Indian reservations
Also called: Reservations · Topic: Settler Colonialism: Native Peoples of America and Australia · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Displacing Indigenous Peoples"
Meaning
Reservations were areas of land where natives in the USA were confined after losing their homelands. Natives were pushed west and promised land 'theirs in perpetuity', meaning forever. Often this land had no link to their earlier homes. Several tribes were sometimes forced onto one tribe's land, which caused quarrels. Reservations show how settler expansion took away both the natives' land and their freedom to move.
Example
Whenever lead, gold or oil was found on reservation land, the natives were moved again. In 1928, a survey directed by Lewis Meriam, The Problem of Indian Administration, showed poor health and education on reservations. In 1954, natives agreed to accept US citizenship on one condition: their reservations would not be taken away.
Related concepts
- Cherokee
- Worcester v Georgia
- Indian Removal Act 1830
- Trail of Tears
- American Indian Wars
- Wounded Knee Massacre 1890
- Chief Seattle