Native American civil rights
Part of a series on |
Native Americans in the United States |
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Native American civil rights are the
Although the
Pre-contact with Europeans
Before colonization, many Natives lived in North and South America. Native American peoples' cultures, origins, religions, and languages are vastly diverse. The story of these tribes that survived European colonization have mostly been passed through oral stories traditions.
Religious practices among Natives, pre-colonialism range from individual prayers, rituals, and offerings to large intertribal ceremonies. Precontact Religion was often closely tied to the land and the environment.[3] These concerns include the omnipresent, invisible universal force, and "the three 'life crises' of birth, puberty, and death", spiritual beings, revelations, human intercessors into the spirit world, and ceremonies that renew communities.[3]
1585–1786: Initial meetings
In 1585, an American Indian tribe on the eastern coast of North America made contact with English explorer Richard Grenville, who set up a settlement called Roanoke Colony. The Native people proved hospitable and receptive to Grenville, however, when one a small silver cup was stolen from him, Grenville and his men sacked and burned down an entire village in revenge.[4] By 1586, the English settlement had been abandoned. Grenville returned to England with a Native American captive called Raleigh.[5]
In 1607, decades after the interaction between the tribe's folk and Grenville,
I have seen two generations of my people die...I know the difference between peace and war better than any man in my country... Why will you take by force what you may have quietly by love? Why will you destroy us who supply you with food? What can you get by war? We can hide our provisions and run into the woods; then you will starve for wronging your friends. Why are you jealous of us? We are unarmed, and willing to give you what you ask, if you come in a friendly manner, and not so simple as not to know that is it much better to eat good meat, sleep comfortably, live quietly with my wives and children, laugh and be merry with the English, and trade for their copper and hatchets, than to run away from them and to lie cold in the wood, feed on acorns, roots, and such trash, and be so hunted that I can neither eat nor sleep... Take away your guns and swords, the cause of all our jealousy, or you may all die in the same manner.
In the winter of 1609 through 1610, the residents of Jamestown had little food or effective shelter as they experienced the
Christianization and assimilation
Many European missionaries believed that it was their sacred duty and calling from God to convert Native Americans to Christianity.[10][11] Spaniards practiced Christianization in the New World using Pope Alexander VI's papal bull, Inter caetera. This allowed rulers to "bring under their sway [non-Christian] 'countries and islands' "discovered" by Columbus, along with 'their residents and inhabitants, and to bring them to the Catholic faith.'"[citation needed]
The missionaries developed "
1787–1899: Creating the Constitution
See the Indian Appropriations Acts.
The 1851 Indian Appropriations Act allocated funds to move Western tribes onto
1900–1945
Criticizing colonialism
Native peoples have been active in educating nonnatives on the cultures, histories, and experiences of their tribes since the beginning of colonization. Chief
Involvement with United States politics
In 1903,
The
Post World War II: 1946–1959
Many Native Americans aided the United States in World War II. Veterans came back from serving, only to find that the U.S. government and American people would not recognize their contributions to the war effort. This encouraged Natives to begin moving towards activism that was more focused on tribal sovereignty and self-determination.[14]
Advocacy groups, such as the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), which was founded in 1944, began representing tribal interests to the public and to Congress. The NCAI's founding members came from a wide variety of professionals including veterans, anthropologists, lawyers, elected state and federal officials, and a professional baseball player, George Eastman, and half of them had previously served on Indian Rights Association-chartered tribal councils. At least four of them were also members of the Society of American Indians.[14]
Civil rights movement era: 1960–1968
In 1961, the
Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968
With the law of the
- Right to press, and assembly
- Protection from unreasonable invasion of homes
- Right of criminal defendant to a speedy trial, to be advised of the charges, and to confront any adverse witnesses
- Right to hire an attorney in a criminal case
- Protection against self incrimination
- Protection against cruel and unusual punishment, excessive bail, incarceration of more than one year and/or a fine in excess of $5,000 for any one offense
- Protection from ex post factolaws
- Right to a jury trial for offenses punishable by imprisonment
- Equal law protection due process
Other civil rights such as sovereignty, hunting and fishing, and voting are still issues facing Native people today.
Contemporary movements (1969–present)
There has been increased dialogue around the controversy of using Native American symbols such as for school or team mascots. Concerns are that the use of the symbols distort Native American history and culture and often stereotype in offensive ways.
There has been significant controversy, including a
After years of lack of schooling for Natives Americans, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was created to give equal education to Natives in 1969.[23]
Native American advocates went to the United Nations to seek laws that protected the rights of Native people to own their own media, and for the prosecution of those who persecuted their journalists.[citation needed]
Religious rights
Religion after Euro-American contact
Over the last five centuries, "Christianity has made enormous inroads into Native society."[24] Many religious Native Americans today voluntarily practice Christianity, both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, or even both altogether.[24] There was both voluntary and forced conversion; however, not all tribes embraced Christianity, nor did all members of tribes.[25]
"Euro-American contact and interactions contributed much to Indian marginality and the disruption and destruction of traditional customs and even the aboriginal use of psychoactive substances. This process was noted in the 1976 Final Report to the American Indian Policy Review Commission, Task Force Eleven: Alcohol and Drug Abuse.[26]
The American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed in 1978. It allowed freedom of religion except for some restrictions on use of ceremonial items as the eagle feathers or bones (a protected species) or peyote (considered a restricted drug by the federal government);[27] however, other laws provide for ceremonial use of these by Native American religious practitioners.
One example of Christianity's influence on Native American religion is the prominence of the figure of Jesus Christ in peyote ceremonies of the Native American Church,[28] which is a syncretic religion.
Many indigenous religions arose in response to colonization. These include the
Suppression during the Progressive Era
During the Progressive Era from the 1890s to the 1920s, a "quasi-theocracy" reigned in what federal policymakers called "Indian Country"; they worked hand-in-hand with churches to impose Christianity upon Native Americans "as part of the government's civilizing project".[29] Keeping in the vein of the colonialists before them, Progressive-Era policymakers found no need to separate religious endeavors concerning Native Americans from Native political policy.[30] The government provided various religious groups with funds to accomplish Native American conversion. It was during this time that the government "discouraged or imposed bans on many forms of traditional religious practices, including the Sun Dance, use of peyote in ceremonial settings and observance of potlatch rituals."[29] The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), or the "Indian Office", as it was then called, played a role in the Christianization of Native Americans. Their boarding schools, often staffed by missionaries, removed Native children from the tribe and away from the influence of their cultures.[29]
In order to pacify Christians, "some tribal religious practitioners modified elements of their traditional practices".[31] In the case of the Sun Dance, "a ceremony of renewal and spiritual reaffirmation", some tribes "omit[ted] the element of self-sacrifice (many participants observed the ritual of skin piercing), reduced the number of days for the ceremony from eight to two and otherwise emphasized the ceremony's social, rather than religious, features".[31] In the past, tribes have also moved religious days to coincide with national U.S. holidays.
Until 1935, Native American people could be fined and sent to prison for practicing certain traditional religious beliefs.[32]
Contemporary Native American religious issues
Established in 1918, the Native American Church "emphasiz[ed] the importance of monogamy, sobriety, and hard work".[33] Today, it serves as an intertribal, multilingual network. The Native American Church has had a long struggle with the government of America due to their ancient and deeply spiritual religious practice using peyote. This psychoactive substance is found on a cactus and is used for healing practices and in religious ceremonies.[34] The use of this substance is highly debated due to the outbreaks of drug use among Americans today. Leaders of the Native American Church argue that the use of peyote allows for a direct connection with gods and that peyote is not taken simply for its psychoactive effects. It is taken in the manner that one might take the sacraments of Christianity.[35] "Peyote is not habit forming and 'in the controlled ambiance of a peyote meeting it is in no way harmful.'" Rather it is considered a unifying influence on the Native American life because it provides the "basis for Indian friendships, rituals, social gatherings, travel, marriage, and more. It has been a source of healing and means of expression for a troubled people. And it has resulted in one of the strongest pan-Indian movements among American Indians".[36]
For years the government has been debating the subject of peyote use. In 1949 peyote use was condemned by the American Medical Association because findings in their study led them to believe that it was habit-forming drug. Congress then attempted to regulate the use of peyote in 1963 with little success, but under the Drug Abuse Control Act in 1965 it was on the list of forbidden psychedelic drugs. Under this act it did not place this on Native American peyotists who were using it for religious practice, though some suffered still under the hands of the state governments for having it in their possession. State laws differed from the United States government standards with states outlawing the use of peyote.[37] "By 1970, of the seventeen states that still had anti-peyote laws, only five did not provide exemptions for Indians to use peyote ritually." These were amended under the pressure from the Native American Church member if the members showed proof that they were at least 25 percent Native American. The states laws were generally similar to those of South Dakota, which says that "when used as a sacrament in services of the Native American Church in a natural state which is unaltered except for drying or curing or slicing", peyote use is permitted.[38] In 1978 the American Indian Religious Freedom Act there was mention of protection for peyote users, but this did not change the fact that they could still be charged. Because it is an "established religion of many centuries' history...not a 20th century cult nor a fad subject to extinction at a whim",[39] it continues to be somewhat protected under the law.
Sovereignty
All
Fishing and hunting rights
Although Native Americans lost the battle for their lands, the U.S. government eventually conceded hunting and fishing rights both within the reservations and on old tribal land that had been sold to and settled. The reserved rights doctrine allowed for tribes to hunt and fish, along with any other rights, as long as they were not specifically denied in a treaty. This angered hunters and fishers who had restrictions placed on them by the government and they protested against the Natives' right to fish and hunt off of reservations.
As the United States continued to colonize more of the continent that they could, they began making treaties with tribes, so that they could have reservations of land. One particular treaty with the
State agencies pointed out that conservation efforts were possibly compromised by the Native Americans' habits; however the Supreme Court upheld the privilege with certain cases, such as Antoine v. Washington (1975), even going so far as to appropriate for Native Americans the right to hunt and fish on all of their old grounds whether or not they were currently privately owned, and to prevent private owners from erecting obstacles to exercising this right. The largest amount of opposition and resentment towards Native Americans' fishing and hunting rights stems from the Pacific Northwest.[43]
In 1988, the United States government passed a federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which provides the legislative basis for protecting Native lands for their community health and economic growth.[14]
Traveling rights
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the U.S. government attempted to control the travel of American Indians off Indian reservations. Since American Indians did not obtain U.S. citizenship until 1924, they were considered wards of the state and were denied various basic rights, including the right to travel.
While attempting to implement this pass system, the BIA received numerous complaints regarding Indians who traveled without permission. Many complained that American Indians were killing game merely for the sport and were taking the hides. Other settlers complained that Indians overstayed their visits at neighboring reservations while neglecting their farming duties at home. For example, in December 1893, Governor
In addition to these concerns, many settlers were unhappy with the travel of American Indians on the railroads. For example, the Central Pacific Railroad in Nevada had granted Indians the privilege of riding on the roof and flatbeds of rail cars without tickets, in exchange for the right-of-way through their reservations.[49] Other railroad lines, including the Carson and the Colorado allowed free railroad travel to the Indians. Paiute Indians, for example, frequently rode the trains to their traditional hunting and fishing grounds. "Paiutes would pack up their gathering baskets and hop on the rails, take off a day or two to gather seeds, and bring their harvest back home again, on the car roofs. Men and women used free passes to travel into town or to ranches farther in the hinterlands for jobs."[50] Angry Indian agents, who wanted the Paiutes to stay under their jurisdiction, wrote letters urging the BIA to stop this free travel. According to one Indian agent, "The injurious effects of this freedom from restraint, and continual change of place, on the Indian, can not be overestimated."[50]
The loss of the right to free movement across the country was difficult for American Indians, especially since many tribes traditionally traveled to hunt, fish, and visit other tribes. The passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924 granted United States citizenship to all Indians born in America. As a result, American Indians were finally granted free travel in the United States. At the present time, American Indians who live on reservations are free to travel as they wish.
Voting
Beginning in the 18th century and with the creation of the Constitution, there was a struggle to define the relationship between Native tribes and the United States, and the terms of citizenship for tribe members. For example, in the determination of a state's number of House Representatives, Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution states that "Indians not taxed" are not to be included.[51] However, the Constitution also stated that Congress has the power to "regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes" (Article I, Section 8).
In 1817, the Cherokee became the first Native Americans recognized as U.S. citizens. Under Article 8 of the 1817 Cherokee treaty, "Upwards of 300 Cherokees (Heads of Families) in the honest simplicity of their souls, made and election to become American citizens."
After the passage of the first
While the Civil Rights Act and Fourteenth Amendment served to prevent or limit citizenship for Native Americans, there were special considerations that granted citizenship to some individuals or groups, which in turn gave them the right to vote. For example, the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie created the possibility for the Lakota people to access the right to vote. Article 6 of the treaty stated that Natives could gain citizenship by "receiving a patent for land under the foregoing provisions ... and be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of such citizens, and shall, at the same time retain all [their] rights to benefits accruing to Indians under this treaty".[60] The advantage of this was that the Natives could become citizens yet still maintain their status and rights as Natives.[60]
Even for signatory Native Nations to the Fort Laramie Treaty, however, it was made clear that though some would become citizens, it did not mean that they all would gain the right to vote. In 1884, when John Elk, a Native who lived in Omaha, Nebraska, attempted to register in local elections, he was refused a ballot. When he took the case to Supreme Court and through the Elk v. Wilkins trial, he was ruled against under the circumstances that Natives were not protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.[61] The Dawes Act in 1887 continued to pave the pathway for Native citizenship in that members of certain Native American tribes who accepted an allotment of land was considered a citizen.[61] The goal was for Natives to, through assimilation, "adopt the habits of civilized life".[62] This movement certainly convinced a lot of Natives to gain citizenship. This is seen through President Theodore Roosevelt's statement on the allotment policy in which he reported that by 1901, 60,000 Natives had already become citizens of the United States.[63][61]
Piece by piece, more acts were created that added Natives to the citizenship rolls.[61] When the Native Territory (what is now Oklahoma) was abolished in 1907, all Natives who lived in that territory were made citizens through the Oklahoma Enabling Act.[61]
Furthermore, after
By the early 1920s, Congress was considering a bill to make the remainder of Native Americans citizens in their aim to have them "adopt Anglo culture".[64] This finally was stated with the Indian Citizenship Act which was created on June 2, 1924. This act showed progress in that Natives would not have to give up being a Native to be a citizen of the United States. This included being an enrolled member of a tribe, living on a federally recognized reservation, or practicing his or her culture.[64] However, this did not create the right to vote automatically.
Many states still prevented Natives from voting, even though they were citizens of the United States. For example, the attorney general of Colorado in 1936 declared that Natives could not vote because they were not citizens of the state.[65][66] Similarly, states found ways around voting in other ways. Because the Fifteenth Amendment 1870 barred states from limiting voting on account of race, states found other ways – residency: claiming that Native Americans were not residents of the state if they resided on reservations, self-termination: one must first abandon their tribal ties in order to vote, taxation: Natives who do not need to pay taxes cannot vote, guardianship: the claim that Native Americans were incompetent and "wards of the state", and on the lack of ability to read English.[67]
With World War II and the need for more soldiers through the draft, Congress reaffirmed Native people's citizenship with the Nationality Act of 1940.[68] However, when some 25,000 veterans returned home after the war, they realized that even though they had put their lives on the line for their country, they were still not allowed to vote.[68]
In 1965 the
However, efforts by states and municipalities to disenfranchise Native Americans are ongoing, such that there have been about 74 cases brought by or on behalf of Natives under the VRA or the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendment since 1965.[70] These in the most part have proved to be successful to upholding the rights of Native Americans as citizens of the United States. Most of these cases are centered on states that have large reservations, or Native populations, such as New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma.
Land rights
One of the major issues surrounding land ownership rights of the Native American Nations is the purposes for which they are and are not allowed to use their land.[citation needed]
A typical example of the struggle faced involved the
See also
- Native American Rights Fund
- Native American reservation politics
- Outline of United States federal Indian law and policy
- Racism against Native Americans in the United States
- Redwashing
Notes
- ^ "American Indian Civics Project: 1871 to 1924- Allotment and Assimilation". americanindiantah.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.
- ^ NoiseCat, Julian Brave (July 30, 2015). "13 Issues Facing Native People Beyond Mascots And Casinos". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ a b Utter, Jack. American Indians: Answers to Today's Questions. 2nd edition. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. p. 145.
- ^ ISBN 9780061965586.
- ^ Miller, Lee, Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony Retrieved April 2011
- ^ "Rethinking Jamestown". Smithsonian Magazine. January 1, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
- ^ Wolfe, Brendan. First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609–1614). (2021, February 17). In Encyclopedia Virginia.
- ISBN 978-0313340697
- ISBN 978-1-851096-97-8.
- ^ Sale 27
- ^ Green, Leslie C., and Plive Patricia Dickason. The Law of Nations and the New World. pg. 173
- ^ Ronda, James P. and Axtell, James. Indian Missions. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978. p.29
- ISBN 9781584777762.
- ^ ISBN 0787616559.
- ^ "Ohiyesa, or Charles A. Eastman". Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ Robert J. McCarthy, Civil Rights in Tribal Courts; The Indian Bill of Rights at 30 Years, 34 IDAHO LAW REVIEW 465 (1998).
- ^ (Sokolow)
- )
- ^ a b Sanchez, Rosa (July 13, 2020). "NFL's Washington Redskins to change name following years of backlash". ABC News.
- ^ "Tribes make new move to shut down Dakota Access Pipeline". Associated Press. October 20, 2020.
- ^ Levin, Sam (November 3, 2016). "Dakota Access pipeline: the who, what and why of the Standing Rock protests". The Guardian.
- ^ "Treaties Still Matter: The Dakota Access Pipeline". National Museum of the American Indian. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Issues in Native American Education". Archived from the original on November 5, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ^ a b Utter, Jack. p. 148.
- ISSN 1874-6691.
- ^ French, Laurence Armand. Addictions & Native Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. p 25.
- ^ Enumeration of areas of conflict from Francis Paul Prucha. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians, Volume 2. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984, p. 1127
- ^ Woodhead, Linda. Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations. New York: Routledge, 2002. p. 242.
- ^ a b c Duthu, N. Bruce. American Indians and the Law. New York: Viking, 2008. p. 18.
- ^ Hoxie, Frederick E., ed. Talking Back to Civilization: Indian Voices from the Progressive Era. Boston: Bedford. 2001. p. 66.
- ^ a b Duthu, N. Bruce. ibid. p. 17.
- )
- ^ Hoxie, Frederick E. ibid. p. 20
- ^ Young, William A. Quest for Harmony. Seven Bridges P, LLC, 2001. p. 313
- ^ Bell, Catherine M. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. Oxford University Press: New York, 1997. p. 113.
- ^ Young, William A. Quest for Harmony. Seven Bridges P, LLC, 2001. p. 302
- ^ Young, William A. Quest for Harmony. Seven Bridges P, LLC, 2001. p. 324
- ^ La Barre, Weston. The Peyote Cult. Archon Books, 1973. p. 265
- ^ Botsford and EchoHawk 1996, p. 132
- ^ a b Wildenthal, Bryan H. Native American sovereignty on trial: a handbook with cases, laws, and documents. Santa Barbara, California. ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2003.
- ^ Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Association, 443 U.S. 658 (1979).
- ISBN 0-670-01857-0
- ^ Law Encyclopedia. West's Encyclopedia of American Law. Copyright © 1998 by The Gale Group, Inc.
- ^ Heartbeat of the People: Music and Dance of the Northern Pow-Wow, Browner
- ^ In a Barren Land: American Indian Dispossession and Survival, Marks
- ^ Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Elizabeth von Aderkas
- ^ The Northern Shoshoni, Madsen, 134
- ^ Harvard University, U.S. Office of Indian Affairs, 67
- ^ As Long as the River Shall Run, Knack, 103,
- ^ a b As Long as the River Shall Run, Knack, 103
- ^ Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2007. pg. 1
- ^
William G. McLoughlin (1981). "Experiment in Cherokee Citizenship, 1817-1829". American Quarterly. 33 (1). American Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Spring, 1981), pp. 3-25: 3–25. JSTOR 2712531.
- ^ Kappler, Charles (1904). "INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES Vol. II, Treaties". Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
- ^ Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
- ^ a b McCool 2
- ^ Official Opinions of the Attorneys General 1856, 749–50
- ^ a b c d McCool 3
- ^ Congressional Globe 1866, 2895
- ^ a b c Congressional Globe 1866, 2892-2893
- ^ a b McCool 5
- ^ a b c d e McCool 6
- ^ Keyssar, Alexander. The Right to Vote. New York: Basic Books, 2000. pg. 165
- ^ Roosevelt 1901, 6672
- ^ a b c d McCool 7
- ^ Cohen 1942, 158
- ^ McCool 9
- ^ McCool 19
- ^ a b ITCA 2
- ^ McCool 22
- ^ McCool 45
- ^ Buffalo News story[permanent dead link]
- ^ "United States Court of Appeals - Seneca Nation v. State of New York" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 8, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2008.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Salamanca Press article[permanent dead link]
References
- ISBN 978-0-452-26669-8.