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1830 Indian Removal Act
Andrew Jackson signed this act. He claimed that the Native Americans were subjects of the United States and denied sovereignty. Thousands of Cherokees were forced to move off of their tribal land. -
1879 Boarding School Era
Native American children were forced to attend boarding school, which was an attempt to "kill the indian, save the man." They could not practice their Native American culture as the focus was to assimilate them into mainstream American culture. The children were mistreated and little contact was allowed from their tribal communities. -
1887 General Allotment Act
Reservation land was divided and allocated in individual plots in hopes of assimilating Native Americans to be nuclear families who own individual plots of land. Once land was divided, the rest of the land was open for sale to outsiders. Native Americans went from having 134 million acres to 48 million acres 50 years later. -
1934 Indian Reorganization Act- New Deal
Put an immediate end to allotment. Commissions were set to up to visit reservations to help with writing constitutions and modify their governance structures. -
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1945-1965 Termination policies
Designed to end the relationship between the tribes and the U.S. by ending the existence of reservations. Ended the federally recognized status of over 100 Indian tribes. Would receive monetary compensation for liquidation of tribal assets. 1953 Congress passed the first termination bill. This dramatically increased Native American poverty. -
1950's Relocation
Federal Program designed to move Native people from reservations into the cities. The Bureau of Indian Affairs did not provide much assistance with housing or jobs. As a result, poverty was high among Native Americans as they had little skills and could not find secure jobs. The federal government saved money with this policy when Native Americans moved off of the reservation, and they become ineligible for federal benefits. -
1955 The Indian Health Service
The federal government transferred responsibility fro Native American health from the BIA to the US Public Health Service. The IHS's mission is to "provide services and improve health of Native Americans." -
1975 the Indian Self-determination and Education Assistance Act
Allowed tribes to take over administration of federal programs. Tribes can assume management of health-care programs from the Indian Health Services. -
1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
Federal Law that seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian Families to help preserve culture and promote stability and security of Indian tribes and families.