Native
American Reservations
I.
Introduction
Native
American Reservations, tracts of land set aside for
the ownership or use of particular Native American tribes.
The
term comes from 19th-century agreements, in which the
tribes ceded their lands to the U.S. government except
for portions "reserved" for their own use.
II.
History
By
creating Native American reservations, the government
hoped to avoid clashes over land boundaries between
Native Americans and white settlers and to confine Native
American tribes to tracts where they could be watched
and (occasionally) provided for by federal effort.
The
tribes were generally free to
live as they wished on their lands, as long as they
remained peaceful. As the American frontier pushed westward,
however, Native American land became increasingly attractive
to white settlers, while the Native Americans themselves
were considered impediments to progress.
As
a result, reservations were made smaller or were relocated
to remote areas undesirable to whites. By the 1880s
areas reserved for the Native Americans had shrunk to
about 53.4 million hectares (about 132 million acres).
Native
Americans had difficulty making a living from the land,
and their older cultures had been shattered by contact
with whites.
As
a remedy, the government tried to force them to assimilate
into the mainstream of American life. The plan called
for breaking up reservations into allotments, then issuing
the allotments to individual Native Americans. Ideally,
they were to farm their plots; instead, many of them
sold their allotments or leased them to whites. Thus,
by 1934, Native Americans were left with only about
25 percent of the reservation land they had held in
the 1880s.
Although most tribes own their reservation land, it
is held in trust by the federal government. As trustee,
the government must ensure that the land is properly
managed and is not lost to its Native American owners.
III.
Modern Reservations: Controversy and Problems
By
moving reservations away from the major routes of white
commerce in the 19th century, the government inadvertently
provided some tribes with a 20th-century bonanza in
energy resources. Some reservations in western states
include rich deposits of coal, natural gas, uranium,
and oil.
One
controversy on these reservations is whether the tribes
or the government should control access to these resources.
In the past, the government, as trustee, controlled
all agreements between tribes and energy corporations.
The tribes are now insisting on more authority in handling
agreements.
Although
many Native Americans regard their reservation lands
as a key to the survival of Native American culture,
most reservations are still underdeveloped, and their
inhabitants among the poorest of the nation's poor.
During the 1980s, the Reagan administration encouraged
the reservations to adopt a policy of self-help and
private enterprise, including promotion of legal gambling
as a revenue earner.
Contributed
By: Robert L. Bee, M.A., Ph.D. Professor of Anthropology,
University of Connecticut. Author of The Politics
of American Indian Policy and Crosscurrents Along
the Colorado River: The Impact of Government Policy
on the Quechan Indians.
"Native
American Reservations," Microsoft® Encarta® Online
Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com
© 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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