Bureau of Indian Affairs: Difference between revisions

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== Events ==

On March 11, 1824, the Indian Office was established under the War Department by Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to administer the relations between Native American tribes and the U.S. Government before it was eventually moved to the newly-created Department of the Interior. The BIA was responsible for the mass deportations of American Indians as well as the establishment of reservations to make space for farming for white settlers.

On March 11, 1824, the Indian Office was established under the War Department by Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to administer the relations between Native American tribes and the U.S. Government before it was eventually moved to the newly-created Department of the Interior in 1849. The BIA was responsible for the mass deportations of American Indians as well as the establishment of reservations to make space for farming for white settlers.

When Lakota chief Sitting Bull and his tribe participated in a religious movement known as the "Ghost Dance" in an attempt to restore peace with Native Americans and remove the white settlers from their land, the BIA sent Indian agents led by Lieutenant [[Henry Bullhead]] to arrest Sitting Bull. When the chief refused to comply, his warriors came to his aid and attacked the officers, which led to the assassination of Sitting Bull. After Colonel [[James W. Forsyth]] orchestrated the [[Wounded Knee Massacre]] to crush the Ghost Dance uprising, the BIA portrayed the massacre as a battle and President [[Benjamin Harrison]] awarded 20 of the soldiers Medals of Honor.

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Under the Dawes Act of 1887, the BIA began to remove indigenous children from their families to hundreds of boarding schools in an attempt to assimilate them into white culture, based off Colonel [[Richard Pratt]]'s ideologies to "kill the Indian and save the man". This practice remained in force until President Lyndon Johnson ended this policy. After boarding schools began to close, the BIA then forced many indigenous people to move to urban areas away from their reservations. In addition, the BIA began removing children from their families to have them adopted by white families, while claiming them to be orphans under the Indian Child Welfare Act.

In 1972, a Native American activist movement known as the American Indian Movement took over the BIA office to raise awareness of the BIA's abuses of indigenous people living on reservations during a caravan referred to as the "Trail of Broken Treaties". In 1997, the BIA recklessly and illegally intervened to assume control of the political affairs of the Cherokee Nation ~~of Oklahoma when Principal Chief [[Joe Byrd]] ordered the illegal impeachment of the justice system~~ and they remained in place until Byrd lost the election to Chad "Corntassel" Smith in 1999.

In 1972, a Native American activist movement known as the American Indian Movement took over the BIA office to raise awareness of the BIA's abuses of indigenous people living on reservations during a caravan referred to as the "Trail of Broken Treaties". In 1997, when Principal Chief [[Joe Byrd]] ordered the illegal impeachment of the justice system of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the BIA recklessly and illegally intervened to assume control of the political affairs of the Cherokee Nation and they remained in place until Byrd lost the election to Chad "Corntassel" Smith in 1999.

In 2007, when human rights activist Russell Means proposed that the Lakota nation should have an independent country, the BIA stated that the withdrawal "doesn't mean anything" and that the tribal governments would violate the people's rights.

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 == Events ==
-On March 11, 1824, the Indian Office was established under the War Department by Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to administer the relations between Native American tribes and the U.S. Government before it was eventually moved to the newly-created Department of the Interior. The BIA was responsible for the mass deportations of American Indians as well as the establishment of reservations to make space for farming for white settlers.
+On March 11, 1824, the Indian Office was established under the War Department by Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to administer the relations between Native American tribes and the U.S. Government before it was eventually moved to the newly-created Department of the Interior in 1849. The BIA was responsible for the mass deportations of American Indians as well as the establishment of reservations to make space for farming for white settlers.
 When Lakota chief Sitting Bull and his tribe participated in a religious movement known as the "Ghost Dance" in an attempt to restore peace with Native Americans and remove the white settlers from their land, the BIA sent Indian agents led by Lieutenant [[Henry Bullhead]] to arrest Sitting Bull. When the chief refused to comply, his warriors came to his aid and attacked the officers, which led to the assassination of Sitting Bull. After Colonel [[James W. Forsyth]] orchestrated the [[Wounded Knee Massacre]] to crush the Ghost Dance uprising, the BIA portrayed the massacre as a battle and President [[Benjamin Harrison]] awarded 20 of the soldiers Medals of Honor.
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 Under the Dawes Act of 1887, the BIA began to remove indigenous children from their families to hundreds of boarding schools in an attempt to assimilate them into white culture, based off Colonel [[Richard Pratt]]'s ideologies to "kill the Indian and save the man". This practice remained in force until President Lyndon Johnson ended this policy. After boarding schools began to close, the BIA then forced many indigenous people to move to urban areas away from their reservations. In addition, the BIA began removing children from their families to have them adopted by white families, while claiming them to be orphans under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
-In 1972, a Native American activist movement known as the American Indian Movement took over the BIA office to raise awareness of the BIA's abuses of indigenous people living on reservations during a caravan referred to as the "Trail of Broken Treaties". In 1997, the BIA recklessly and illegally intervened to assume control of the political affairs of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma when Principal Chief [[Joe Byrd]] ordered the illegal impeachment of the justice system and they remained in place until Byrd lost the election to Chad "Corntassel" Smith in 1999.
+In 1972, a Native American activist movement known as the American Indian Movement took over the BIA office to raise awareness of the BIA's abuses of indigenous people living on reservations during a caravan referred to as the "Trail of Broken Treaties". In 1997, when Principal Chief [[Joe Byrd]] ordered the illegal impeachment of the justice system of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the BIA recklessly and illegally intervened to assume control of the political affairs of the Cherokee Nation and they remained in place until Byrd lost the election to Chad "Corntassel" Smith in 1999.
 In 2007, when human rights activist Russell Means proposed that the Lakota nation should have an independent country, the BIA stated that the withdrawal "doesn't mean anything" and that the tribal governments would violate the people's rights.