Who: Piankeshaw Indians, Thomas Johnson, Graham Lessee, William McIntosh, John Marshall

What: Thomas Johnson bought land from Piankeshaw Native American tribes in 1773 and 1775. The plaintiffs were lessees of Thomas Johnson's descendants, who had inherited the land. McIntosh disputed their claims. The purpose of the case was to decide whose title of land was valid.  Marshall raised the question of whether native Americans could even hold title.  The U.S. Supreme Court that held that private citizens could not purchase lands from Native Americans.

When: 1823

Where: Illinois

Why: Mashall based his decision on the Discovery Doctrine, which said colonial powers laid claim to lands belonging to the Native Americans before the United States was a country.  The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act, passed in 1790, also prohibited all Indian land transactions that did not have federal authority to deal with Indian nations. The opinion of the court illustrates the way in which the United States viewed Native Americans as "wards of the state," rather than as either citizens or foreigners.  They were dependent on the government but not integrated into it.  This marks an era of Treaty relations with the federal gov't.

Who: Cherokee Nation, Cherokee Chief John Ross, Chief Justice John Marshall

What: The state of Georgia began to involve itself in matters of the Cherokkee nation.  The Cherokees argued that they were a foreign nation and the laws of Georgia did not apply to them.  After a Cherokee man was executed by the state of Georgia, the Cherokee sought a federal injunction.  The Court denied the injunction and went on to say that the Cherokees were not a foreign nation, but they were a "domestic dependant nation."

When: 1831

Where: Georgia

Why: Marshall created a legal and historic fiction to explain why the Cherokee Nation was not a separate entity from the federal government.  Tribes were not states and not nations.  He argued that Indian tribes were wards of the the United States, and therefore in a state of "pupilage."

Who: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall

What: Johnson v. McIntosh, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, and Worcester v. Georgia were all a series of Supreme Court cases dealing with federal Indian law.  There were three major decisions...

• Only the gov't can settle land claims dealing with Indian territory.
• Tribes are inherently sovereign and self-governing, but only within the limits of federal legislation.
• The federal government, not the state government, is responsible for Indian tribes.

When: 1823-1832

Where: Supreme Court, DC

Why: While these decisions denied the power of states to regulate tribal matters, it strengthened the federal governement's power over Indian tribes.  They marked the beginning of the end for the treaty era (official treaty making with Indian tribes ended in 1871), which allowed tribes to operate as foreign nations.  They also laid down the framework for an era of history that would deny tribes complete independence and sovereignty while also refusing individual Indians the rights of American citizenship.

Who: John Marshall

What: Samuel Worcester was preaching on Cherokee land, which was prohibited by state law.  He was imprisoned and he filed a suit against the state.  The court sided with Worcester that the state could not regulate activity in Cherokee land.

When: 1832

Where: Georgia

Why: Jackson famously refused to enforce the ruling.  In this case, the Cherokee Nation was established as a distinct community in which state law could not be enforced.  This case generally strengthened tribal sovereignty.

Who: Leaders (Charles Montezuma, Charles Eastman)

What: A progressive group of Native American Indians formed to promote Indian Education, Indian citizenship, and a federal department to handle Indian court cases.  Among their most effective stands was opposition to suggestions that Indian soldiers be segregated in WW1.

When: 1911-1923

Where: Columbus, Ohio

Why: While in some ways the group embodied assimilation to white values, they also continued in the tradition of Pan-Indianism.  While alliances were formed to fight discrimination, the group was also weakened by internal disputes.  It was the first lobby of modern Indian intellectuals to play the white man's game f debate and public relations.  It also opened discussion of self-determination for Indian tribes.

Who: Lone Wolf, Ethan A. Hitchcock

What: United States Supreme Court case brought against the US government by the Kiowa chief Lone Wolf.

• The Cherokee (Jerome) Commission was created to legally acquire land occupied by the Cherokee Nation and other tribes in Oklahoma.
• Article 12 of the Medicine Lodge Treaty promised that 3/4ths of the male population was required to make any further land sessions to the US government.  However, signatures for the Jerome Commission were collected unusually and Lone Wolf claimed fraudulence.  The court ruled in favor of the Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Hitchcock.

When: 1903

Where: Oklahoma

Why: Plenary power gave broad ranging authority to Congress over Indian affairs (unchecked power).  It gave them the power to aggregate treaties.  It also affirmed the idea that Indians were subject to the power of their guardian, the United States government (paternalism).

Who: Lewis Meriam was the technical director of the survey team.

What: The report criticized the Department of Interior's (DOI) implementation of the Dawes Act, and overall conditions on reservations and in Indian boarding schools.

When: 1928

Where: They conducted field in 23 states, one being Oklahoma, which had one of the largest populations of Native Americans at the time.

Why: The report found generally that the US federal government had failed at its policies of allotment and assimilation.  The Meriam Report provided much of the data used to reform American Indian policy through new legislation, such as the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. It strongly influenced succeeding policies in land allotment, education, and health care.

Who: He was a Yavapai-Apache activist and founding member of the Society of American Indians.

What:  

• He was one of the most outspoken critics of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• He helped found the Society of American Indians, calling for a national organization of "educated" Indians.  
• During WWI, he argued that Indians had no commitment to fight for a country that would not grant it full citizenship.

When: He founded the Society of American Indians in 1911.

Where: He was born in Arizona.

Why: Montezuma's efforts to collectivize anti-discrimination efforts strengthened Indian voices.  His generation of was responsible for the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which granted full US citizenship to Native Americans.  Montezuma's legacy and struggle would be carried on by those who continued to fight for Native American's civil rights.

Who: John Collier was Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

What:  

• Allotment was ended.
• Surplus lands were returned to tribal domain.
• Land could not be bought or sold without tribal approval.
• Suported tribal constitutions that followed the provisions of the IRA.

When: 1934

Where: Passed in Congress in DC.

Why: Until the 1930s, people operated under the assumption that tribes would disappear.  Collier believed the IRA would grant tribes the ability to preserve their culture.  Tribes were hugely divided on the IRA.  Some believed it encouraged segregation by strengthening the separation of tribal communities from other Americans.  98% of the Navajo Nation rejected the IRA because of the federal government's decision to cut off their sheep herds.

Who: John Collier, federal Commissioner of Indian Affairs, helped to create the program.

What: (Civilian Conservation Corps - Indian Division)  This was part of the broader federal work program in FDR's New Deal, designed to stimulate job growth during the Depression.  Indian males worked on land projects, such as bridge and road building around their reservation, to secure much needed money while maintaining tribal land.

When: 1933-1934

Where: Brought relief to communities like the Sioux in South Dakota.

Why: Collier wanted this to be a chance for self-rule in Indian communities, giving Indians a chance to work their way out of economic despair.

Who: Pueblo painter

What:  She was one of the first pueblo women to paint.  She painted images and representations of pueblo life, related to pueblo society at the time.

When: 1920-1930s

Where: New Mexico

Why: Her work preserved traditional and ceremonial knowledge during a time when some would have done away with Native American culture.  However, she also painted for a tourist culture that wanted to commercialize Native traditions and imagery.

Who: He was an educator and government worker for the Office of Indian Affairs.

What: He was the first Native American to receive a degree at Yale, he founded the Roe Indian Institution, and he coauthored the Meriam Report.

When: 1928- Meriam Report.

Where: He was from Nebraska.

Why: He sought to educate American Indian Youth beyond vocational training.  He also was an effective public advocate for changing federal policies toward Native Americans.  His ideas signaled a change from the days of assimilation and boarding schools.

Who: Crow Dog

What: A Supreme Court decision...

• Crow Dog, a member of the Brule Lakota band, shot and killed Spotted Tail, a Lakota chief.  The Sioux tribal council demanded Crow Dog pay restitution.
• The gov't tried Crow Dog for murder.  He was found guilty and sentenced to hang.
• The Supreme Court held that unless authorized by Congress, federal courts had no jurisdiction to try cases that had already been tried by tribal courts.

When: 1883

Where: South Dakota

Why: The Court increased plenary power for the federal government and decreased tribal sovereignty.  This decision gave way to the passing of the Major Crimes Act.

Who: Kwakwaka'wakw (Canadian) were one of the Indigenous groups to perform.

What: This was a World's Fair to celebrate the 400th anniversity of Columbus's arrival in the New World.  The Kwakwaka'wakw performed a cannibal dance.

When: 1893

Where: Chicago

Why:  Meant to showcase the city's modernity.  Native Americans performed as a symbol of the past.  Put the Kwakwaka'wakw were also using this as an opportunity to make money for themselves.

Who: Passed by Congress

What: It placed 7 major crimes under federal jurisdiction if they are committed by a Native American.

• Murder
• Manslaughter
• Rape
• Assault with intent to commit murder
• Arson
• Burglary
• Larceny

When: 1885

Where: DC

Why: This was policy implementation of the federal government's plenary power.

Who: Named for its creator, Senator Henry Dawes

What: Authorized the president to survey Indian tribal lands and divide them into allotmnts for individual Indians.  

• Individual Indians were supposed to choose land from within the reservation.
• Extra lands were to be sold to non-Indian settlers.
• After 25 years, Indians were supposed to be ready for American citizenship.

When: 1887

Where: Oklahoma

Why: Seen as progressive in their time, the Dawes Act was meant to promote individual ownership and assimilation.  Largely seen as a failure.  Poverty and starvation.

Who: Native American graduate of UNC

What: He was the first Native American graduate of UNC.  He was an advocate for Voting rights for Native Americans.  One year after Owl earned his master's, western North Carolina officials used a literacy test to turn Cherokees away from the polls. Owl protested his exclusion by pointing to his degree as proof he could read. Officials then changed their tactics and claimed that Indians were not U.S. citizens. Even though the federal government authorized Cherokee suffrage in 1930, they did not vote in North Carolina until after World War II

When: Graduated in 1929

Where: North Carolina

Why: Though Native Americans were citizens after 1924, voter disfranchisement was an issue decades after.

Who: Grand Dragon James Cole; Lumbee Indian leaders Locklear, Oxendine, and Lowery

What: A confrontation between Lumbee Indians and the KKK.  Cole spoke against the "mongrelization" of the races and announced plans for a Klan rally on January 18, 1958, near the small town of Maxton, intended “to put the Indians in their place, to end race mixing”. His speeches, referring to the "loose morals" of Lumbee women, provoked anger among the Lumbee.  Lumbee men attacked the KKK members during their planned rally and the group dispersed.  Cole was later arrested and convicted.

When:1958

Where: Maxton, NC

Why: The Lumbee celebrate this day as a holiday.  However, it is just one victory amongst an era of intimidation and racial discrimination.

Who: Native American Tribes and the US Federal Government

What: A judicial panel for relations between the US and Native tribes to help them address grievances and receive reparations for the losses under broken federal treaties.  By accepting the government's money, the aggrieved tribes abdicated any right to raise calims in the future.  In some cases, they gave up their federal status as a tribe.

When: Established in 1946

Where: DC

Why: Era of termination

Who: Dillon S. Meyer, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, began the work of creating Termination.

What: To remove the trust relationship between the federal gov't and Indian tribes established by treaties.  Goals of Termination as expressed in House Concurrent Resolution 108...

• As rapidly as possible to make Indians subject to the same laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities of US citizens.
• To end ward status

When: 1953

Where: six states: california, minnesota, nebraska, oregon, wisconsin, alaska (upon statehood)

Why: Native Americans were to become subject to state and federal taxes as well as laws, from which they had previously been exempt.

Who: Former Lieutenant at Fort Marion and founder of Carlisle Boarding School

What: Taught Indian prisoners and Indian Children

When: 1879, founding of Carlisle

Where: Pennsylvania

Why: Assimilation