The Cherokee Nation was promised a seat in Congress in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota.

Another issue between 1835 and now is the Civil War. Some tribal groups fought with the confederacy, some with the union, and some (I gather) kept out of it. What happened then is certainly significant. Then there were the Civil War amendments that contemplate a rather stricter idea of how to constitute the House. Did the treaty survive these things? I don't know but it isn't a foregone conclusion.

 

So, are these tribes sovereign nations? I don't think so. When I think of enclave nations, I think of San Marino and Lesotho, not American Indian tribes. And I don't remember going through customs and producing a passport when I went to play a little blackjack once.

 

Legally speaking, tribes are sovereign. The extent of their sovereignty varies. Some were conquered and their tribal governments are imposed by Congress. Others were recognized since the 18th century, first by Spain, then Mexico, then the U.S. That's largely the case here in New Mexico. They were never conquered because they never made war. It varies a lot from time to time and place to place but yes, federally recognized tribes are limited sovereigns.

 

Tell you what, do a Google search on "Lincoln Canes" and you will see.

 

[QUOTE="Johann, post: 580940, member: 4621”]Years ago, I took some Mohawk language lessons at the local Native Centre. Linguists believe that, about 3500 years ago, the Cherokee people lived around here. IIRC their name for themselves, in their own language, is Tsalagi - Cherokee is an English approximation.[/QUOTE]

You may appreciate this then.

“The New York State Education Department today proposed the creation of the Indigenous Culture and Language Studies (All Grades) certificate for teachers. . .” More here:

http://www.nysed.gov/news/2023/state-education-department-proposes-indigenous-culture-and-language-studies-certification

 

Sounds like some of thet thar kritical race theory. Cain't 'llow none of thet 'roun' here.

 

I have just once seen Gen. Sherman's quote in print. It should be better known but it runs counter to the national myth. I don't have the exact words but Sherman stated that but for smallpox the U.S. could never have subdued the tribes in the West. Other mid 19th century witnesses from my native land, the Pacific Northwest, describe stacks of Native corpses alongside the riverbanks, dead from smallpox. Estimates range up to 80% of the Native population died of the disease. The "Winning of the West" is a vast human tragedy that we don't teach our children.

 

Odd. Maybe it's a Canadian thing, but in my first year in Canada, in grades 5-6, (1952-53) we were taught about it in Canadian History. I don't remember the full numbers being discussed - but we were told that the disease was known to have been intentionally spread among the First Nations: infected blankets etc.

 

I don't remember learning about that in school either, nor did anyone speak of the terrible "indian schools" that murdered about as many children as they "educated". I learned about these later, outside of school. Where I grew up, the natives were historically treated even worse than the blacks/African-Americans and Hispanics, per things I heard from older relatives.

 

I didn't learn of "Residential Schools" as they were called here, until many years after those Grade 5-6 classes. In fact First Nations children were still being forcibly sent there when I was in my 20s. "The Sixties Scoop" was what it became called. There have been some compensatory damages paid. Quote from Google:

"A class action lawsuit was launched with the intent to compensate those affected by this period. The Federal Government of Canada and certain survivors of the Sixties Scoop have reached a settlement of class action lawsuits that provides compensation for certain survivors of the Sixties Scoop."

Well - not everything, but at least something, I guess.

In fact, the first mention of Residential Schools I remember, was when I saw a building that had previously been used as one. I think I was in my 30s at the time. That was when I first became really interested in First Nations cultures. I STILL have an awful lot to learn.

 

I've heard very specific accusations of traders offering smallpox infected blankets but I don't know if anyone ever proved it. I gather from the CDC website that the disease can be spread through unwashed bedding though.

 

The strange thing is there's an obvious historical fact that should make people wonder what was going on. The federal government decided to deport the nomadic tribes to reservations in the nineteenth century. These reservations are far smaller than the traditional lands these tribes occupied and in many cases, several tribes were sent to the same small reservation. Yet despite well documented and growing criticism by a significant number of journalists and missionaries concerning poverty and lack of services on these reservations, one concern I've never read anywhere was that the reservations were overcrowded. Well, why not? Because the native population was brutally reduced by disease, starvation, and to a much smaller extent by military action.

It's a waking nightmare.

 

In my hearing, the late Elie Wiesel compared our genocide to the Holocaust.

 

Oh, sorry, Governor DeSantis. A little bit more of that dang critical race theory crept in there.