Spotted Tail Quotes
Why does not the Great Father put his red children on wheels, so he can move them as he will?
The Indians did not have the wheel when the whites came, but soon there were wagons, stage coaches and railroads.
Spotted Tail, 1823-1881, Lakota Sioux Indian Chief, Resonse to White Proposals that the Indians move from their tribal lands to Oklahoma
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The meeting included several Indians, President Grant, and the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Indians had been offered $25,000 and land in the Oklahoma Indian Territory in exchange for moving from their traditional lands.
First Indian newspaper in the U.S.
This comprehensive report of 457 pages was written, printed and distributed at her expense prior to her Federal appointment.
Jackson’s policies regarding Indians set back all the work of the earlier Presidents and created facts on the ground and attitudes that vex us to this day. In this occasion he said very forthrightly that it was his intention to deny Indians title to ANY land in the then United States. His idea was to send all the Indians to the Oklahoma Indian Territory and establish reservations for them there. Of course, as the Western states joined the Union, the Whites wanted those Indian Lands as well. See {643150} for other Jackson views on Indian policy.
President Jackson was the most extreme President in terms of abuse of Native American Rights. His racist views and policies were a large reason for the continuing problems that Indians have had gaining fair treatment and equality. Jackson was the only American President who ever refused to obey a Supreme Court decision when he removed the Cherokee Indians from their lands, despite the fact that the Supreme Court had ruled that such a removal was illegal. See {623405} for other Jackson views on Indian policy.
Justification for policy of settling all Indians west of the Mississippi River.
Note that there was still a serious attempt to coexist with the Indians and to pay for lands that whites moved into. This would change radically in the administration of Andrew Jackson who would replace Adams.
See {633119} for the basic provision of the Dawes Act.
Carson was one of the few Indian Agents who spent every penny of his budget on the Indians as opposed to himself. He was married to an Indian woman and was close enough to many Indians that he understood their resentment whenever they came into a town. They were treated terribly and while most of them were literally starving, seeing the white opulence produced resentment.
The first Native American to become a General Officer. Appointed by President Grant in 1869
This law allowed the President to forcibly move entire tribes from their native lands to sparsely settled land in the West. Oklahoma became knows as Indian Territory as so many Indians were relocated there. The act, and this clause in particular, gave the President the authority over all Indian tribes in the nation and established the difficult if not impossible relationship between the Indian nations and the Federal government. The act—the last sentence of the quote—also ratified all treaties with the Indians and pronounced them inviolate. That was not to be.
Spotted Tail was a Brulé Lakota tribal chief. Although a great warrior in his youth, and having taken part in the Grattan massacre, he declined to participate in Red Cloud's War. He had become convinced of the futility of opposing the white incursions into his homeland; he became a statesman, speaking for peace and defending the rights of his tribe.
