal Act of 1830
Indian Appropriations Act
- Passed in 1851
- In response to increasing settler encroachment and pressure
- Created the Reservation System where tribes would be moved to farming reservations to be contained
- Hard life on reservations, Native Americans faced a loss of culture, language, and more as they were removed from their homelands
- Starvation and disease common on reservations
- U.S. government encouraged tribes to assimilate to U.S. society by dressing like American citizens, learning to read and write English, learn to farm, and convert to Christianity [12]
- At this point, Native American land was almost all being taken over by settlers
Dawes Act
- Signed in 1887 by President Grover Cleveland
- Goal was to help Native Americans further assimilate
- Divided land on reservations into individual plots
- "It decreased the land owned by Indians by more than half and opened even more land to white settlers and railroads" [13]
Indian Reorganization Act
- The Dawes Act was determined to have severely hurt Native American tribes and was replaced with this act in 1934
- "Goals of restoring Indian culture and returning surplus land to tribes" [14]
- "...encouraged tribes to self-govern and write their own constitutions and provided financial aid for reservation infrastructure" [15]
Current Land of Native Americans
Current Native American Reservations
In the beginning, Native Americans' land stretched from the West coast to the East coast. Now, the only remaining land is shown on the map above. Native Americans have faced a great loss of culture, homeland, family, tradition, and more because of the United States' expansion to the West coast and own greed. But it is important to remember that through discrimination and subjugation, Native Americans and their cultures have persisted and managed to survive. In the future, we should be remember histories such as Native American history, so that other people do not face the same fate.
We cannot continue to ignore racism, discrimination, or any other form of oppression. We all need to work together to build a brighter a future.
