Tag: blood quantum

education, Native Issues, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Colonizing the Blood

David G. Lewis, PhD

Federal policies beginning in the 19th century have sought to take all lands and resources from native nations. Many tribes lost most of their land and resources through wars and/or treaties which forced the movement of their tribe to a federal Indian reservation. Over several decades many reservations were gradually shrunk by federal actions, either by opening parcels for white settlement, terminating whole reservations, or imposing allotment policies which allotted individual tribal members  and sold off the rest of the unallotted lands, considered surplus, to white settlers or American companies like the logging industry (Dawes Act 1887). In 20 years, … Continue reading Colonizing the Blood

General History, Native Issues, Uncategorized1 Comment

The Red Road to Self-Extermination

David G. Lewis, PhD

In the 19th century, in the United States, Tribal nations were rounded up and placed on reservations. There Tribal people were subjected to the forces of assimilation that worked to change Tribal culture and make the people into Americans.  The national policy of this time was to assimilate American Indians into the “melting pot” of the United States.and eliminate the need for reservations. First the Tribes needed to be removed and dispossessed from their land, then the children were removed, and imprisoned in schools to remove their culture. Gradually the tribes changed, survived in many ways, but changed to American culture. This … Continue reading The Red Road to Self-Extermination

Native Issues, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Denial of Humanity: Pseudo-Science and Native Culture

David G. Lewis, PhD

  Denial of Humanity: Pseudo-Science and Native Culture Expansion of an October 2005 essay, written originally in preparation for a dissertation about termination. “Denial of humanity” is a quote from Rennard Strickland in reference to the actions and in-actions of the US government with regards to termination and treaties, ie: the rights of Indians to maintain their culture and history and sovereignty. Termination – what is it? – from the Federal POV they assume the right to manage sovereign tribes, they assume the right to stop managing tribes under their own terms. They assume the right to claim Indian lands … Continue reading Denial of Humanity: Pseudo-Science and Native Culture