In the “tribal moment in American politics,” which occurred from the 1950s to the mid- to late-1970s, American Indians waged civil disobedience for tribal self-determination and fought from within the U.S. legal and political systems. The U.S. government responded characteristically, overall wielding its authority in incremental, frequently double-edged ways that simultaneously opened and restricted tribal options. The actions of Native Americans and public officials brought about a new era of tribal-American relations in which tribal sovereignty has become a central issue, underpinning self-determination, and involving the tribes, states, and federal government in intergovernmental cooperative activities as well as jurisdictional skirmishes. American Indian tribes struggle still with the impacts of a capitalist economy on their traditional ways of life. Most rely heavily on federal support. Yet they have also called on tribal sovereignty to protect themselves. Asking how and why the United States is willing to accept tribal sovereignty, this book examines the development of the “order” of Indian affairs. Beginning with the nation’s founding, it brings to light the hidden assumptions in that order. It examines the underlying deep contradictions that have existed in the relationship between the United States and the tribes as the order has evolved, up to and into the “tribal moment.”
First published in 1987, American Indian Policy and American Reform examines key aspects of American Indian policy and reform in the context of American ethnic problems and traditions of reform. The first four chapters provide a chronological survey discussing racial attitudes, economic issues, the role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, missionary and reformer involvement with government policy, the political interaction of Indians and whites, and other continuing differences between the two races. The second part of the book examines important themes which illuminate the difficulties of the assimilation campaign. In a series of case studies, Prof. Bolt explores Indian-black-white relations in the South and Indian Territory, American anthropologists and American Indians, Indian education from colonial times to the 20th century, Indian women, urban Indians since the Second World War and Indian political protest groups. This book will be of interest to students of American history, ‘minority’ history and race relations.
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