(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Indians 101: Indian reservations 150 years ago, 1873 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-11 Reservations were established by treaties, by Presidential Executive Order, and by act of Congress. Similarly, reservation boundaries could be changed, and reservations enlarged or reduced in this fashion. The Indians’ nations were sometimes, but not always, consulted about changes to their reservations. In addition, the Americans tend to view all Indians as one people and, blissfully unaware of cultural differences between tribes, to assign multiple tribes to a single reservation. One of the purposes of reservations was to “civilize” Indians by acculturating them into American culture and destroying their Indian cultures. In an article in the Western Historical Quarterly, Christina Klein writes: “Reservations were physical spaces designed to redefine the cultural space of Indians—to move them from savagery, a position wholly outside the social order, to quasi-citizenry, a position within the emerging social hierarchy, albeit on its lowest rungs.” Historian Sherry Smith, in her book The View from Officers’ Row: Army Perceptions of Western Indians, puts it this way: “United States Indian policy during the last half of the nineteenth century centered on the reservation system. On reservations, policymakers hoped, Indians would begin the acculturation process that would eventually usher them into the Anglo-American world.” Corruption in the administration of Indian reservations was widespread. In an effort to stop corruption and to speed-up the assimilation of Indians, President Ulysses S. Grant instituted his Peace Policy in which the administration of reservations was given to Christian (primarily Protestant) churches. With no regard for aboriginal religious practices, it was assumed that all Indians should be forced to become Christian as a part of their assimilation into American culture. Briefly described below are some reservation events of 150 years ago, in 1873. Note: Reservations in Washington, Oregon, and California, and those in Arizona and New Mexico are described in their own essays. Note: Modern state names are used even though some of these states did not attain statehood until after 1873. Blackfeet Reservation, Montana A large Indian reservation was established by Executive Order in order to legalize American settlement on Indian land in Montana. The new reservation for the Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, and River Crow included all of Montana east of the Rocky Mountains and north of the Missouri and Sun Rivers. The Americans in Montana were not happy with the new boundaries as American settlers had already invaded the new reservation. An agency was also established at Fort Peck to administer the Assiniboine Canoe Paddler Bands led by Red Stone (648 people), Broken Arm (416 people), Bobtail Bear (480 people), and Red Stone (400 people) as well as well as Long Sioux’s Sioux band (1,236 people described as “confederated with the Assiniboine), and the Yankton-Yantonai under the leadership of Struck by the Ree (4,960 people). This agency would later become the Fort Peck Reservation. A new sub-agency at Fort Belknap was intended to serve the Upper Assiniboine Bands—North Band (1,100 people), Rocky Band (1,070 people), and Dogtail Band (425 people)—as well as the Gros Ventre (1,321 people) and the River Crow (1,162). This sub-agency would later become the Fort Belknap Reservation. In 1873, the Indian agent for the Blackfeet Reservation reported that two chiefs and 30 other tribal members had recently died of alcoholism. He estimated that over 600 barrels of whiskey had been consumed on the reservation during the past six years and that one-fourth of the tribe had died as a result. Flathead Reservation, Montana A man known as Samuel Welles or Indian Sam brought four buffalo calves from the Plains area across the Rockies to the Flathead Reservation. Elder Que-que-sah recalls: “Buffalo hunting had ended owing to the fact that the herds had all been killed. We were all greatly interested in the welfare of Samuel’s calves. I think that every Indian upon the reservation looked upon this little herd as the last connecting link with the happier past of his people. I know we all protected them, wherever they were grazing.” Bitterroot Reservation, Montana A report on the Flathead Indians who were living in the Bitterroot Valley on lands reserved for them by treaty, found that most of the non-Indian settlers in the area advocated the removal of the Indians to the Flathead Reservation. However, the report found little evidence of any crimes committed by the Flathead against the non-Indians. Choctaw Reservation, Oklahoma The Choctaw were a farming people who had been forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast and resettled on a reservation west of the Mississippi River in what would become Oklahoma. In 1873, for the second time the Choctaw government attempted to establish a royalty on all mining operations within the Choctaw Nation. Chief Coleman Cole stated that: “… all the mines of coal, lead and other materials, and all the timber belongs to the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations and not to individual Indians who may occupy the soil.” Once again, the Choctaw Supreme Court rejected the measure. Comanche Reservation, Oklahoma Due to pressure from the state of Texas, the Indian Office (now called the Bureau of Indian Affairs) withheld annuities from the Comanches until they turned over the individuals who had been raiding in Texas. The Comanche chiefs felt that this was a declaration of war. The embargo was soon lifted, but the hard feelings remained. Consolidation of Tribes, Oklahoma The federal government consolidated the Miami, Peoria, Wea, Piankashaw, and Kaskaskia tribes. The federal government would consider these tribes to be a single people without any concern or recognition of their individual cultures and histories. In an article in the Chronicles of Oklahoma, Linda Parker reports: “Nevertheless, the Miami tribal organization continued to operate, and even though some individual Miamis joined the United Peoria and Miami, the tribal union was never completely successful.” Wichita Reservation, Oklahoma A party of 30 lodges with 360 people from the Kitkahaxkix Pawnee travelled to Oklahoma where they were welcomed by the Wichitas. In his 1933 book The Pawnee Ghost Dance Hand Game: Ghost Dance Revival and Ethnic Identity, anthropologist Alexander Lesser reports: “This migration of part of the Pawnee was not only conceived by the people themselves, but was undertaken and carried out in spite of the remonstrances and objections of their agent and other officials.” The Pawnees and Witchitas are culturally related peoples who diverged from the Caddos. Kaw Reservation, Oklahoma The Kaw (also called Kansa) were moved from central Kansas to a 100,000-acre reservation in northern Oklahoma. Disease had reduced the Kaw population to about 700. Chief Allegawaho protested the forced move and pointed out that the Americans treated the Kaw like a flock of turkeys, chasing them from one area to another. Cherokee Reservation, Oklahoma The American Baptist Home Missionary Association suggested that the Indians had more land than they needed and that their territory should be opened for non-Indian settlement. Cherokee leader William P. Ross replied by emphasizing the Indian right of self-government and argued that there was no justification for limiting the amount of land any individual Indian can hold. In 1873, the Cherokee Tribe authorized the construction of a national jail. The act authorizing the jail also called for the Principal Chief to appoint a high sheriff to act as warden, an executioner, and a custodian of the national capital. Chickasaw Reservation, Oklahoma Chickasaw Governor Cyrus Harris signed the Freedman Adoption Act which adopted the Chickasaw ex-slaves into the nation. Shoshone, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada The American government decided that all the Shoshones who lived in southeastern Oregon, southwestern Idaho, and central Nevada were Western Shoshones and therefore they fell under the provisions of the 1863 Ruby Valley Treaty. In his book The Weiser Indians: Shoshoni Peacemakers, historian Hank Corless reports: “Less than one-fourth of these Shoshoni had actually taken part in any treaty and had never received annuities.” The Indians did not consider themselves bound to the American government by treaty and thus were not in favor of being removed to a reservation. Coeur d’Alene Reservation, Idaho The Coeur d’Alene tribe agreed to a 598,000-acre reservation, but the agreement was not ratified by Congress. However, an executive order was issued creating the reservation according to the agreement. The Coeur d’Alene tribe did not accept the executive order as they wanted the original agreement ratified by Congress, which would give them treaty rights. Fort Hall Reservation, Idaho The Fort Hall Reservation was established in 1868 for the Shoshone and Bannock. Several autonomous Shoshone and Bannack bands were forcibly resettled on the reservation. The Lehmi Shoshone and the Weiser Shoshone, however, refused to leave their homelands. In 1873, the Indian Office suggested to the Indian Agent of the Fort Hall Reservation that he entice Lemhi Shoshone Chief Tendoy to become the titular head of the reservation. In this way, the government felt that the Lemhi would move to the reservation. Tendoy, however, refused the offer. In 1873, Shoshone and Bannock leaders on the Fort Hall Reservation agreed to relinquish the right to hunt on unoccupied lands. Among those signing the agreement were Shoshone leaders Pocatello, Pocatello John, and Captain Jim. Bannock leaders Otter Beard, Pagwite, and Tyree also sign the agreement. Ute Reservation, Utah Ute leader Ouray met alone with the President of the Board of Indian Commissioners, Felix Brunot, in Wyoming. Ouray’s only child, Friday, had been captured by the Sioux ten years earlier, and Ouray told the American that if the government could return his child, then Ouray would do what he could for the government with regard to Ute lands. The government promised to find the boy and pressured Ouray to call a council about the lands. In Utah, Ouray called a council of the Ute as he had agreed to when he met with Felix Brunot of the Board of Indian Commissioners. Brunot lied to the Utes: “It makes no difference to me about these mountains. I do not want anything that is in them.” In the Brunot Agreement, the miners got the rich gold fields of the San Juan Mountains, but the Utes refused to give up their hunting rights or their valley lands. According to historian David Rich Lewis, in his book Neither Wolf Nor Dog: American Indians, Environment, and Agrarian Change, the agreement was “the product of official threats, bribes, and signature fraud.” The Ute agreed to give up the land, but only if the land was for mining and not farming. If any of the land was for farming, the Ute insist, then the agreement was not valid. For cooperating with Brunot, Ouray was awarded $1,000 per year for the rest of his life. With regard to Friday, Ouray’s son who was captured by the Sioux, Brunot arranged a meeting between Ouray and Friday in his Washington office. Friday, however, did not recognize Ouray as his father, and returned to the Arapaho reservation where he had been living. Having become ill in Washington, Friday died two weeks later. Pembina Chippewa, North Dakota The Dakota Territorial Legislature requested that the Pembina Chippewa be removed to the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. The poverty of these bands was an embarrassment to territorial officials, and they wanted the land for American settlement. The request was forwarded to the House of Representatives by the Secretary of the Interior. Paiute Leader Arrested in Nevada Paiute leader Natchez questioned the Indian Agent about why the Shoshone received goods—beef, blankets, combs, potatoes, cooking utensils, etc.—and the Paiutes received nothing. The agent informed the Army that Natchez was inciting the Indians against him. The Army then arrested Natchez and sent him to Alcatraz. According to one newspaper account: “We have no doubt that the arrest of Natchez was a very needless if not outrageous piece of official tyranny … We suspect the trouble is that Natchez knows too much to suit the purposes of Mr. Indian Agent Bateman.” Moapa Reservation, Nevada John Wesley Powell and G. W. Engalls led a special commission to examine the condition of the Paiutes and other Great Basin tribes in Utah. They recommended that the Paiutes be moved to the Moapa Reservation in Nevada. They also recommended that the reservation be expanded to include more farmland and access to timber. More American Indian histories Indians 101: Southwestern Indian Reservations 150 years ago, 1873 Indians 101: Indian Reservations 150 years ago, 1872 Indians 101: Councils and reservations 150 years ago, 1870 Indians 101: Reservations 150 Years Ago, 1869 Indians 101: The Cherokee After Removal Indians 101: Montana gold and the Indians Indians 101: The Hopi Reservation in the 19th century Indians 101: The Historic St. Mary's Mission and the Bitterroot Salish (photo diary) [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/11/2162992/-Indians-101-Indian-reservations-150-years-ago-1873 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/