Sovereignty

Sovereignty: The Right to Self-Rule

 

What I learned from Model 1 was that the Federal Government had already announced that Native Tribes had Foreign Sovereignty and the fact that it is listed in the United States Constitution, “Congress shall regulate commerce and enter into treaties with foreign nations and Indian Tribes” (US Constitution) shows that the native people should be recognized as a foreign nation when dealing with United States Law and Government. In the video, “Tribal Sovereignty: The Right to Self-Rule” the U.S. Constitution the framers had already recognized Native American Tribes as their own governing power. Even after the constitution was adopted, the United States still tried to rule the Native Americans. “European Americans generally argued that it was necessary to either civilize or eliminate the Indians” (Sutton, 29). The United States Government even set up Indian schools to civilianize them into the way of the Europeans, so it appeared even then the government was unsure how to deal with the native population. Even today the United States Supreme Court struggles with this issue. “From the era of Chief Justice John Marshall through the time of Justice Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court has struggled to define the doctrine of American Indian tribal sovereignty” (PRYGOSKI). Even today’s standards of each reservation as being its own government comes with limits. “In times of war, all men, including Indians have to register.  In WWI, this caused some consternation.  Each registrar had to record the county name in which the registrant registered.  If they registered on an Indian Reservation, even if the reservation was located within a county, the reservation itself was not part of the county, as it is considered a separate Nation” (Native Heritage Project).

 

Works Cited:

https://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/gp_solo_magazine_home/gp_solo_magazine_index/marshall.html

http://nativeheritageproject.com/

Native North America, Mark Q. Sutton Page 29

 

 

Resources for module 1

http://www.amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamimages/resources

I enjoyed all of the resources but really thought The American Philosophical Society site was easy to navigate and was full of easy to understand useful information.The pictures were varied and showed many people doing many activities. The site has many collections of photos and paintings but the native American collection is quite broad. The information provided is very basic though. I was able to scan the pictures for something that interested me but then I had to go offsite to get more specific information as the site only offers general information. All of the pictures can be seen in the digital library and saved though, like this one below of hieroglyphics.

The Six Nations and the Founding Fathers

I found the web resources in module one very fascinating but the information that impacted me the most were those websites about the Six Nations. The Six Nations or Iroquois Confederacy consists of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, and the Tuscarora Indian tribes. What is interesting to note about this group is their Democratic system. In fact they have North America’s oldest Participatory Democracy about 800 years. Long before our Founding Fathers demanded independence from Great Britain, the Six Nations was already enjoying the democracy we were so eager to fight for.

In 1776 the Six Nations joined the Continental Congress and delivered a speech stressing the importance that the relationship between the new nation and the Six Nations "continue as long as the sun shall shine." Indeed the Founding Fathers took inspiration, from Six Nations, not only in the Declaration of Independence but more so in drafting the Constitution. Senate Resolution 331 confirms and shows governmental acknowledgement of the importance Six Nations contribution. The resolution also acknowledges the interactions and connection between our Founding Fathers (most notable Washington and Franklin) and the Six Nations.  

In personal reflection, this is my last year at ESC in the historical studies program with a concentration in American History. I have had studied in depth colonial government, the Constitution, and the ideologies of our Founding Fathers and yet this is the first time I have heard of Six Nations and their contribution. It is regretful that this part of history is not discussed across academic fields. Perhaps I have a concept for my scholarly project.

Online resources:

<http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/>

<http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/18/american-history-myths-debunked-no-native-influence-founding-fathers-113702>

<http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/hconres331.pdf>

How important were Lewis and Clark?

       Lewis and Clark were incredibly important to the examination of the new land that was acquired by president Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase. How important was the examination of the land by the company of Lewis and Clark? They ventured off into the uncharted territory which was unprecedented at the time. They did not know what they were going to encounter out there in this new, yet strange land that just seemed uninhabited. As we all know, the land was not uninhabited and had been being lived on by the many nations of Native American tribes. These nations fiercely protected their lands from intruders and outsiders. All the Lewis and Clark expedition wanted to do was study the area and see what was out there per the President. Ultimately, the president was looking to find the easiest route via map to get to the other side of the land. 

 

The obstacles were to be mapped out by the former military comrades and the President really just wanted to see what he had paid for in such a minimal price at the time. In a photo by Jim Wark, it shows where the mouth of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers was the time in the early nineteenth centuries according to the expedition. Many of these kinds of notes and sketches were taken to account for the many different routes that the goods and services were going to travel to support the trade via the water in the years to comes. Also, the expedition encountered the different tribes and their people along the way. As shown in the image by Michael Haynes, they met many Indians that appeared to be just hunting and gathering for their tribes and families. Many of the people on the Lewis and Clark expedition may not have survived if it was not for these people showing them the ways of the land and how to live off of it. This expedition was extremely important to discovering who all these foreign people were, to the expedition anyways, and how to find the easiest and most accessible route for trade on the United States’ “new” land. If it was not for the people of the expedition risking their lives going into the unknown, who knows what would have happened with all this newly acquired land.

References:

http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=3007 

http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2952

PBS Lewis & Clark: The Native Americans http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/native/index.html 

 

Crazy Horse -- The Rebellious Chief

Crazy Horse -- The Rebellious Chief

The only alleged picture of Crazy Horse, 1877.
Some people do not believe that this is actually him

Some people would've considered Crazy Horse, an influential leader of the Native Lakota Nation (some people like to use the word "tribe", but I prefer to use Nation, because the Native American citizens were a Nation, not a tribe), as a traitor of the United States, but I consider him one of the bravest men who ever lived.

Concerning Crazy Horse, Ian Fraizer's quote in Great Plains, adequately describes his legacy:

Even the most basic outline of his life shows how great he was, because he remained himself from the moment of his birth to the moment he died; because he knew exactly where he wanted to live, and never left; because he may have surrendered, but he was never defeated in battle; because, although he was killed, even the Army admitted he was never captured; because he was so free that he didn't know what a jail looked like. His dislike of the oncoming civilization was prophetic. He never met the President, never rode on a train, slept in a boarding house, or ate at a table and unlike many people all over the world, when he met white men he was not diminished by the encounter. (1)

Unfortunately, Crazy Horse is famous (or infamous, depending on your views) as a warmonger or brutal human because of his actions after the US Government attempted to encroach on his Nation's lands in the Treaty of Laramie, and attacking General Custer and his party in the Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as "Custer's Last Stand".  In my opinion, Crazy Horse did would any American would do if someone was attempting to steal from them -- he fought valiantly for what he thought was was right.

The Custer Fight - Charles Marion Russell (1903)

After the Battle of Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse lived true to his reputation by remaining on his lands even after his people and companions (other famous chiefs, including Sitting Bull) retreated to Canada due to rising tensions between the Lakota and the United States.  Unfortunately, due to the constant military harassment, along with the declining buffalo population, Crazy Horse finally surrendered to US Military forces in 1877 (2).

Even in captivity, Crazy Horse's rebellious reputation preceded him, which eventually led to his demise.  He refused to be photographed, refused to cooperate with the military, and left the reservation without authority in September 1877 to take his wife to her sick parents (3).

Ironically, Crazy Horse was killed the opposite way he would've killed someone -- he was stabbed in the back during a brief struggle after being arrested for leaving the reservation without authorization (see above).  Controversy surrounds his death, including whether he was actually "resisting" the officers that were trying to present him to the Officer of the Day, or whether he was murdered.  His remains were returned to his parents, who interred his body in an undisclosed location, which would be exactly what Crazy Horse would have wanted.

Today, irony still follows anything to do with Crazy Horse.  As a man who did not want to be photographed, I find it ironic, and slightly amusing that a monument of his likeness has been under construction since 1948, and is still incomplete.  While I'm not a man that usually believes in apparitions or folklore, I somehow want to believe that Crazy Horse is looking down from his eternal resting place, and having a nice chuckle at his last act of rebellion and defiance.

References:

1. Frazier, Ian. Great Plains. 2001.  Picador.
2. Public Broadcasting System, "New Perspectives of the West".  Accessed online. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crazyhorse.htm

Who are they really?

The Native American culture that many of us know today can be a confusing and touchy subject. What really happened then? Who were they really?  How did we “Americans” get this land to be ours? Many stories and facts of tribes are spoken about and taught about to children and people of all ages? Are we receiving the correct information? What is the proof?

In elementary school I was taught about the “six nations” which really consisted of the very famous five Native American tribes we mostly know here in upstate NY; the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and the Senecas. The Tuscaroras made the 6^th nation once it migrated over into Iroquois territory. As a kid, we learned their culture and beliefs quite well and were never really given bad or racist information about them from my teacher. To me they’re a part of my nation because they are from where I am from...the Hudson Valley...or better worded the same land as us.

“Six Nations: The Oldest Living Democracy on Earth” on www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6nations talks about the natives’ government and their impact on our government of the United States of America. In many ways we have gotten ideas that the native peoples are below us that came over from Europe. Many ideas in school and textbooks have shown us what others did to Native Americans and their cultures. However, other information has taught us the real meaning and beauty of their peoples. This sit has not necessarily changed my opinion or knowledge of the Native American Peoples because I have always believed and read that they have had a major impact on our nation we like to call “ours: today. This site and information on www.ratical.org/many_worlds/nations has shown me that the idea of their government have an impact on ours is not such a crazy concept. These Six Nations consisted of peoples who “comprised the oldest living participatory democracy on earth” (www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6nations). Their tribes we run with a Chief (like our President) as head of the tribe and peoples (citizens as we see ourselves) have say in the government

Have you ever thought about or pondered the idea that maybe our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were actually inspired by the natives and not thought about completely by ourselves in 1776? Look closely, things may not appear as they seem. As I read the article and information on this website, it made sense to me. All of the ideas and beliefs that the Iroquois had when we learned of them in elementary school began to seep over into my knowledge of America. American history and our government had to start somewhere. It had to be inspired and tried out somehow. Native American culture has more impact on us than we think. Americans then would make propaganda just like we do today when politics and voting come around. It seemed to come off like Natives were simpleminded people who needed guidance. But really, they had already begun their journey way before us. For example, on May 16, 1914 women of the native tribes conquered women’s suffrage and in their exemplar they showed this. It read:

 “’Savagery to Civilization’

We, the women of the Iroquis

Own the Land, the Lodge, the Children

Ours is the right to adoption, life or death;

Ours is the right to raise up and depose chiefs;

Ours is the right to make and abrogate treaties;

Ours is the supervision over domestic and foreign policies;

Ours is the trusteeship of tribal property;

Our lives are valued again as high as man’s.”

This said that Iroquois women had the right to determine if their baby lived or died (abortion today). They had the right to impeach a chief (impeach a president). They also said they even had the right to have an impact on domestic and foreign policies (trade). This sounds very similar to women’s suffrage from the 1919. Hmmm??? What are your thoughts??

Hello Class,

Some of you may be blogging pros, while I know others are blogging novices.

If you are here, clearly you already read and followed the instructions from Module 1 on blogging. The first assignment states:

Remember, the point of journaling is to convey your ideas about what you are learning, but since you are in an academic format, it should be substantiated by the information that you are exposed to in this course. It does not matter if you like or dislike something; what matters is why you feel the way you do and what lead you in the sources you reviewed to feel that way.

1. Write a 250 word minimum piece of writing that can be used in a blog post. Your writing must document and describe one of the web resources in Module 01 and tell us, the reader what you have learned from it. Do not assume that all of your readers are familiar with the resource. Here is a good link for composing a quality academic journal post: http://faculty.weber.edu/kmackay/academic_journal.htm

So have fun, be creative, load pictures, link important websites. Although this is an academic exercise, I prefer that you explore your creative side, express yourself freely.

Enjoy.

Soo Tribe Pow Wow 2013 my peeps

Soo Tribe Annual 4th of July Pow Wow 2013