Part One
Chapter 1:
After the WWII, the United States experienced industrialization, population boom, and the “America First” pride that pushed the country forward, while Indianness symbolized past. As the result, the nation and the government wanted to assimilate Indians as soon as possible, and the BIA took the leading role in this process. Furthermore, the BIA managed all Indian issues. The absence of exclusive rights on the tribes’ territories, the consequences of the 1887 General Allotment Act, and the new harden policies that aimed to cause the rapid assimilation of Indians led to lack of food, health and education services, economic difficulties, and life at a “rock bottom” existence.
Chapter 2:
The first policy that affected the Nez Perce tribe was the movement to “civilize” Natives. It started after the beginnings of European colonization and continued in the days of Washington and Jefferson. In 1836, Henry and Eliza Spaulding came to the Nez Perce to educate Indians, but their intervention resulted in losses of self-identity and tribal divisions. In 1853-1854, American government started to develop treaties with tribes for the further westward expansion. The Nez Perce Treaty of 1855 granted the Nez Perce about 8-million-acre territory, but soon the promise was violated, and it led to the 1863 treaty and the decrease of the tribe’s land. The General Allotment Act of 1887 that turned all Indians into farmers was considered to be the greatest forced change and resulted in the ravage of the Nez Perce reservation.
Chapter 3:
The Collier administration resulted in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 that established the land relations between Indians and the government, allowed Indians to adopt constitutions, improved education and medical services, and marked the withdraw from forced assimilation. However, Collier’s approach to the IRA was paternalistic, as he was sure he knew what was better for Indians without considering their opinion.
The Klamath tribe of Oregon and the Menominee of Wisconsin were two of the three largest terminated Indian Tribes. The Termination of the 1950s completely devastated Menominee; they were unable to pay taxes and mortgage and were forced to sell their property. Furthermore, the termination led to significant decrease in the spheres of employment, education, and health, to low incomes, and to discrimination of Menominee children. The Klamath tribe lost their million-acre land with rivers and forests. Moreover, tribe members lost freedom of taxation, access to federal health and educational services, exclusive rights on hunting and fishing on the territory, and prerogative of choosing places for homebuilding.
Part Two
Chapter 4:
Charles Eastman, Black Elk, and D’Arcy McNickie were writers and philosophers who uplifted Indians and promoted their ideas among non-Indians. They attracted attention of people to the issues of Indian sovereignty, honor, and homelands maintaining them alive in the deadening times. Charles Eastman revealed the way Indians had thought before they met Whites and highlighted that they were a part of the natural world. Black Elk wrote about his life through the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre and the role of religion in the Indians’ lives. D’Arcy McNickie revealed the struggles Indians were forced to overcome. Charles Eastman, Black Elk, and D’Arcy McNickie showed non-Indians the worldview and life of the Natives from the inside and provided their better understanding.
After the WWII and equal treatment, Indian veterans returned home and challenged the state laws regarding the Indian right to vote. These were the “first episodes of Indian activism.”
Chapter 5:
The major developments were dams and reservoirs. For instance, Seneca fought against the construction of Kinzua Dam. The dam was the part of the postwar development boom but imposed the Seneca with significant costs. Furthermore, the dam flooded about 10,000 acres of tribe’s lands with forests and rich bottomland. Chief Cornelius Seneca appealed to people on a national television, made speeches, and raised money to fight the dam. The Seneca tribe got support, but Kinzua Dam was built anyway. In the other example, the tribes unsuccessfully fought against Garrison Dam in North Dakota that took part of the tribes’ lands and inundated the bridge across a Missouri river. Moreover, the companies started to recede coal, gas, and oil that were held in the territories of some tribes. However, one could not name the deals between the companies and tribes good, as the works negatively influenced water, lands, and air.
Chapter 6:
The American government allowed Indians to protest but controlled the situation. For instance, in the case of Alcatraz, the government attorneys knew that Indians had no rights to the land and solved the issue mostly peacefully. The key tactics lied in negotiations, waiting, and partial gratification of the Indian claims. At the same time, the American government often used aggressive tactics and military power to disperse protesters.
The three major Native American protests were the Alcatraz occupation aimed to bring the Alcatraz lands to Indians, Trail of Broken Treaties, and the 1973 Sioux standoff. The major achievement of the protests was raising the public consciousness and highlighting injustice of the American government towards Indians. However, the Indians failed to achieved their direct purposes and to prevail the American government.
Chapter 7:
The decline of Native Americans fishing in the Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest was mostly caused by overfishing and lack of the fishing regulations. With the development of new ways of fishing, the amount of the obtained fish increased, and the issue of conservation arose. Furthermore, the Great Lakes were affected by the sea lampreys, parasites that killed the fish. The Indians understood that the establishing of the fishing rights is the key approach to solving the problem of fishing and to promoting sovereignty. They employed the tactics with the participation of the BIA and Court.
Part Three
Chapter 8:
Colville tribal council resisted termination suggesting the Senate committee alternative solutions, such as reducing the BIA’s role and improving timber management. However, he was hardly supported by his congeners. The Menominee resistance was more visible and effective; in 1970, citizens founded Determination of Rights and Unity for Menominee stakeholders that established Menominee control over MEI and practically reversed termination.
The OEO positively influenced Indian country bringing confidence and determination. For instance, it helped the foundation of the Rough Rock Demonstration School and the beginnings of the administrative roles of Navajos. Despite the fact not all OEO projects were successful or worked, American Indians got a chance to assume responsibilities and to make own mistakes.
Judge Boldt understood that Americans took away the rightful heritage of Indians, and Indians would never sign any treaties without threats to their usual places of fishing and hunting. Furthermore, he recognized the right of tribes to regulate the salmon harvest by tribal members.
Chapter 9:
The Taos Pueblo had to prove their legal rights to Black Lake. They sued to the Indian Claims Commission and started the public campaign. Furthermore, they held on and tried to prove the significance of the land for the Taos Pueblo in the court.
The ANCSA of 1971 established the payment of about one billion dollars and 45 million acres to Alaska Natives and helped in the union of Alaskans who had lived separately from one another before. At the same time, its regulations regarding land provisions created inequality between Alaska Natives. Furthermore, the act failed to regulate relations between the land and corporations and to honor Native sovereignty.
Chapter 10:
McClanahan, Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache, Morton v. Mancari, Oliphant, and United States v. Wheeler have upheld Native American sovereignty. Kake v. Egan has weakened Native sovereignty.
Part Four
Chapter 11:
Nowadays, the Warm Springs tribe has a lot of enterprises: products, the Kah-Nee-Ta vacation resort, a museum, a shopping center, a composite products venture, an energy enterprise, Warm Spring Ventures, and the Indian Head Gaming Center. Furthermore, the Warm Springs acquires money from the forestlands.
Nowadays, the Navajo Nation has seven district courts with fourteen judges. The Navajo laws are different from American common laws; for instance, its judiciary has the Peacemaker Court, as the Navajo Nation prefers to solve the conflicts peacefully. Thus, the Navajo justice system solves the modern cases keeping its traditional concepts of justice.
In 1986, the Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona adopted the constitution with judicial and legislative branches to protect their sovereignty and to establish stronger society. Nowadays, it has a full-service government and a tribal center that provides place for judiciary. The tribal council started the social programs against delinquencies and gang activities, and the tribe made a significant commitment of dollars from the budget.
Chapter 12:
The Hopi had to have enormous leverage but instead of this, suffered from lost revenues and environmental harm. The natural resource extraction in White Mountain Apache lands led to the establishing the Fort Apache Timder Company and its cooperation with Southwest Forest Industries. However, the White Mountain Apache wanted to gain control over their forestlands and expanded the Fort Apache Timder Company without renewing the contract with Southwest Forest Industries but did not gain any significant results; nowadays, the size of the timber is lesser, and tribe members experience problems with jobs and funding. The Quinault aimed to build permanent governmental institutions, established proper contracts with BIA, and regulated management of its forestlands.
Chapter 13:
The nature of gaming politics from 1979 to 1987 before the passage of OGRA of 1988 referred to the competitiveness between residential and state gaming.
Provisions:
The positives outcomes of Native American gaming include tribal revenues, jobs, housing, development of communities, and tribal power to make the basic decisions on reservation gaming. The negative outcomes include the departure from traditional Indian culture and its forthcoming to Whites and the possible loss of “social capital,” the respect among Indians.
Chapter 14:
As well as Native Americans of the U.S., Native Hawaiians promote fishing and activities that never allow overuse of the land resources. Furthermore, Native Hawaiians also experienced the consequences of European diseases. The modern Hawaiian movement was influenced by the American Indian Movement, and Native Hawaiians held similar protests with Indians. The Hawaiian Native sovereignty developed differently with the Native American sovereignty, but Hawaiians, as well as Natives, experienced a lot of difficulties to be recognized.
