Post-Colonial
Policies of Cultural Subversion and Control
I.California:
the last frontier for military suppression of Indians
A.
Murder of Indians legalized and publically subsidized in California
1.
1851/52 Cal authorizes > $1 million for vigilantes “supressing Indian hostilities”
B.
Indians primarily viewed as obstacles to be removed rather than as free
labor power
1.Exception:
slavery in South Carolina for limited duration
2.California:
Act for the Government and Protection of Indians (1850-1863)
a.Indian
Children auctioned off at $50-$200 after parents murdered
b.Indentured
servitude for up to 10,000 Indians is close to slavery
II.The
Second Phase of American Policy: BIA subversion of Indian culture
A.Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA) founded 1824: originally within War Department
1.
No other ethnic group subject to such control by single bureaurcacy
2.Control
exercised much like total institutions (e.g., prisons, mental institutions)
a.Agent’s
powers: over schools,; is judge, jury, police;could expel,cut hair
b.Indians
have no say; dependent on burearcracy in Washington, DC
c.Agent’s
social life segregated from Indians, like British in India
d.Indian’s
veiwed as helpless because of dependency created by BIA
B.Full
citizenship not granted until 1924
1.Supreme
Court ruled in 1880s that 14th Amendment does not apply to Indians
C.BIA
4 pronged policy of cultural subversion and control (1st 3 from Edward
Spicer)
1.
Religious replacement: Code of religious offenses; missionaries assigned
2.Compulsory
education: children sent away from parents to boarding schools
a.Objective
of “weaning off blacket”--meaning to eliminate culture
3.Individual
landholding: Dawes Act of 1887
a.Contrary
to collective possession in Indian culture (spiritually ordained)
b.Reformers
want to destroy tribal identity,create self-sufficient individual
c.Allotment
of 40-160 acres to each family, sell rest to whites
d.Main
results: Indians lose 2/3 of land, become more dependent on BIA
4.Centralization
and secularization of political authority: Indian Reform Act 1934
a.repudiation
of ½ century of Dawes Act
b.recognizes
tribal identity
c.allows
for election of reservation board
d.Contrary
to Indian culture (Edward Spicer, Cycles of Conquest )
1.
Southwest Indians had collective leadership--adult males over 40
2.Chief
collectively recognized for wisdom
3.Chief
rituralistic-moralistic leader with no power to punish
4.Administrative-executive
leaders turn world upside down
a.Like
putting war leaders in charge during peacetime
III.Termination
Policy of 1953
A.
Doesn’t recognize contradictions created by forced removal; basis of white
privilege