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The Indian in the United States
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Ian Earnest
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The Bureau Of Indian Affairs (BIA), in its attempt to integrate
the native american into society, has touched on all major facets
of Indian life which include health, education, welfare, treaties, land,
law, tribal government, hunting and fishing rights.

The BIA was established in as a part of the War Department in 1824$$Census
Bureau, Dept. of Interior, Office of Management and Budget*.
The Bureau was transfered to the War Department in 1849%51%* and was 
endowed by Congress with the task of supporting the Indians in 1921%51%*.

The problem of land development lies in the "checkerboard"$$Our Brothers
Keeper, Cahn & Hearne, World Publishing, New York, p. 87*
and "heirship"%52%* problems. The "checkerboard" problem originated
in the Allotment Act of 1887%52%* in which Congress divided large 
tracts of tribal land into individual "homesteads" of 80 to 640 acres.
As some of these "homesteads" were sold to non-Indians it left much of
the land in a "checkerboard" pattern. The BIA claims it cannot find a
method under present laws to consolidate the holdings for the benifit
of ether party.

The heirship problem stems from Indian land being passed from generation
to generation without being divided. There are approxemently six million
acres of Indian land that remain idle through multiple ownership and the 
associated problems. This multiple ownership prevents lndians from developing
it. This keeps the price of the land down. It is impractical to develop,
lease, or sell this land because of the need of mutual consent of the owners.
In 1958 the loss of income due to heirship problems was $417,868$$Henry W Hough,
Development of Indian Resorses.p.47*.
The BIA clears itself from this one by claiming that it would take them ten 
years to computerize the land records in order to deal with the problem

The BIA has had the authority to deal with these problems for 66 years
and they have worked out land consolidation problems for non-Indians
without any problems. There are agencies whithin the Department of the Interior
that have no trouble dealing with heirship problems by placing the property in
a trust until the owners can be located.

The BIA realtor at Fort Hall, Idaho insists that "in the best interest
of the Indians"%52%* he discourages competitive bidding on leases. He backs
this statment by saying "We know what we`ve got in these leases. They're great
farmers. This works out for the farmers who gets his land dirt cheep
and the BIA realtor who gets his comission but does little good for the 
Indian who's land it is and who gets as little as 10α% of the money involved
in the lease.

The Rosebud Sioux at the end of the first main incident (1890) at
Wounded Knee, South Dakota, were given 3.3 million acres of land. Today only
1/3 of the land is still in Indian hands. This is typical of the
history of Indian lands.

The emphasis in education has been toward teaching the young to speak 
English and work within the white oriented system. Recently, though, the Rosebud
Sioux have been attempting to relearn and reteach their heritage. They are being
guided in this by the Indian Studies Department of Sinte Gaska College established
on the reservation in 1970.

The Indians of Oklahoma, totaling some 100,000, are also learning tribal language
and attending ceremonies plus a revival of interest in Indian art and handcraft.
Politically they are demanding an end to discimination, better education for 
children, more jobs and the right to preserve cultural identity. This resurgence
is drawing many Indians who left the reservation to escape the poverty there
only to find a different kind of poverty in the city back to the reservation
These Indian are known as the richest and most successful in America but they are 
poorer than both blacks and Mexian-Americans.

The over all drop out rate for High School students is 39α% and for some rural 
tribes as high as 46α%. Unemployment for the area is an outragous 84α%.
Of the 15,000 Indians living in Oklahoma City the per capita income is $1,125.
77α% below the national average.$$U.S.News & World Report, April 2,1973 p.27-28.*

Health conditions are worse in the city than in the rural areas where
there are government clinics.
"Indians don`t like to apply for welfare and are so used to the BIA`s coddling
they don`t know the about the other agencies that can help them in the city".%54%*

The state of Washington has maintained a policy preventing Indians on the Columbia 
River from acting opon their treaty rights to fish for salmon.
The state argues that the Indians pose a special threat to the salmon by the
use of nylon nets upstream where fish are returning to spawn.
The fact is that the Indian's total catch comprises less than 10α% of the total
catch of salmon.
The only place that nets are prohibited is upstream in the only place the
Indians can fish without paying for a right which was theirs by treaty.

On December 29, 1890, Indians joined, frustrated and poor, in a religious
movement at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.  Their activities aroused the U.S.
Government.  The cavalry was sent and they slaughtered 200 to 300 Indians.
This event made Wounded Knee an appealing site to act out the more recent
rebellion.

The recent seizure of Wounded Knee on February 27, 1973, by 200 members of
the American Indian Movement (AIM), has stirred extensive debate over the
violence used by AIM.  Mr. Webster Twohawk, President of the Rosebud Tribal
Council, found AIM's actions ridiculous and maintained that "the surest way
of settling our grievances is through legal means--and we are working hard
in that direction."%54%*  One of AIM's goals was to oust Pine Ridge Tribal
Chairman Richard Wilson and most of the other elected officials in order
to pave the way for a new system of tribal government.  Other goals included
getting the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold hearings on alleged
federal violations of 371 treaties on land use and Indian rights.
They also wante an immediate investigation of other grievences.

Russell Means, AIM'S leader, maintained "Either negotiate with us for
meaningful results, positive results, or you're going to have to kill us
and here at Wounded Knee is where it's going to happen."$$U.S. News &
World Report, March 12, 1975, p. 36.*

James Kaulay, 28, of the Rosebud Sioux, sees what AIM is doing as good for
the Indians.  He feels that they (AIM) have brought many people's feelings
to the surface and out in the open where they can have an effect.
AIM has also, in his eyes, reinstated a feeling of "one-ness" amongst
Indians which the white man has been altering through education.
He remarks,
"Imagine how an Indian feels when he reads that George Washington was `the
father of his country'."

The Wounded Knee incident is commonly viewed as an extension of the movement
initiated in November of '72 when AIM seized the BIA Building in Washington DC
and declared it "The Native American Embassy".  The demands were similar in
nature in both cases.

The "trail of broken treaties" is a phrase coined to dramatize the broken
promises made to the Indians by the U. S. Government.  This applies to
all promises made by the Government, but centers on the treaties drawn up
between 1778 and 1871, when the U.S. and the Indians of nearly equal power.

In 1871, Congress passed a law declaring "no Indian nation or tribe is to
be recognized as a power with whom to make a treaty"%55%*.  This had no
effect on existing treaties.
Subsequently,
the Department of the Interior made agreements with the Indians that were
ratified by the Senate until 1888, when Congress and the President assumed
the responsibility of setting policies and fulfilling commitments to the
Indians.

There was a period of scandal during President Grant's administration
which included the sale of the position of Post Trader.  The agents made sure
that the Indians shopped and traded only with the trader.  To insure this
they paid the Indians in scrip, to keep money out of their hands, and
charged inflated prices.

The U.S. government and the Indians initially adopted a policy of isolationism
typified by the setting of land reservations.  this policy has been maintained
by the Indians, but the policy makers of the U.S. have attempted to exterminate
undesirable factions and amalgamate the Indian into American society.
In "The Road to Wounded Knee" by Robert Burnette, the Tribal Chairman of the
Rosebud Sioux sums it up well in saying "Indian agents came in three general
types: thieves, religeous fanatics, and men of goodwill and decent impulses.
The last category was by far the smallest.
The BIA has done more good for the non-Indians at the expense of the Indians
in their `attempts' to bring the Indian into the mainstream of American life.

.cb Other References
.indent 0,4;
1.  John Koster, "The Road to Wounded Knee", Bantam Books, New York, 1974.

2.  "Indians:  Drums Along the Patomac", Newsweek, November 20, 1972, p. 37.