Self-Determination Of Native Americans

At first, it came as a surprise to me that there are still many tribes who are trying to become federally recognized and colonize land again just like before to continue their culture and identity. By now, I would had imagined that the Native Americans are at peace and can continue their traditions. However, I have come to discover that Natives Americans are still fighting for social justice when they have existed here way before Christopher Columbus discovered their land and called them, Indians. The impact that these social justice issues has on me is that the issues in which Native Americans face cannot be entirely solved. It is an impossible action to fix.

THESIS STATEMENT: The Native Americans were historically doomed because of the Europeans inability to accept elements of Native American culture that they felt were savage, the natives inability to acknowledge the Europeans threat to their lifestyle and land, and the far superior European army used to defeat Indian tribes.

Indeed following on from this last point the Native American self-determination movement has achieved almost all of its victories without outside help. Indeed many organisations such as the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association (NANAINA) are run by and for Native Americans and their interests. As with most civil rights movements but even more the case as Native Americans have their own sovereign citizenship, for real change to be affected there had to be self-organisation. To build on this point, the overarching aim for native activism is the abidance of treaties signed between tribes and the Federal government and the acceptance of

For several hundred years people have sought answers to the Indian problems, who are the Indians, and what rights do they have? These questions may seem simple, but the answers themselves present a difficult number of further questions and answers. State and Federal governments have tried to provide some order with a number of laws and policies, sometimes resulting in state and federal conflicts. The Federal Government's attempt to deal with Indian tribes can be easily understood by following the history of Federal Indian Policy. Indians all over the United States fought policies which threatened to destroy their familial bonds and traditions. The Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe of Maine, resisted no less

Over 100 years ago, the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina pleaded for federal recognition. In 1956, an act relating to the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina was passed, giving the Lumbee tribe the acknowledgment of being of native descent. Recently, an amendment to the 1956 law has been put on the table under the name of “Lumbee Recognition Act.” This amendment will make the Lumbee Indians a fully Federally recognized tribe.  To be recognized as a legitimate native nation, a tribe must have political influence, possess membership criteria,

The first interaction that took place in the New World, occurred between a group of European settlers and Native Indians, who inhabited the borders of the United States. Indian tribes, who resided in the North, lacked the skills and literacy Europeans had obtained, such as craftsman’s ship of tools, weapons, and wheeled vehicles. However, their simplistic lives allowed them to master skills, which would become important and useful to new settlements, such as farming, hunting, developing structures, and engage in far-reaching networks of trade. Europeans viewed the Natives one of two ways, “they were regarded either as noble savages, gentle, friendly, and superior in some ways to Europeans, or as uncivilized and brutal savages.” (Give Me Liberty

July 11th 1990, marked the beginning date of the Oka Crisis in Quebec Canada. It lasted until September 26th 1990 resulting in one fatality of a local police officer. The violent clash was triggered by something as simple as a golf course extension and as complicated as native burial traditions. It had drawn world attention, catapulting native land rights into the mix. The Oka Crisis is just one of many conflicts between the Aboriginals and the Canadian government. A major issue that has been of much debate in the 20th century has been Native sovereignty. The demand sounds simple, allow Aboriginals of Canada to govern themselves; however, coexisting with the Canadian government makes this idea extremely complicated. Roger Townshend states

The identity of Alaskan Natives and Native Americans and the ability to delineate tribal affiliation has been a subject of argument for many years. The demands of federal programs determine the blood volume required to be Native. As federal programs increase and decrease so does the blood volume required to obtain these benefits. Blood quantum is the display of colonialism and is gradually eroding and eradicating the roots of indigenous people and sets a precedence that a person’s blood relates to their cultural orientation and identity. “American Indians and non-Indians have defined Indian identity through law, biology, and culture. All three overlap in specific ways, but more significantly, all have ties to outdated blood quantum

Source: lecture slide "National Identity • Who are the people? • 3 populations: – “the people” – Indians, not part of America – “other persons” • Who is an American?" 2.

Native Americans have felt distress from societal and governmental interactions for hundreds of years. American Indian protests against these pressures date back to the colonial period. Broken treaties, removal policies, acculturation, and assimilation have scarred the indigenous societies of the United States. These policies and the continued oppression of the native communities produced an atmosphere of heightened tension. Governmental pressure for assimilation and their apparent aim to destroy cultures, communities, and identities through policies gave the native people a reason to fight. The unanticipated consequence was the subsequent creation of a pan-American Indian identity

Indigenous people are constantly put into categories by the North American government without the White Canadians and Americans realizing it. Thomas King has a particular notion that as a society there are three classifications that an Indigenous person can fall under; Dead, Live, or Legal Indian. King uses the term Indian which some may seem as offensive although King proclaims: “Terminology is always a rascal” and that there will never be a correct term to use, he suggests using the term that people call themselves. Considering King’s quote this paper will mainly include the terms Indian and Indigenous when referring to Native Americans. Thomas King explains a Dead Indian as the North American indigenous cliché of beaded, shirts, fringed deerskin dresses, loincloths, and moccasins. With this description, Dead Indians are those who are noticeably Indigenous due to their clothing that is typically only worn for ceremonies or dances. Live Indians are the forgotten about because they happened to be forced into a reservation, dispersed in the rural areas, and cityscapes of North America whereas King suggests where they were supposed to die out. King suggests that Live Indians are the Indigenous people who are living in North America currently. Live Indians are biological Indians, but due to the white society’s perception of the Indigenous People Live Indians are not “real” Indians. Lastly, Legal Indians are also Live Indians, but only the ones who are recognized by the

The concept of ‘being’ Indian and ‘becoming’ Indian isn’t a new one. One of the issues that arise is that it is one thing to claim identity as an Indian person but quite another to be perceived as one. It is a question of how a person navigates through living their life as a Native American. How they move within the given definitions. Are these people a part of their cultural communities. Do they contribute in any way to their society as Indigenous people. Do they understand the struggles? Do they work to stand up for indigenous rights? Does their claim lessen the work of the Native American people around them? Are they contributing or taking away from their indigenous communities?

American Indians and Alaskan Natives have a relationship with the federal government that is unique due to the “trust relationship” between the US and American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AI/ANs) who are entitled to health care services provided by the US government by virtue of their membership in sovereign Indian nations. In order to contextualize the complex nature of Indian health programs it is necessary to become versed in the political and legal status of Indian tribes. Through numerous constitutional, legislative, judicial, executive rulings, and orders that were largely associated with the succession of land and subsequent treaty rights; the health care of AI/ANs has been one of many responsibilities guaranteed by the federal government. The foundations of which can be traced back to the year 1787. The ceded land has been interpreted in courts to mean that healthcare and services were in a sense prepaid by AI/AN tribes and 400 million acres of land. The misconception of “free healthcare” and a conservative political disdain from so called entitlement programs have also led to misconceptions regarding the federal government’s responsibility to provide health care and services to AI/ANs. Rhoades (2000) has argued that tribal sovereignty is the overarching principle guiding Indian health care on a daily basis.1 This paper will examine the history surrounding federally mandated healthcare to AI/ANs, pertinent issues of sovereignty, as well as case studies in tribal

“Only one “white” was listed.”* In 1976 a suit regarding nearly 16,000 acres of land went to the federal court in Mashpee. The trial set out to determine whether the group, called the Mashpee Indians, constituted an Indian tribe. James Clifford’s The Predicament of Culture includes a section on this trial. This Mashpee section provoked questions in my mind about identity, authenticity, race, and ethnicity. With the transcript and his own court notes, Clifford describes the trial as best he can, as well as present his own argument and thoughts. Even though I can’t decide if the plaintiffs represent a tribe, the trial helped me understand the manners in which identity reveals itself.

Everyday we all experience certains people’s behavior based on how important or better they believe they are than everyone else. Many aspects contribute to the way that Europeans see themselves. Although most of these were created many centuries ago, they still have major, long-lasting effects on today’s world.This is continued throughout real life, not just in the movies that we’ve seen today. Like the movie, The Last of the Mohicans for example, the Native Americans are seen as lesser beings than the Europeans.