HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS FOR MODERN INDIAN LAW AND ORDER

• NCJ Number: 65662
• Author(s): R YOUNG
• Date Published: 1975
• Length: 28 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of the Interior
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AMERICAN INDIAN RELATIONSHIPS WITH EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS ARE TRACED, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LAND STATUS, TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY, AND TRIBAL SELF-GOVERNMENT.

Abstract

THE SURVEY OUTLINES IMPORTANT EVENTS AND INFLUENCES IN INDIAN HISTORY, BEGINNING WITH A DESCRIPTION OF INDIAN AMERICA BEFORE EUROPEANS BEGAN TO CHANGE NATIVE AMERICANS' LIVES. NEXT, A DESCRIPTION OF COLONIAL AMERICA DETAILS THE CONTINUED EUROPEAN EXPLOITATION OF AMERICA AND THE CREATION OF LEGAL DOCTRINES THAT GAVE THE EUROPEAN DISCOVERERS TITLE TO ALL THE LAND THEY CLAIMED. IT IS SHOWN, HOWEVER, THAT INDIANS WERE RECOGNIZED AS RIGHTFUL OCCUPANTS OF THE LAND AND THAT THE INTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY OF INDIAN TRIBES REMAINED UNIMPAIRED THROUGHOUT THE COLONIAL PERIOD. THE MANY CHANGES BROUGHT BY THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE POSTREVOLUTIONARY PERIOD ARE DETAILED, INCLUDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND A SHIFT IN THE BALANCE OF POWER FROM THE INDIANS TO THE NEW WHITE SETTLERS. FOLLOWING ADOPTION OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, ALL EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY OF INDIAN TRIBES WAS ENDED, AND THE REGULATORY ROLE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS SHOWN TO HAVE INCREASED RAPIDLY, LEADING TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS IN 1824. THE PERIOD OF NATIONAL EXPANSION WHEN MILLIONS OF ACRES OF INDIAN LAND WERE CEDED TO THE U.S. AND INDIAN TRIBES WERE FORCED TO MOVE TO NEW LANDS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS DESCRIBED. THE POST-CIVIL WAR PERIOD, WHICH SAW THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INDIAN RESERVATIONS AND THE RISE OF FEDERAL PATERNALISM, IS ALSO COVERED. CASE LAW AND OTHER LEGAL DOCTRINES AND TREATIES ARE CITED TO ILLUSTRATE THE TAKEOVER OF INDIAN LANDS AND THE DECIMATION OF INDIAN CULTURE. DEVELOPMENTS IN THE 20TH CENTURY ARE DETAILED, SUCH AS THE MERIAM REPORT OF 1928 AND THE INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT OF 1934, WHICH WERE TURNING POINTS IN INDIAN HISTORY AND IN THE HISTORY OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. A DESCRIPTION OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE BY TRIBAL COURTS CONCLUDES THE SURVEY. NUMEROUS REFERENCES ARE CITED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT. (PRG)