During most of the nineteenth century, the policy of the United States was to settle all American Indians on reservations where they would be out of the way of the American settlers who wanted to claim their lands. In accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the federal government negotiated treaties (international agreements) with Indian nations. These treaties often established Indian reservations that were territories which the Indian nations reserved for themselves (please note that the United States did not “give” reservations to the Indian nations). The treaties indicated these reservations were to be for the exclusive use of the Indians.
Reservations were established by treaties, by Presidential Executive Order, and by acts 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 a few of the reservation events of 150 years ago, in 1874.
Leaving the Reservations
In 1874, many reservations were run as concentration camps or prisons. Indians, including women and children, were often seen as prisoners of war. Indian nations which had been allies of the United States were also viewed as prisoners. Indians were not allowed to leave the reservation without the permission of the Indian Agent, and this permission was often denied.
In Kansas, Colonel Irving Dodge was traveling with Englishman William Blackmore when they encountered a group of 1,500 Sioux and Cheyennes under the leadership of Two Lance. In council, Two Lance told them that his people had been forced to leave the reservation because of starvation and that they were searching for buffalo. While they had found some buffalo, they were afraid of being attacked by the Utes, by non-Indian buffalo hunters, and by the soldiers.
In Nebraska, some Otoe-Missourias led by Medicine Horse and Pipe Stem, attempted to leave the reservation and join the Potawatomi on a bison hunt in Kansas. They were arrested and the leaders were imprisoned at Fort Hayes for a month. There was no trial. The Otoe-Missouria were also obligated to make restitution to the War Department from their annuities.
License to Steal
In Nebraska, a district court ruled that local courts had no jurisdiction over crimes committed on reservations. According to David Wishart, in his book An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians:
“Settlers had rarely been brought to justice for such crimes, but this decision was a virtual license to steal.”
Removal
As the non-Indian populations in the West increased, so did the political pressure to reduce the size of Indian Reservations, to terminate some reservations, and to relocate Indians to less desirable areas so that the land could be “developed” by non-Indians.
In Oregon, the state legislature passed a resolution asking that the Umatilla Reservation be terminated, and the tribes moved. In their chapter in As Days Go By: Our History, Our Land, and Our People—The Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla, Ronald Pond and Daniel Hester report:
“The legislature’s action was based on its view that too much good land was being given to the Tribes whose members were few and who made little use of the reservation lands.”
In Oregon, one of the state’s senators complained to the Secretary of the Interior that the Indian people on the Siletz and Alsea reservations were taking up over 1,400 square miles of land and thus excluding non-Indian settlement. Three chiefs from the Alsea Reservation met with the Indian agent and expressed their desire to remain in their homeland. The agent reported:
“These Indians have never received much from the Government and now do not ask anything but the privilege of living and dying in the country the Government had once given them as their own.”
The calls for removal were not limited to reservation Indians but included non-treaty Indians—those without reservations—as well. In Washington, the non-Indian residents of Pacific County called for the removal of non-treaty Indians from the area around Oysterville and Shoalwater Bay.
Rio Verde Reservation Closed
In Arizona, the Office of Indian Affairs decided to close the Rio Verde Reservation and to move the Yavapais and Tonto Apaches about 200 miles southeast to the San Carlos Apache Reservation. By eliminating the Rio Verde Reservation, the Office of Indian Affairs was able to open up the land to non-Indian settlement. Not only would the Americans be able to have the land, but they would also benefit from the irrigation system. At this time, the Indians on the reservation were well on their way to agricultural self-sufficiency and to being able to produce a surplus to sell. In his book Surviving Conquest: A History of the Yavapai Peoples, historian Timothy Braatz reports:
“A self-sufficient reservation, honestly administered, represented a significant loss of business for contractors and they moved to undermine it. The contractors had ties with the Indian Office and lobbied to have the Rio Verde population relocated to the hotter and drier San Carlos Reservation, where farming conditions were less promising.”
San Carlos Apache Reservation
By executive order President Ulysses S. Grant restored the eastern portion of the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona to the public domain. This portion of the reservation contains copper-bearing lands which non-Indians wished to mine. Both the Indian agent in Arizona and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had financial holdings in the company which subsequently developed the copper mines.
In Arizona, a change in the civilian administration of the San Carlos Apache Reservation involved the formation of an Apache Indian police force to keep order on the reservation. The various Apache groups on the reservation were asked to select their own police officers.
San Xavier Reservation
The land around the San Xavier Mission in Arizona was made into a reservation by executive order for the Tohono O’odham and placed under the jurisdiction of the Indian agent for the Pima Reservation. This area had been occupied by the Sobaípuri, but these people had left because of Apache raids and the village was re-occupied by Tohono O’odham from the village of Achi.
Colorado River Indian Reservation
In Arizona, the U.S. Army marched several hundred Hualapais from their homeland to the Colorado River Indian Reservation, a distance of about 150 miles. The Hualapais had been at Camp Beale Springs, a military reservation on their traditional homeland.
At the Colorado River Indian Reservation, outside of their traditional homelands, the Hualapais suffered from both hunger and disease. In his book I Am The Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People, Stephen Hirst reports:
“Within a few months, the Hualapai children were dying of disease and hunger, while the adults, lifelong mountain and upland plains dwellers, were weakening in the unaccustomed heat and humidity.”
Pawnee Reservation
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs gave the Pawnees in Nebraska permission to hunt buffalo in Indian Territory. General Pope protested sending Indians into an area where troops were under orders to attack all Indians who were not at the Indian agencies. Permission for the hunt was given because the Pawnee had little food. Only 50 men from each band were to go on the hunt and only small game was to be hunted. However, 12 women went with the hunting party anyway as they were needed to process the kill.
Hupa Reservation
In California, American miners invaded the Hupa reservation and placed a mining claim on an ancient village site. The miners disturbed graves and intruded on sacred places. When the Indian agent asked the military to remove the miners, the military commander refused to evict them claiming that the site was outside of the reservation. The agent filed a complaint and the commander’s general ordered him to comply with the agent’s request and remove the miners. The commander, however, refused to do so until a survey was made to determine the reservation boundary.
Fort Hall Reservation
In Idaho, the American government ordered the Weiser Shoshone under the leadership of Chief Eagle Eye to report to the Fort Hall Reservation. Eagle Eye refused this demand and ignored the order.
Walker River Paiute Reservation
In Nevada, President Ulysses S. Grant created the Walker River Paiute Reservation by executive order. The primary Paiute tribe was the Agai-Dicutta (Trout Eaters).
Jicarilla Apache Reservation
In New Mexico, a reservation for the Jicarilla Apache was established by Presidential Executive Order. The Executive Order follows the 1873 agreement. Historian Veronica Tiller, in her book The Jicarilla Apache Tribe: A History, reports:
“This was the beginning of a barrage of inchoate executive orders setting aside several Indian reservations in various locations for the Jicarillas.”
Blackfeet Reservation
In Montana, the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was reduced by an Act of Congress. While the Blackfeet and their Indian agent protested the reduction, their opinions were not sought. Non-Indian ranchers who had been running their cattle on Indian land pressured the government to move the reservation’s boundary farther north. The Indian agent wrote in his annual report:
“To take from peaceable, friendly Indians a very large portion of their best hunting and pasture land without consultation or remuneration, is a violation of the wise and Christian policy of the Government.”
Little Plume stated that the move would confine his people to an area which was too small and that they would lose a desirable portion of their hunting territory.
In 1874, 130 Blackfeet died from alcoholism.
Navajo Reservation
In New Mexico, Thomas V. Keam established the Far View Trading Post south of the Navajo Reservation near Fort Defiance. In an article in American Indian Art, Louis Hieb reports:
“Tom Keam had an excellent knowledge of the Navajo language and culture, and the trust and confidence of many important Navajo leaders.”
Both Tom Keam and his brother Billy were married to Navajo women.
Makah Reservation
In Western Washington, a boarding school was established for the Makahs and the day school in Neah Bay was abandoned. According to the founder of the school, the purpose was to take Makah children
“…entirely out of barbarous surroundings and put them in the midst of a civilized Christian home”
With regard to language:
“The Indian tongue must be put to silence and nothing but English allowed in all social intercourse.”
Attendance at the boarding school was compulsory and parents who did not send their children to school were imprisoned.
Reservation Denied
In Washington, Spokan chief Spokan Garry met with the Commandant of the Department of the Columbia. He was told that the U.S. government had no interest in giving the Spokans a reservation and that they should be careful not to make any trouble.
Moapa Reservation
By executive order President Ulysses S. Grant expanded the Moapa Reservation in Utah 8 miles to the east and 20 miles to the west.
Rattlesnake Island
In California, a clerical error removed Rattlesnake Island from ownership by the Elem Band of Pomo.
Omaha Reservation
In Nebraska, the Omahas sold 20 sections of the northern part of their reservation for use by the Winnebagos.
More American Indian histories
Indians 101: American Indians in Oklahoma 150 years ago, 1874
Indians 101: American Indians and Christianity 150 years ago, 1874
Indians 101: Indian reservations in Washington, Oregon, and California 150 years ago, 1873
Indians 101: American Indians and religion 150 years ago, 1873
Indians 101: Indian reservations 150 years ago, 1873
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
