Indian reservations are federally owned lands that have been protected in
trusts for use by Native American tribes. Their roots go back to Puritan
New England during the 1600s. Missionaries there created reservations
to convert the Indians to Christianity and European lifestyles. Current
reservations were created in the nineteenth century to force tribes to embrace American ways and to open the way for white expansion into the West. Resisting extinction, tribes have used reservations as places for preserving their unique cultures and traditions.
Establishing the reservation system
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the U.S. government started to
create reservations in the West. The government hoped reservations
would reduce conflict with the Indians as American society expanded.
These reservations had vague boundaries, where tribes were allowed to
live until they wanted to integrate into mainstream American life.
Policies became stricter in the rush of westward expansion from the
1840s to the 1880s. The federal government created more definite reservations, and all tribes were forced to move onto them. Reservations were
designed to serve two main policies. Forcing Indians to relocate allowed
white Americans to expand into new territory without fear of conflict
with the natives. Concentrating tribes on undesirable land forced some
Indians to abandon their traditions and cultures by entering American society for jobs. To encourage this result, policymakers instructed Indians in
farming and other aspects of Euro-American-Christian civilization.
The reservation system was not easy to establish. Corruption within
the federal Office of Indian Affairs (later renamed the Bureau of Indian
Affairs) was a problem. Some tribes could not live successfully on the
poor lands allotted to them and had to be relocated again. Native
American tribes sometimes resisted relocation orders, so the government
increasingly resorted to military action to establish reservations throughout the 1860s. By 1877, nearly every tribe lived in confinement on a
reservation, but conflicts continued into the 1880s.
Assimilation (conformity) programs continued through the early
decades of the 1900s. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 allowed reservation lands to be sold in individual plots to non-Indians. Native
American languages, religious practices, ceremonies, arts and crafts, and
governments dwindled. Few reservations were self-sufficient, and
poverty reigned. Refusing to assimilate, some tribes struggled to maintain their way of life despite the challenges.
The new reservations
In 1933, John Collier (1884–1968) became the commissioner of the
Office of Indian Affairs. Collier supported a reform movement to preserve traditional Indian culture and society. Reform included passage of
the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The act changed government
policy concerning reservations, giving tribes new authority to govern
themselves. The power of self-government allowed tribes to take steps to
preserve their cultures and traditions.
Today, reservations continue to remain under federal control, but
most have their own democratic governments. Tribal governments provide health, educational, and social services, just as state and municipal
governments do. Many Native Americans make a living from the natural resources of their lands and from tourism that spotlights their unique
cultures. Most Native Americans, however, make a living at regular jobs
the same way non–Native Americans do.
Problems, however, persist on Indian reservations. Unemployment
rates are high, as are alcoholism and suicide rates. Native American
health is often poor. These problems are the legacy of centuries of U.S.
government policy toward American Indians. Although tribes struggle
with these issues, many Indians take great pride in their heritage and are
determined to revive and preserve their language, culture, and traditions on their reservation lands.