Development of U.S Policy towards Native Americans and Tribal Government - Case Study Example

CONTENTS Introduction 2 Native Americans in the United States 2 Tribal Government in the United States 4 Conflicts between the Native Americans, Tribal Governments with the U.S Government 6 Development of U.S. Policies towards Native Americans and Tribal Governments 7 Example from Florida 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 References 11 Introduction This is a descriptive research essay which contributes to the development of the United States policies toward the Native Americans generally and Tribal government specifically. This would also include the general study carried out for gaining knowledge on the introduction and background of Native Americans and tribal government in the United States, their lifestyles along with the reaction of the United States government towards them. At the end of the essay, a conclusive summary would be provided which would contain the author’s personal assessment, summary and the development of United States policies which have developed for these minorities with the passage of time. Native Americans in the United States (Curtis, Adam, Kieseyer; 2001, p27-64) Native American are basically the original people who belong from the regions of North America and some parts of Alaska. Native Americans are said to be the sole and native originators who encompassed America before the advent of other discoverers, this is why they are given many titles; such as, Native Americans, American Indians, Indians, Red Indians, Original Americans, Red Men, Amerindians, Indigenous, Aboriginals, and Amerinds. They live in the form of large tribes, groups, communities, states, or ethnic groups. Most of the scholars agree to this point that the population of the Native Americans migrated into the Western Hemisphere from Asia from the Bering Strait in several series and years, and from Alaska they spread to south and east regions. The civilization followed by the Native Americans is ancient, but this ancient civilization and old traditions have changed by time and the Native Americans have also changed their way of living and lifestyle with the changing world and environment. The written record of the 10 million populated Native Americans can be found with the European conflict because the conflict era between the old and new world cultures came with the advent of European colonization. In that period of time, the philosophies of the cultures were clashed, religious institutions and centers were challenged, old world cultures were changed, and modern technologies were changed; so this changed the entire picture of the historic value of old and new world of history. As the colonial era of England was revolted and the United States established, Native Americans also got the chance to enroll as natives and original habitants of their homelands. Native Americans have an exceptional association and liaison with the government of united states, and they have found their individual independent rights and provisions from the government of the united states to live according to their rights and beliefs in the form of bonded groups, nations and tribes so that they could maintain their own dignity and civilization to full extents. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 grants the right of being U.S. citizens to all the Native Americans so that they could live independently and enjoy their lifestyles with full freedom and justification. “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all non-citizen Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, That the granting of such citizenship shall not in any manner impair or otherwise affect the right of any Native American to tribal or other property.” —-Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 The total number of spoken language by the native Americans have not found yet but it is said that many spoken languages of Native Americans demolished in the era of England colonial rule, but some of their traditional languages are still spoken by the Native Americans. By the mid of the twentieth century, the entire population of the native Americans have been surviving with poor education, poverty, lack of resources and unemployment (Lewis, 2004, p114-132). Tribal Government in the United States (Bays, Fouberg; 2002, p34) Tribal government is also known as the minority situate in different areas of the United States. It is the state of population which has the right from the United States federal government to form its own community, group or separate government; and to develop and implement their own separate set of rules (which includes social, civil and crime-oriented laws as well). Apart from that, these tribes have the capability and right to set a unique tribal government for their own taxation, traditions, formalities, laws, membership criteria, and the ability to set their own territories with full authority and priority; but with certain limitations. These limitations are of the same nature as other states of the United States possess. For example, neither any state, nor any tribe would engage itself in any sort of foreign trade, war, or foreign relationships, or even follow change currency in any case. At present, there are around 561 tribal governments in the United States who possess their own living standards and set of rules for daily routines. According to the calculation carried out by the 2003 Census; the total number of native Americans in the United States is 2,786,652 with the majority in the states of California with 413,382; Arizona with 294,137; and Oklahoma with the population of 279,559 Native Americans. Normally, these tribes consist of Native Americans or Red Indians as its sole habitants. Other major groups of Native Americans living in the tribal governments are found in the areas of Navajo, Choctaw, Sioux, Apache, Pueblo, Cherokee, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Chippewa. The Native Americans claim that they are not treated as sovereign states and the government of the United States want to organize them under the United States law and order. They also claim that they should be treated as free nations and their affairs and issues must be reported directly to the Secretary of State, rather than the Bureau of the Indian Affairs. (Feldman, 2005, p13) Nonetheless, it is reported and observed that some of the Native Americans living in the tribal governments in the United States are unable to follow their typical traditions, heritage, and way of living. This is the one of the reason that even small populated tribal governments wants to make them recognize by the federal government so that they might not be forgotten by the world or even their own civilization or people. This also helps in labeling their goods as the Native Americans approves specific rights from the federal government of the United States. But to be approved for this recognition and certain benefits from the governmental side, tribes have to prove their continuous existence since the 1900s. According to the historic records, Native Americans are struggling to continue their existence in the United States, and the map of the United States along with their existence on the map of the world since decades and from the start of the 21st century. For this purpose, these groups and communities have formed certain governments, resources, departments and acting communities which could facilitate its members with the administration tasks, such as; firefighting, natural resources, law implementation and several other tasks along with certain court systems which could perform hearing and justice on behalf of the federal government. (Christianson, Hatch; 2000, p774) There are some illustrations followed by the structure of tribes in the United States which are listed as under: The right to overthrow chiefs and sachems To pursue religious faith and worship its idle To possess certain gentes Their must be a head-chief of the tribe The superlative government must possess committee of chiefs Conflicts between the Native Americans, Tribal Governments with the U.S Government (Switzer, 2003, p190) Despite all the freedom provided by the government, it is believed that the Native Americans faced bad behavior and mistreatment from the normal U.S. citizens. These Native Americans have faced social, political and public issues from everywhere. This is the reason that many non-Indians admit that they barely meet or encounter any Native American in their normal daily routine. This might be due to the reason that Native Americans are very different from the non-Indian population and they have been treated badly in the past by the people because of several reasons. This has paved the way to many conflicts between the Native Americans and the governmental bodies on vast scale, which at times, consequences into violence and disturbance. For example, in the mid twentieth century, restaurants and beer bars clearly stated that they would not serve beverages and beer to the Indians. This situation was covered by the literal population and the federal government by time, but he consequences are showed now sometimes, which ends up in tribal and federal government violence and disturbance. This gives rise to certain problems for the government, normal public and for the tribal governments of the Native Americans as well. To overcome this discrimination and disturbance, the federal government of the United States has come up with certain rules and policies which could satisfy and uphold the dignity of the Native Americans so that they could enjoy their freedom and lives to full extents like all other good citizens. Development of U.S. Policies towards Native Americans and Tribal Governments Development of the United States policies towards Native Americans is one of the most old and conflicted areas ever happened in the history of the country, because has kept changing since the late 18th century till date. There are numerous reforms introduced by the government which could satisfy the native Americans and the tribal governments and for that the federal government has made changes in its policies so many times. (Thompson, 2005, p270) The first policy was made in the year 1787, which also was stated in the Intercourse Act of 1780 that no one would be eligible to take land and reforms from the Native Americans and their tribal governments. However, the Native Americans were not treated well by the localities. So the government made another policy in the year 1830 as Removal Act of 1830, which stated that the Indians are eligible to exchange their land east of the Mississippi Rivers for lands of west of the river, so that the could be protected and live in more larger groups and communities. This policy was supposed to be based on will power, but the chiefs of the tribal governments were pressurized to act upon this treaty, which result in civil wars and disturbance among the people and the federal army on large scale. These fights continued till 1890, until every tribal chief agreed to the reservation life and surrendered. In 1887, another policy was made by the federal government as Dawes Act of 1887, to split tribal lands, which gave land and resources so that Native Americans and tribal governments could enjoy individual rights while living with the white people. For this purpose, they were asked to shed hunting and acquire farming instead, and also to shed their traditional customers and try English language along with schooling for children. This Act remained federal until 1934 when the government came up with new policy of Indian Recognition Act of 1934, which stated that the Native Americans are free to live and enjoy their lands and resources (Thompson, 2005, p270). After that, a termination policy was adopted by the majority of people and some governmental bodies against the Native Americans and their tribal government which were discontinued in the Indian Affairs Act of July 13, 1970 and India Self-Determination Act of 1975. (Dernbach, ELI; 2002, p526) On 11 August 1978, the federal government passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act which allowed the preservation and protection of practicing beliefs, religious rights, traditions, and customs of Native Americans and tribal governments under certain limits and conditions. The federal government also declared that there are around 563 tribal governments in the United States and all of them must have the right to practice their beliefs and enjoy their independence as they want according to their customs and traditions. "These tribes possess the right to form their own government; to enforce laws, both civil and criminal; to tax; to establish membership; to license and regulate activities; to zone; and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money.” Later on, the Native Americans and the tribal governments were allotted the rights to vote in the national and electorate elections. However, the BIA of the Department of Commerce continues to supervise and observe the reservation life of these Native Americans and tribal governments. In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned on the portraying of hostile and abusive Native Americans mascots in the sports occasions. Example from Florida (Lewis, 2004, p114-132) The Native Americans and tribal governments entered in the state of Florida several decades ago but the state started to recognize their rights from 1950 onwards. There are traces of many civilizations in Florida, such as, Tequesta, Timucua, and Apalachee. At present, the two major groups formed in the state of Florida are the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Seminole Tribe of Florida voted in majority to form a tribal government within the state of Florida in the year 1957, so that they could enjoy their independent values and tribal customs with freedom. This helped in forming a tribal governmental entity called The Seminole Tribe of Florida Inc. in 1957, which stated that this business oriented governmental entity is a chide commanding body. This governmental business oriented community would include a Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, and Council Representatives from every reservation. At present, this council is responsible to monitor and supervise businesses and tribe’s agendas. The tribe also includes a legal department which helps in pointing out the civil laws and leading a legalized life for the Native Americans of Florida. This department is also responsible to look after the natural resources management, water resource management, and public defend office. However, the legal and civil matters are reported to the federal authorities. Conclusion Native Americans and the tribal governments are there in the United States way before the forming of the United States historically and their way of living, customs, traditions, habits and lifestyles are totally different from the white people. Previously, the Native Americans and their tribal governments were treated very badly in the past, but with the passage of time, the federal government has come up with several policies and measures to let them enjoy their historic values and traditions personally. However, the government and the tribal government of Native Americans went through many conflicts and disturbances, and the federal government has made many policies for the benefit and betterment of the tribal governments. As time goes, it seems that these policies would continue to be modified. References Edward S. Curtis, Hans-Christian Adam, Ute Kieseyer; 2001, Native Americans, Published by Taschen, p27-64. Jon E. Lewis, 2004, The Mammoth Book of Native Americans: The Story of America's Original Inhabitants in All Its Beauty, Magic, Truth, and Tragedy, Published by Carroll & Graf, p114-132. Brad A. Bays, Erin Hogan Fouberg; 2002, The Tribes and the States: Geographies of Intergovernmental Interaction, Published by Rowman & Littlefield, p34. Stephen G. Christianson, Jane M. Hatch; 2000, The American Book of Days, Published by H.W. Wilson, p774. Jay Feldman, 2005, When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes, Published by Free Press, p13. Jacqueline Vaughn Switzer, 2003, Environmental Activism: A Reference Handbook, Published by ABC-CLIO, p190. William Norman Thompson, 2005, Native American Issues: A Reference Handbook, Published by ABC-CLIO, p270. John Dernbach, Environmental Law Institute (ELI); 2002, Stumbling Toward Sustainability, Published by Environmental Law Institute, p526. Read More