Tag: reservations

Native Issues1 Comment

Lessons from the Indian Internment at Indian Reservations and Boarding Schools

David G. Lewis, PhD

From the 1830’s (Indian Removal Act) to 1900 most of the Tribal Reservations were established in the United States holding a population of over 350,000 people. The people were moved from their original homelands to make way for white American settlement. For most tribes there was no choice but to remove. Most signed treaties selling all of their lands in exchange for money and a permanent reservation and basic services. Most funding supporting reservations came from the treaties. The tribes signed these treaties because they knew that if they tried to remain in their lands, they would be exterminated by … Continue reading Lessons from the Indian Internment at Indian Reservations and Boarding Schools

General History, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, Umpqua Valley, Uncategorized, Willamette Valley7 Comments

A Final Year in Our Traditional Homelands: The Ten Temporary Reservations

David G. Lewis, PhD

Over the past few months, I have been writing articles about the temporary reservations in the Willamette Valley. From March 1855 to January 1856 these reservations existed in the valley and the Kalapuya and Molalla Indians lived within their boundaries. Farmers took contracts to supervise the tribes. American settlers did not want to live next to Indians, and as soon as the Treaties were written, it became illegal for Indians to walk across their homelands. I am not sure they understood this at the time. But in time they came to understand the extent of what they gave away. The … Continue reading A Final Year in Our Traditional Homelands: The Ten Temporary Reservations

Native Issues, Uncategorized2 Comments

Internment | Imprisonment |Reservations

David G. Lewis, PhD

Recently the Internet has exploded with statements from American politicians about how the Syrian immigrants should be treated should the come to the United States. These politicians have proposed refusing their requests for sanctuary in over 30 states of the union. Other politicians are proposing holding the refugees in camps while they are being fully vetted and processed for entry into the United States. This is an appalling development in US politics. George Takei has likened the statements as similar to how Japanese Americans were interned in WWII. These were American citizens, who happened to have Japanese ancestry whose lives … Continue reading Internment | Imprisonment |Reservations