Timeline
1790 - 1834
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Trade and Intercourse Acts
"The central policy embodied in the Acts was one of separating Indians and non-Indians and subjecting nearly all interaction between the two groups to federal control. . . . The Acts established the boundaries of Indian country and protected against incursion by non-Indians in several ways" (Canby). |
1819
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Indian Civilization Fund Act
"The Indian Civilization Fund Act authorized the federal government to allocate money to instruct Native Americans in agriculture, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The Act went into effect on March 3, 1819, and it provided $10,000 per year to promote cultural assimilation among the nation's Indians" (Frank). |
1824
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Bureau of Indian Affairs Formed
"The BIA was created in 1824.... Its task was to handle the growing problems caused by the westward expansion of the United States into territories mainly inhabited by the Indians.... The BIA was accused of abuse, mismanagement, and corruption from its early days and throughout the nineteenth century." ("Bureau of Indian Affairs"). |
1830 |
Indian Removal Act
"Jackson and his supporters claimed that the 'savage' Native American culture must inevitably give way to the onslaught of civilization. . . .The only hope for Native American survival, according to these supporters, was to be moved outside the reach of civilization. In the West, they argued, missionaries could continue their efforts at Christianizing and civilizing the Native American at a slower pace, away from the vices of more populated areas" (Patterson). |
1879 |
Carlisle Indian School Opens
"Carlisle Indian Industrial School, the first off-reservation school for American Indians in the United States, was established in 1879 in Pennsylvania by army officer Capt. Richard H. Pratt. . . . Boys learned agricultural and vocational skills and girls learned sewing, cooking, and other traditionally domestic occupations. Carlisle became a prototype for scores of other Indian schools" (Stough). |
1887 |
Dawes Severalty Act
"The act provided each Native American family with 160 acres of land; single adults received 80 acres. Along with the land came full U.S. citizenship, but there was a catch: Citizenship would not be granted until a twenty-five-year trust had expired. Native Americans would lose their collective legal standing as a tribe. . . . Millions of acres that were not allotted to the Native Americans were considered surplus land and made available for sale" ("Dawes Severalty Act"). |
1911 |
Society of American Indians is Founded
"The society offered individual, not tribal, membership to American Indians and associate memberships to non-Indians. American Indian members of the SAI were their generation's best and brightest, reflecting assimilation in both their personal and professional lives. . . . One of the goals of the SAI was to educate the American public about the abilities and aspirations of American Indians" (Dominguez). |
1928
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The Problem of Indian Administration (Meriam Report)
"Meriam Report, published in 1928, was a survey of conditions on Indian Reservations in twenty-six states. . . . The survey team consisted of ten experts in various fields, including sociology, family life and women's activities, education, history, law, agriculture, health, and research methods" (Fritz). |
1934 |
Indian Reorganization Act
"The act repudiated the Dawes General Allotment Act, barred further allotment, and set aside funds to consolidate and restore tribal landholdings. . . . the act also allowed tribes to establish business councils with limited powers of home rule to enable them to develop reservation resources. . . . " (Rzeczkowski). |
1953 |
House Concurrent Resolution 108
"Congress formally adopted a policy of 'termination,' its express aim being 'as rapidly as possible, to make the Indians within the territorial limits of the United States subject to the same laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities as are applicable to other citizens of the United States' " (Canby). |
1975 |
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
"This law made self-determination, rather than termination, the focus of government action. . . . established procedures by which tribes could negotiate. . . their own education and social service programs. . . . attempted to increase parental input in Indian education by guaranteeing Indian parents' involvement on school boards" (Cobb). |
1978 |
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
"The Indian Child Welfare Act, passed by Congress in 1978, intended to limit the historical practice of removing Native American children from their tribe and family and placing them in a non-Indian family or institution. . . . The stated purpose of the act is to '[p]rotect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes' " ("Indian Child Welfare Act"). |
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