This article explores the ways in which social studies classrooms can explore the history and status of U.S. territories as "unincorporated." We focus on the "Insular Cases" and in particular "Downes v. Bidwell" (1901), examine the construct of colonies as anathema to democracy, and explore the precedents court case…

As of December 2010, the US Congress had enacted more than twenty major community-specific Native water-rights settlements, and the state of Arizona had more of these settlements (eight) than any other US state. This unique situation has invited voluminous studies on Arizona's Native water-rights settlements. Although these studies have clarified…

Student services professionals are committed to helping students, including the new generation of military servicemembers. However, navigating the maze of federal programs and policies designed to help these deserving individuals requires special knowledge. This chapter assists campus administrators by providing information, first, on the rich…

This article is adapted from "Chew Heong v. United States: Chinese Exclusion and the Federal Courts", written by Lucy Salyer, associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, for inclusion in the Federal Judicial Center's project, "Federal Trials and Great Debates in United States History." In 1882, Congress…

Volume II of the final report of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission (NHSC) on the culture, needs, and concerns of native Hawaiians, this book contains a formal dissent to the conclusions and recommendations presented in Volume I made by three of the NHSC commissioners. Its principal criticism is that Volume I fails to address the underlying…

Immediately upon its establishment in 1824, the Office of Indian Affairs was an instrument by which the United States enforced its ambition against the Indian nations. As the nation expanded West, the agency participated in the ethnic cleansing that befell the western tribes. War begets tragedy, but the deliberate spread of disease, the decimation…

Assistant Secretary Gover apologizes for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) actions in the ethnic cleansing of American Indian tribes and the destruction of Indian cultures. He asserts the agency's moral responsibility of putting things right and proposes that a healing process begin and that the BIA work to reinvent itself as an instrument of…

Discusses differences between Federalists and Anti-Federalists regarding the fundamental status of foreign policy. Examines the substance of Federalist foreign policy, and maintains that the Constitution was first designed to provide a strong national government that could act effectively in foreign affairs. (TRS)

Asserting that non-Indians, by and large, have inevitably viewed Indians and interpreted their words, deeds, lifeways and values from their own Euro-American perspectives, this article suggests this has led to misunderstanding, frictions and conflicts which plague the relationships between Indians and non-Indians today. (Author/RTS)

A capsule history of the Yavapai tribe describes their origin myth; early life-style; increasing involvement with Apaches; leaders; response to White settlers; and resistance and ultimate capitulation to reservation life. The article details the horrors and aftermath of the 1875 forced march from the Verde Reservation to San Carlos. (SB)

Analyzes the position of Indian tribal governments within the national political economy, their limited sovereignty and dependence on federal aid, and the consequences of Reagan's "new federalist" policies for tribal programs. Summarizes federal Indian policies from 1783 to the present. Contains 10 references. (SV)

This book presents a comprehensive history of higher education for American Indians. Following an introduction, chapter 2 covers the Colonial Period, from European contact to the establishment of the U.S. Government. Some of the earliest universities, most notably Harvard, Dartmouth, and William and Mary, specifically claimed to have had American…

Between 1779 and 1864 the United States signed over 400 legal and binding agreements with Indian governments. Treaties signed between 1779 and 1810 sought Indian alliances against England, France, and Spain (all of whom also signed treaties with the Indians at one time or another). Treaties signed from 1817 to 1846 were treaties of removal, and…

The history of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School is a microcosm of 500 years of Indian policy. Established through the efforts of career military man Richard Pratt in 1879, the school symbolized the emerging view of assimilation, an important change from earlier attempts at genocide and prior militant attitudes towards the Indians. Long…

Details combat and conflicts between Native Americans and settlers before, during, and following the Civil War. Shows how the involvement of tribes in the Civil War and Reconstruction diminished their martial power and made them certain marks for conquest and relegation to reservations. (JHZ)