Civilization Fund Act
Long title | An Act making provision for the civilization of the Indian tribes adjoining the frontier settlements. |
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Nicknames | Civilization Fund Act of 1819 |
Enacted by | the 15th United States Congress |
Effective | March 3, 1819 |
Citations | |
Public law | Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 15–85 |
Statutes at Large | 3 Stat. 516b, Chap. 85 |
Legislative history | |
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The Civilization Fund Act, also known as the Indian Civilization Act, was an Act passed by the United States Congress on March 3, 1819. The Act encouraged activities of benevolent societies in providing education for Native Americans and authorized an annuity to stimulate the "civilization process".[1] Thomas L. McKenney lobbied Congress in support of the legislation. It was originally intended to support schools in native villages and areas, such as those established by religious missions. These were operated by both Protestant and Catholic organizations. In 1891 through the early 20th century, the government used the Civilization Fund Act as authority to establish numerous Native American boarding schools.
The Civilization Fund Act eventually led to the creation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1824. The BIA was responsible for implementing various aspects of U.S. government policy towards Native Americans, including overseeing the educational programs funded by the Civilization Fund Act.
The benevolent societies were a combination of Christian missions and the federal government.
Federal funds were allocated to schools designed to educate Native Americans in the English language and ways of Anglo-Americans. The goal was to "civilize" Native Americans by teaching them reading and writing in the missionary schools. Later in the century, there was more emphasis on forcing them to give up native religions, culture and languages.[2]
The passage of the Act resulted in development of a new class structure within Native American societies. While often traditional Native Americans opposed the schools, "progressive" ones, including senior leaders, accepted the schools, believing they were a way for their people to learn to negotiate with the increasing number of European Americans they encountered.[citation needed] Some of these young men with education and command of the English language rose to leadership positions within tribes, as in the American Southeast. According to historian William Jeynes, they were influenced to agree to treaties that ceded communal lands to the United States government.[3] Within the tribal communities, some leaders believed that, given the increasing number of American settlers entering their territories, the tribes were going to be forced to cede their lands, and they were trying to gain the best deals for their people.
"That for the purpose of guarding against the further decline and final extinction of the Indian tribes, adjoining the frontier settlements of the United States, are for introducing among them the habits and arts of civilization" annual sum/annuity is ten thousand dollars "and an account of the expenditure of the money, and proceedings in execution of the foregoing provisions, shall be laid annually before Congress."[4]
The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1824 by the federal government and placed under the War Department. This part of government had more facilities and personnel in the frontier areas where most Native Americans were living, and new responsibilities could be assigned to its staff. In some cases, the military supervised trading posts authorized by the government, which were another point of contact with Native American bands. The Bureau was created in order to administer the annuity given to the schools.[5]
See also
- Five Civilized Tribes
Notes
- ^ Hamilton, Robert. "United States and Native American Relations". Florida Gulf Coast University. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
- ^ Levy, Yolanda H. "Deculturalization and Schooling of Native Americans", Retrieved on September 9, 2009
- ^ Jeynes, William. American Educational History: school, society, and the common good (2007), Retrieved September 9, 2009
- ^ Prucha, Francis Paul (2000). "Documents of United States Indian Policy", p.33. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, United States of America. ISBN 0-8032-8762-3
- ^ Digital History Online Textbook. "The Missionary Impulse" Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, "Native American Voices", September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
Further reading
- Ellinghaus, Katherine. Taking Assimilation to Heart: Marriages of White Women and Indigenous Men in the United States and Australia, 1887-1937 ISBN 0-8032-1829-X, 9780803218291, 2006.
- Hale, Lorraine. Native American Education: A Reference Handbook, ISBN 1-57607-363-7, ISBN 978-1-57607-363-6, 2002.
External links
- Cultural Crisis in Education
- United States and Native American Relations
- Indian Education, Answers.com
- v
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- Johnson v. McIntosh (1823)
- Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
- Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
- Fellows v. Blacksmith (1857)
- New York ex rel. Cutler v. Dibble (1858)
- Standing Bear v. Crook (D. Neb. 1879)
- Ex parte Crow Dog (1883)
- Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
- Seneca Nation of Indians v. Christy (1896)
- Talton v. Mayes (1896)
- Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock (1903)
- United States v. Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Co. (1941)
- Tee-Hit-Ton Indians v. United States (1955)
- Williams v. Lee (1959)
- Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation (1960)
- Menominee Tribe v. United States (1968)
- McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission (1973)
- Oneida Indian Nation of New York v. County of Oneida (1974)
- Bryan v. Itasca County (1976)
- United States v. Antelope (1977)
- Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez (1978)
- Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe (1982)
- Solem v. Bartlett (1984)
- County of Oneida v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York State (1985)
- South Carolina v. Catawba Indian Tribe, Inc. (1986)
- Hodel v. Irving (1987)
- Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield (1989)
- Duro v. Reina (1990)
- South Dakota v. Bourland (1993)
- Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho (1997)
- Idaho v. United States (2001)
- United States v. Lara (2004)
- City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation of New York (2005)
- Cobell v. Salazar (D.C. Cir. 2009)
- Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl (2013)
- Sharp v. Murphy and McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020)
- Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022)
- Blood quantum laws (1705 onwards)
- Nonintercourse Act (1790,1793,1796,1799,1802,1834)
- Civilization Act (1819)
- Indian Removal Act (1830)
- Dawes Act (1887)
- Curtis Act (1898)
- Burke Act (1906)
- Indian Citizenship Act (1924)
- Indian Reorganization Act (1934)
- Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act (1936)
- Nationality Act (1940)
- Public Law 280 (1953)
- Indian Relocation Act (1956)
- Indian Civil Rights Act (1968)
- Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971)
- Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975)
- American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978)
- Indian Child Welfare Act (1978)
- Diminishment (1984)
- Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (1988)
- Native American Languages Act (1990)
- Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990)
- Indian Arts and Crafts Act (1990)
- Cherokee Nation Truth in Advertising for Native Art (2008)
State recognition
- Aboriginal title
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Cherokee Commission
- Dawes Rolls
- Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Eagle feather law
- Hunting license
- In the Courts of the Conqueror
- Indian reservations
- Long Walk of the Navajo
- National Indian Gaming Commission
- Native American civil rights
- Native American gaming
- Native American Rights Fund
- Recognition of sacred sites
- Seminole Wars
- Survivance
- Trail of Tears
- Treaty rights
- Tribal sovereignty
- United States Congressional Joint Special Committee on Conditions of Indian Tribes