In the endeavor to
incorporate the Native American the reservation system was a
complete failure. In his essay Rev. Lyman Abbott summarized the
problem of the reservation in terms of incorporation: "From the
reservation all the currents of civilization were excluded by
Federal Law. The railroad, the telegraph, the newspaper, the open
market, free competition--all halted at its walls."
Furthermore, Native
Americans did not and could not easily change their traditional
nomadic way of life and become a farmer. Many Native Americans sold
their land for peanuts and the increase in alcoholism once Native
Americans were restricted to the reservation was astronomical. The
reservation was also a means by which Native Americans were further
disenfranchised and abused. On the reservation their children could
be taken from them without cause or warning and sent to boarding
school, they had no right of habeas corpus and could be arrested if
any suspicion about their loyalty to the reservation or the US
government existed.
The head despot at the
reservation was the "Indian Agent" who had complete control over the
reservation and its inhabitants. The Indian agent more often than
not succumbed to corruption and used his position to exploit Native
Americans for their land and their resources. Many Indian agents
were "squaw men" who married Native American woman for the purposes
of gaining their lands.
The reservation was the
ultimate symbol of the Native American status as the unincorporated
as it physically, economically, and emotionally cordoned off from
the mainstream white America.
The readings in this section
range from Rev. Lyman Abbot's writings about the "Indian Problem"
and the consequences of the reservation system for the incorporation
of the Native American, to Simon Pokagon's essay "An Indian on the
Problem of His Race." By presenting both writings from the agents
and victims of incorporation this section hopes to provide a
holistic account of the allotment of Native Americans following the
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887.
NEXT: NAMES AND NAMING
Legal Documents
Dawes Severalty or General Allotment Act.
1891 Amendment to the Dawes Severalty Act
1906 Amendment also known as the Burke Act
The Writings
of Henry Dawes
Have we Failed with the Indian
The Indian Territory
From the Perspective of the
Incorporated
Our Indian ProblemRev. Lyman Abbot
"The Wards of the United States Government." By H.H.
This article exclaims the virtues of white guardianship over Native Americans.
George Bird Grinnell, "The Indian on the Reservation."
Rufus Zogbaum,Life at an Indian Agency
From the Perspective of the
Unincorporated
Simon Pokagon "An Indian on the Problems of his Race."
Francis La Flesche "An Indian Allotment."
John M.Oskison, "Remaining Causes of Indian Discontent"
Links
Allotment Information
A Map of the Reservations
