Current State of The Native American Indian

In the United States the Bureau of Indian Affairs has the responsibility of listing all federally recognized tribes.  According to the National Congress of American Indians, there are 562 federally recognized Indian nations. The U.S. relationship with Native Americans allow for certain treaty rights and sovereignty, giving authority over certain geographic areas.  Per the Us Department of Commerce The current state of affairs allows the Native American to be self-reliant and hold several rights to self-governing.  The Indian Civil Rights Act, Child Welfare Act and Indian Religious Freedom Act are all important pieces of legislature protecting the indigenous people. Currently through self-governing the opportunity exist for the Native American to acquire restitution for all they have suffered and been denied.

Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole)

Beginning in the 1820s, the U.S. Government began moving all tribes east of the Mississippi River to the Indian Territory in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. A series of treaties provided for the removal of almost all principal eastern tribes.

The Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole (known as the Five Civilized Tribes) were among the many southeastern tribes who were removed by treaty to Indian Territory. In 1838 the Cherokees who had not already moved voluntarily were forced to move to Indian Territory. This migration became known as the “Trail of Tears.” Large parcels of land were distributed to these five tribes who became self-governing “Nations.”

White settlers moving west after the Civil War pressured the government to extinguish Indian title to lands and relocate the Indians. The alliance between the Five Civilized Tribes and the Confederacy during the Civil War also provided Congress with an excuse to realign tribal boundaries. Treaties in 1866 and later reduced the land of the Five Civilized Tribes by almost half. These created the “Unassigned Lands” in central Oklahoma that were eventually opened for land runs.

The Oklahoma Historical Society also has identified the "American Indian Nations" within the boundaries of their state. That list is available on their web site.

 “Fresh perspectives and new ways of dealing with challenges will be the promise. The future Native peoples will have the survivor-ship, the inventiveness and the adaptive abilities of their parents and grandparents. The new generations will take the Native life path with less burden, and build new traditions that protect the homelands, the culture, the traditions, and carry the language into another millennium . . .”

by Janine Pease Pretty On Top (Crow). In a column entitled “Viewpoint,” in Native
Peoples Magazine, Vol.11, No. 1 (Fall/Winter 1997). Published by Media Concept
Group, Inc., Phoenix, AZ.