Happy National Day of Mourning...sorry, Thanksgiving*. I seriously wonder how many people know that there are 562 countries within our country. When the U.S. appears on a map, it seems like one continuous chunk of land - united. It makes the prospect of there being 562 nations within our nation seem surprising. And yet, they’re there. I think it’s worth taking a moment to talk about them. These nations are federally recognized, sovereign in the same way that Canada is. Their current state of affairs is, well, questionable. The 500 year history of United States interaction with the people who lived on this land before us is one of many sections of our history that we attempt to bury. I think it’s maybe best to start from where we’re taught that this history begins.
“Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.” A mantra that schoolchildren have been taught for decades as a reminder of when this “New World” was discovered. It is estimated that there were somewhere upwards of 30 million people living in Mexico/Latin America, another 10 million in the continental united states, and another 2 million in the north(Canada and Alaska). In any case, so began a centuries long process of colonization. The great nations of Europe stretched out their arms in search of gold and land that would propel them into a position of dominance over their neighbors. This process of colonialism, of imperialism, took place on a global scale. North America, South America, Africa, Australia, anywhere that was within reach. I think the best quote to sum up the objective of this process was “The sun never sets on the British Empire”. That sounds somewhat appealing, having an empire so large and expansive that it spans the world. And yet, with expansion, growth, and conquest of the unknown comes, well, the destruction of the unknown. Indigenous people across the world have seen their lands and livelihoods taken, often by force, and we don’t bat an eye at it. Strange. Anyway, you knew all of this, so let’s get to the stuff that’s directly relevant to the United States. Stuff that you hopefully also already know.
My initial motivation for writing this was the arrival of this Thanksgiving holiday that we celebrate annually. Thanksgiving originated as a Harvest Festival. The Jamestown Colony, amid struggle to make a home in the new world, in 1610 had a Thanksgiving feast to remember their successful arrival.. The Thanksgiving that we are generally reminded of is from 1621, when 50 mayflower pilgrims and 90 Natives shared in the first harvest with a 3 day feast celebrating having survived the winter despite losing half of the people who had landed. I’d like to think that their success was in no small part due to the assistance of the natives, who, having lived on the land already knew how to survive. In any case, it was clearly a moment of positive sentiment on both sides. Mournful is ultimately as opportune a word as thankful, because the years and decades and centuries to follow would be far less mutually positive.
The Indian Massacre of 1622 took place in Virginia. Chief Opechancanough of the Powhatan Confederacy led a series of attacks that killed roughly 350 colonists. Houses were burned. Crops were burned. Why? In 1607, when the relationship between the natives and the colonists had begun, there had been a healthy trading relationship between the two factions. The colonists had brought metal tools and other not yet developed technology which were happily traded for goods such as food. But as two years passed and food demands grew, the english began to send raiding parties to demand food. By demand I mean, burn down houses and steal food. This violence bred more violence as the Natives began to retaliate. The retaliation of the natives, destruction of food and homes, led to the starvation of colonists. While the London Company’s understanding was that having civil relations with the Powhatan would be mutually beneficial, they endeavored to christianise them and to absorb them into the colony. Chief Wahunsenacawh realized that
“Your coming is not for trade, but to invade my people and possess my country... Having seen the death of all my people thrice...I know the difference of peace and war better than any other Country. If they Powhatan fought the english, he would be so haunted by Smith that he can neither rest eat nor sleep, but his tired men must watch, and if a twig but break, everyone cry there comes Captain John Smith; then he must fly he know not whether, and thus with miserable fear end his miserable life.”
It’s funny that the conquest that would follow is where we get the story of Pocahontas. In any case, this process of attacks from both sides eventually culminated in a series of wars. Wars that provided justification for the English to continue to expand their territorial reach and ultimately completely envelope the Powhatan. Most people haven’t even heard of the Powhatan. Most people haven’t heard of 200 being poisoned at a peace conference. Most people haven’t heard of Massachusett chiefs being put to death in the Wessagusset village. Most people have heard of Thanksgiving. As they say, History belongs to the victors.
In any case, this isn’t about Thanksgiving specifically, more about a massive black splotch on the diverse tapestry that is our history. In any case, in the two centuries that followed we, the colonies and later U.S., continued to expand under the doctrine of discovery(non-christian lands could be colonized legitimately) and by signing treaties with tribes. Treaties that would generally be broken, not that treaties aren’t slightly better than being able to claim land from people because they’re non-christian. As the population of the United States grew in the early to mid 1800s, pressure mounted to expand westward. The solution: forced migration. Oh, don’t worry, not of U.S. citizens, of the indigenous peoples. Many people have heard of the 1838 Trail of Tears. A multi-year military campaign that removed and relocated the native peoples from the southeast(Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, The Carolinas. They were relocated to reservations. They would trade large tracts of land to the government in exchange for the right to continued self-governance under the protection of the United States. That our “Manifest Destiny” was to take possession of the land that an alien people currently occupied. A decision by then U.S. President, Andrew Jackson, to defy the ruling of the Supreme Court against the relocation of the Natives. What I find most ironic is the land that they were forced to abandoned was used to grow cotton, one of the hallmark products of the African slave trade. Let’s force the native peoples to move to “Indian Territory” past the Mississippi River and use this other people that we’ve enslaved to make tons of money - the logic checks out. Thousands of indigenous peoples died on this forced journey westward. A journey to land that wasn’t familiar and that was unsurprisingly populated by entirely different nations.
This process was unsavory enough, but it would be wishful thinking to consider that it would end there. The General Allotment Act of 1887 a.k.a. The Dawes Act. The American thirst for land simply couldn’t be quenched, so communally held tribal lands were forcibly converted into small parcels for individual Indian ownership - a transition from a centuries long tradition of sharing the land. To add insult to injury, approximately 90 million acres, about two thirds of reservation land, were taken from Tribal control and given to settlers as “surplus”. Don’t worry, the indigenous peoples generally weren’t compensated. 90 million acres at an average cost of $0 per acre, seems like a pretty good deal to me. I guess the positive part is that this process took place over about 5 decades rather than an instant - I mean you have to give people an opportunity to get off the land that you’re stealing from them.
In 1934, The Indian Reorganization Act attempted to move in the opposite direction. The policy of allotment was discredited and some of the lands were returned to the natives with some attempt being made at restoring tribal governments. Programs were put in place to revitalize the economies. All positively intentioned actions, but I would still classify them as half-measures. The governments that were encouraged encouraged and aligned with European models. It’s unsurprising that despite improvement to their economic conditions, their value systems found themselves eroded. Simply, it’s impossible to maintain your way of life when the foundation of that way of life, your land, is taken. It’s interesting though that even among the lands that they were relegated to, there are still a great deal of resources.
- 44.0 million acres in range and grazing.
- 5.3 million acres of commercial forest.
- 2.5 million acres of crop area.
- 4 percent of U.S. oil and gas reserves.
- 40 percent of U.S. uranium deposits.
- 30 percent of Western coal reserves.
Frankly, it’s primarily those resources that have kept their economies intact.
Anyway, come 1945 we decided to terminate all of the federal assistance programs as well as federal recognition of tribes. Public Law 280 transferred criminal and civil jurisdiction to individual states. The result was millions of acres being claimed by the government through tax forfeiture sales. That is, when taxes aren’t paid, the land is forfeited and sold. Furthermore, federal policy was to encourage native peoples to move to urban areas and join the growing economy. It was an economic disaster for tribes. In one of the greatest periods of economic growth in American History, Native Americans struggled.
Fortunately, the termination period came to an end in 1968. Tribal governments became reinvolved in congress and federal courts. That is to say, they became recognized once again. In 1975, the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act was passed which gave tribes greater control over their land and resources. Nothing is perfect, but the time since has at least seen movement in the right direction - sorta.
Many people have heard about the swirl of controversy surrounding the construction of casinos, the Dakota Access Pipeline, that around 40% of people living on reservations are not native americans. Oh, you hadn’t heard that last one? Well, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. Squatting and other forms of illegal occupation have gone on for centuries at this point. In any case, I don’t want to dig any deeper than I already have - That’s it for my scathing review. I just had to point out what I consider to be a large part of the ugly underside of this great civilization that we’ve built...sorry. Then again, who can really argue with delicious food.