In this latest series of articles, we have been covering a lot the of history of social justice in order to understand the past, and hopefully it will help us to progress to the answers we are seeking about preventing injustice today.
We are seeking a correct Christian point of view for what has happened and continues to happen to many people groups; and that view would need to include truth at its core.
Jesus once told us that “the truth will set you free.”
I think everyone alive is concerned about the world being free of all the many forms of injustice that so many people groups have experienced over time.
AS LONG AS THERE ARE HUMANS
This study can’t continue forever; but it would need to do so in order to cover every type of social injustice that has been committed in the world.
Still, before we have to leave history and move on, we want to spend some time looking at the Native Americans. After that we will turn our eyes to focus upon some of the other current cultural movements.
No; we are not finished looking at all the injustices that have happened to various other people groups in the past, but; if we continue to do so we will never be able to wrap up this series.
ONE ANSWER IS CLEAR
I guess we are all getting this point: As long as there are human beings living on planet earth there will be new types of injustices and new movements for social justice causes. It is sad; but true.
Until The Kingdom of Heaven comes; there is no way to have complete justice on this earth. Still; that is no reason for us to stop trying and implementing the best things that we can do to end it.
In a separate upcoming article that gives our final summary, we will discuss some of the more modern cultural movements and consider how to address them in our daily lives today.
Our current culture has some very unique and complex ways of looking at these issues; and this blog wants to simplify those things with as much truth and righteousness we can find.
This is such a sad process through.
Historically, our problems could go on forever, and unfortunately for many it HAS gone on forever.
SOCIAL INJUSTICES EXPERIENCED BY THE NATIVE AMERICANS
Today they are called “Indians” simply because when Christopher Columbus first spotted them he thought he had landed in India. The name “Indian” which he called them stuck and many still refer to them as “Indians” today.
Some, out of respect for the culture have begun to call them “Native Americans.”
I guess this word “Indian” is one way to lump all of the many cultures together; because they are MANY and VERY diverse; even in their original ancestors.
Those who were lumped together and eventually governed as one group are so diverse and different from each other that this analisis becomes extremely difficult.
NOT ONE IS THE SAME
No laws could effectively apply to them ALL even on an individual basis because not one tribe is like the other in nature; but, in spite of this impossible difficulty, their individual cultures have tried (often in vain) to preserve their own laws and yet remain a group that stands together.
What makes it so impossible is that the guilty and the innocent have been governed the same by an unwanted and unsought governmental power.
You have to go WAY back in history to get the jest of the whole story.
To make that even more complicated; history has been updated as time has evolved and truth has come forth.
So many people have been educated based on untruths; and many do not see the whole picture of the plight of these numerous tribes. Some base their opinions upon an unreal fantasy and imaginary picture of “Indians” as a whole people, which has been created over time from different groups desiring to use such for their own financial gain and prosperity.
THE MELTING POT THAT CROSSED THE LAND BRIDGE
About 20,000 years ago, long before Columbus introduced the Americas to Western Europe in 1492; the Clovis peoples crossed over the Bering Land Bridge between America and Asia and came to live on the American continent.
First they settled in Alaska and then moved on down the coastline as time marched on. The land-bridge they came over on dissolved away many millions of years ago.
DNA suggests that these people groups were the first and the most direct ancestors of nearly 80 percent of all indigenous people who wound up living in the Americas.
Some think there were also some people groups who came before them who settled in the lands that we now call Texas and Virginia, and also Peru and Chili. These earlier people are now called the pre-Clovis peoples for lack of an authentic name.
THE EAST AND WEST WERE DIFFERENT
To confuse matters of beginnings of cultures even more; the people groups that settled in the west were not the same people groups that settled in the East.
The Vikings came to the East and settled in Newfoundland about 500 years before Columbus.
There is also evidence that around 1280 Native Americans and people from Polynesian Islands were also living together in the land we now call The Americas, (somewhere in South America), sometime around 1300 BC.
Scientific digs have proven that America was actually a melting pot of all cultures way before The Statue of Liberty was formed on Ellis Island and known for saying: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
America went through so many changes over all those thousands of years and the native Americans evolved and moved through all of the changes too.
Any statements concerning all of these people would have to be stated with great complexity.
The groups were so diverse and so different.
THE NATIONS THAT CAME FROM THE COMPLEX BEGINNINGS
We know of so many different nations that came from the people of these ancient civilizations; the Azetcs, Mayans, Iroquois (5 nations that banned together in peace), Sioux, Muskogee, Apache,Navajo, Pueblo,Ute,Paiute,Shoshone, Nez Perce, and many, many others.
They all came from different ancestors and cultures located from different areas of the world, and they all evolved over time into different tribes.
Some tribes were peaceful; some tribes were savage. Their gods and religions were all different and varied. Their homes and ways of living in their culture were also very different from one another.
That all of these people groups can be lumped together and treated the same way seems almost impossible, and looking backwards it is hard to imagine how that came to be from American governmental documents which had many different purposes at many different historical times; some noble and some unthinkable and tragic.
Most of the obvious changes involving these native settlers were about the land and the environment of the British lands at first; then the colonial people who came over to America by way of the ocean looking for a better life.
Both groups dealt with, formed treaties with, and eventually governed the activities of these native American people groups. After them there were others with even more agendas.
COLUMBUS TOOK THEM AS SLAVES AND HOSTAGES FOR SPAIN
We do have historical records that show how Columbus and other explorers showed up on the native shores and took many native Americans as hostages to be used for slaves.
In her defense; there are historical records that indicate Queen Isabella’s disagreement with Columbus when they arrived in Spain; and more documents later trying to make them not slaves, but official Catholic citizens of Spain.
At any rate; this was one of the first records where Native Americans were taken from their native lands against their will. This group, in its historical beginnings of social injustice was truly shipped to Spain against their will and never returned.
It was thought that these Indians had hidden gold treasure and every effort was made to try to find out if they had gold which could be seized.
THE COLONIAL PERIOD
Years after Columbus landed, colonial settlers came over to America from England.
They were trying to establish freedom for themselves. These colonials eventually carved out a new life for their families, but at the same time they deeply interrupted the free-roaming of the native American tribes. Many tribes were nomadic in nature and some of them followed the migrations of the buffalo herds.
In those days Cotton was king. First the British controlled this; then when the American Revolution ended; the Americans controlled it. The lands that the Native Americans had lived on forever was confiscated in various different ways in order to grow crops in large quantities and to farm cattle and horses.
The issues started because the lands were not considered to be privately owned; though these tribes had inhabited them for centuries.
There were no deeds, nothing that related to colonial or British law that showed proof of ownership.
With no recorded deeds; the new people in the land considered certain territories to be up for grabs; and they came in and took over without asking permission of the natives.
DISEASE AMONG THE SAVAGES
Beginning with the explorers from Europe; and including those from England and the new colonial settlers that formed the country of America; new diseases came to the lands which could destroy these indigenous people who had no immunity to them.
Lots of the native people died from disease even before many of the problems of fighting over the land began.
When land was needed for grazing cattle and huge herds; the native Americans were pushed off of the land.
When they showed up in the places they had always frequented; they appeared frightening and savage to those of a different civilization.
Many of these tribes actually WERE savage; but many were not. The civilization that was developing into the nation of America could not yet distinguish which were which.
In their eyes every tribe was lumped together into the name of “Indian,” and most thought the Indians were a savage people.
THE TRAIL OF TEARS
When there was a need for large portions of land in the south for growing cotton, many Native Americans were pushed aside.
The Native Americans resisted and fought back this time. The Americans of the southern states tried to solve that problem by forming treaties with the natives.
One of the saddest treaties made was that which came to be known as The Trail of Tears.
This trail called The Trail of Tears was over 5,043 miles in length. The native American’s walking the trail had to travel through nine states to arrive at their destination.
WALKING BAREFOOT THROUGH THE SNOW
Native Americans who had lived in the southern sections of America were forced to sign documents trading away their homelands for territory across the Mississippi River.
They left on foot and walked together all the way to the new place. The trail was deadly and treacherous. Many suffered and died on the journey and this pathway became known as The Trail of Tears for obvious reasons.
The goal of the settlers left farming the land was to civilize the natives.
The Native Americans were asked to accept the religion of Christianity, to be educated, to conform to the government of the laws now being put into place by America.
Many of the tribes did assimilate into the American way of life; but many did not.
FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES
The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee people decided to embrace these new customs and they became collectively known as the “Five Civilized Tribes.”
Though these five tribes tried to live peacefully among the white population of the South their land became more and more valued. The white settlers wanted to use the fertile land to grow crops of cotton and they resorted to terrible tactics in order to run the natives off of the land.
These tactics included burning out homes, murder, etc.
The states tried to form laws that would keep the natives from having sovereignty in their ownership of their lands. A lot of the state laws began to affect the native American’s rights.
THE SEPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF NATIVE AMERICANS
In 1832 the Supreme Court began to object to such practices by the states and affirmed that native nations were sovereign nations in which the laws of some of the states could have no power.
That ruling was never enforced and Andrew Jackson called the lack of enforcement a case of the law being “still born.”
In 1830 Andrew Jackson signed the “Indian Removal Act.” This law gave the southern states the power to relocate the Native Americans to territories in the west (what we now know as Oklahoma.)
THE CHOCTAW WERE FIRST
In 1831 during the winter season the Choctaw became the first nation to be expelled. Some of them who refused to go were bound in chains and marched in double files.
No one rode a horse; everyone walked and they walked for many days with no food, water or supplies.
The weather was often brutal. Many (thousands) died along the way.
THE REMOVAL OF THE CREEKS
In 1836 the Creeks were driven away from their native lands. Their original headcount was 15,000.
3,500 did not make it to what was now being called “Indian Territory.”
THE CHEROKEES RESISTED
The Cherokee nation was divided in its feelings about what to do. Half of them wanted to make a deal with the government and half of them wanted to try to stay on their land.
Some unofficial representatives of the Cherokees stepped up and signed a treaty called the New Echota. This treaty traded all Cherokee land east of the Mississippi for five million dollars, relocation assistance and compensation for lost property.
The Cherokees who did NOT want this treaty felt betrayed. Their Chief, John Ross, stated to the government authorities that the official Cherokee nation was NOT a party to the treaty and the people of the Cherokees did not agree to the treaty.
16,000 Cherokees signed this petition against the removal and relocation of the Cherokees.
Congress approved the treaty anyway.
FORCED AT GUN POINT
General Winfred Scott and 700 soldiers forced the Cherokees who refused to go into stockades at gun point.
Their homes were looted and destroyed.
As the Cherokee were forced from their homes and put on the trail toward Indian Territory they encountered various hardships and diseases. Cholera, typhus and whooping cough were present and the cause of many deaths. Also deaths happened from starvation and freezing temperatures.
More than 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of this walk.
In 1907 Oklahoma became a state. The “Indian Territory” which had already begun shrinking by the development and encroachment of white settlements suddenly no longer existed.
THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
In 1848 gold was discovered in California. Many settlers headed west. This brought even more devastation to the Native Americans.
Again; greedy men wanted to claim lands that were not theirs to claim.
By 1870 it was estimated that 30,000 native Americans lived in the state of California. Most of these resided on reservations without access to their homelands.
About the same time that gold was found in California; a man named John Sutter enslaved hundreds of native Americans and used them as a free source of labor and a makeshift army to defend his territory.
THE HORRORS OF JOHN SUTTER
Back home in Switzerland; Mr. Sutter had fallen deep into debt. He left his wife and five children to deal with those troubles and he came to the part of Mexico that eventually became California.
Once there; Sutter convinced a reigning governor to grant him 50,000 acres to be used as a settlement and trade center.
Mr. Sutter became a Mexican citizen and kept acquiring more and more property. While living in this area and conducting questionable business arrangements Sutter began harassing the Native Americans who resided in the area.
Sutter used a private mulita he had built up to entice them to come to work with him. If these Native Americans did not want to work for him their murder was quickly arranged.
SUTTER’S LAVISH LIFESTYLE COMPARED TO SLAVERY FROM THE NATIVE AMERICANS
Eventually Sutter was running his ranch and his business by enslaving Native Americans and forcing them to work for him.
He lived lavishly while they ate their meals from troughs and slept in locked rooms with no beds.
Sutter started trading their labor to local ranchers in the area and his wealth continued to grow. He treated the Native Americans as if they were his property instead of people.
Many other ranchers who visited Sutter’s ranch were appalled at the living conditions the Native Americans endured there. Witnesses saw how they were often whipped and or killed if they disobeyed Sutter.
THE MEASLES EPIDEMIIC
One day a measles epidemic came to Sutter’s ranch and wiped out most of his illegal Native American slaves.
After this; Sutter decided to build a sawmill on some nearby property to try to make up for all of the work he had lost.
The discovery of gold which originally created the gold rush took place right there on Sutter’s property.
It was some Native Americans who actually led Mr. Marshall to the site which Sutter owned and they showed him the first-spotted gold nuggets of which he informed the world about later.
This sparked the gold rush.
After the gold was spotted on Sutter’s land squatters began to encroach on Sutter’s land.
The Native American workers deserted.
CALIFORNIA BECOMES A STATE
California became a new state which eventually assessed the legality of the Mexican-era land grants that Sutter claimed.
They were declared to be invalid.
Over the next 20 years, 80 percent of the Native Americans that populated California were wiped out as victims of displacement, disease and genocide. John Sutter will forever be known as the one who set the stage for their destruction.
Let’s take a moment and look at the subject of genocide of which we speak about here.
GENOCIDE OF CALIFORNIA
Much of the gold deposits lay on traditional tribal lands. Not only did the people of California want the land so they could become squatters and make claims for gold; they knew when they did that there would be questions asked as to who were the proper owners of the land once the gold was discovered.
These greedy people began to legislate government rules in their own favor.
Believe it or not; the state of California actually enshrined solutions to the “Indian problem” into their state laws.
The state legislature met and gave white settlers the right to take custody of Native American children.
They were also given the right to arrest Native people who loitered or possessed alcohol and they were given the ability to put those convicted of such crimes to work to pay off the fines they incurred.
TOTAL ABUSE IN THE GUISE OF “PROTECTION”
All of these laws were severely abused and they led to the enslavement of tens of thousands of Native Americans in the name of their own “protection.”
Ironically the law that permitted such atrocities was called “Act for The Government and Protection for Indians.”
The governor of California, Peter Hardeman Burnett, didn’t help the racial problems that existed. He began to set aside state money to arm local militias against Native Americans. A massive arsenal was assembled. Local militias were then tasked with the right to kill native people.
Local governments actually put bounties on native people’s heads and local citizens were paid money for stealing their horses.
VIGILANTES OF CALIFORNIA
Vigilantes killed at least 6,460 California Indians between 1846 and 1873.
The US Army was involved with the killing. They killed at least 1,600 native Californians.
In and around 1850, large massacres wiped out entire tribes. Many tragic stories exist from some of the survivors.
One such story happened in 1846 when Captain John C. Fremont led an expedition northward along the Sacramento River. They came to a place near what is present-day Redding. A large group of California Indians were gathered on a peninsula with the river flowing around three sides.
These Native Americans were probably people harvesting spring salmon. We know there were many elderly, women and children in the group.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN SLAUGHTERED WHILE HUNTING FOR FOOD
The Army led by Fremont was supplied with 76 armed men and they met the Native Americans at the neck of the peninsula and killed them with rifles, bayonets and butcher knives.
When a Native American tried to run away these men hunted them down on horseback and killed them.
No soldiers from the American government were injured.
Approximately 700 Native Americans died that day as they were simply seeking to feed their families.
These massacre’s continued for several years.
Whites were allowed to kill Native Americans without impunity.
The idea was to “teach the Indians a lesson.”
FIVE DOLLARS FOR AN INDIAN SCALP
In 1851 Shasta City offered bounty of $5 each for each Indian head turned in. I’m not talking about nickels.
Starving miners were murdering Native Americans and bringing in their horses for money.
Several other cities were paying bounty on scalps.
Ironically, it is the Native American’s who are known for being the historical scalpers. Here the tables had turned.
State governments were doling out money to Indian-killers, and no one seemed to be bothered about it.
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation proclamation in 1863. Up until that date Native American’s living in California were continually captured and held in slavery and often they were worked to death.
There was even a law stating that it was illegal to be a Native Californian in public unless said Native could prove he or she was employed by a white person.
The same courts also guaranteed that no white man could be convicted based on testimony from a California Indian.
At one point there was an attempt to designate 8 million acres of land in California for Indian reservations. This was kept very quiet and it never happened.
White settlers and the California government continued to enslave native people and forced them to work for ranchers through the 1860’s.
TRYING TO CIVILIZE THE SAVAGE
It became popular to try to “civilize” the Native Americans and help them learn to think like a white person.
One army commander named Richard Henry Pratt summed it up this way: “ A great general has said that the only good Indian is a dead one. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this: that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him and save the man.”
So much for appreciating one’s heritage!
As I studied these things it occurred to me that I would rather hear of the slavery and the murders than what happened to the Native American people next.
ASSIMILATION OF THE POPULATIONS OF THE TRIBES
After that the native Americans were forced into reservations and their children were forced to attend “Indian assimilation schools.”
Beginning in 1892, if you lived in California or some of the adjoining regions and if you were a Native American from 5 years old to twenty years old; you had to attend The Sherman Indian School.
If you were enrolled in The Sherman Indian School, you were not allowed visits home for several years at a time.
Sadly, a cemetery still remains on the campus that holds the remains of the youth who died while in the school’s custody.
Those children who managed to stay alive had to work long hours and they were subject to corporal punishment.
The whole idea was to remove the native culture from the minds of the students.
THE GOAL TO STOP CULTUAL KNOWLEDGE
It was thought that by removing the children from their homes the cultural knowledge could not be passed on and the Native American traditions would hopefully be forgotten.
The children made friends with one another and kept their traditions secretly among themselves. This process only helped the scattered and different tribes to become more united.
Enrollment in these schools peaked in the 1970s but a few, including Sherman, are still in operation today.
IMPLEMENTING TERMINATION
In the 1940s it was determined that the schools were not working very well
The decision was made by Congress to forcibly assimilate Native peoples by a different method. The new solution was called “termination.”
Termination was intended to strip Native Americans of any sovereignty they had left.
So far; tribes could still handle their own criminal cases; but now even this was taken away.
In 1949 some of the first tribes who were living in the Palm Springs area of California became the first people to be subject to state civil and criminal laws instead of their own tribal laws.
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 108
In 1953 House Concurrent Resolution 108 proclaimed that “termination” would be the official federal policy toward the Native Americans.
California Indians were specifically targeted declaring that all recognized tribes in California, New York, Florida and Texas were “terminated.”
For the Native Americans affected this meant an immediate end to federal funding, social services, legal and law enforcement protection, and to recognition of the tribes’ rights to reservations even if guaranteed by treaty.
PUBLIC LAW 280 PASSES
Next; Public law 280 passed which made provision for Native Americans to conduct civil and criminal cases under the state instead of their own tribes.
From 1956 – 1958 it was put into three separate laws that 41 large ranches would be divided between each of the Native American people who lived there.
Thinking was that by having individuals own the property, pride would be developed individually and the Native Americans would more readily assimilate into the American culture of the area.
The government offered better educational funding and funding for better infrastructures as well as the land-owning for individuals.
None of these things promised by the government came to fruition though.
GOVERMENT PROMISES FAIL AGAIN
The people became more disappointed and restless than ever.
This provoked public statements from two American Presidents; Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon who requested the repeal of termination.
In 1969 a group calling themselves “Indians of All Nations” began to occupy the decommissioned federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. This occupation lasted for two years. It raised a lot of visibility for the Native American cause.
The American Congress responded to all of this advocacy by passing reforms for Indian health and education policies.
They made bills that returned the lands of the Yakima Indians and the Taos Pueblo.
RESCINDING TERMINATION
The President (then Richard Nixon) rescinded Termination.
The 1970’s saw a surge of political and cultural activism.
A woman named Tillie Hardwick went to work for the terminated Pinoleville Rancheria and sued the federal government to restore the roads, sewers, water mains, etc. that the government had promised her city in return for termination.
In 1983 the U.S. District Court ruled to reverse those terminations as well as 17 small Rancherias throughout the state of California.
This encouraged others to sue and at present 30 more California rancherias, bands and reservations have had their terminations rescinded.
THE GAMBLING ARGUMENTS
When they began to win their lawsuits many California towns that were inhabited by Native Americans decided to make revenue with gambling.
This created a federal argument again, as gambling on the reservations would not have to be taxed and many citizens of the area objected to gambling taking place there.
One such case went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled that states have no authority to regulate gaming on Indian lands.
THE FEDERAL INDIAN GAMING REGULATORY ACT
The Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act amended Public Law 280 to make the Supreme Court decision formal, and established a federal regulatory framework for Indian gaming.
As a result of this decision; Indian gaming took off nationwide.
In 1998 there was an attempt to limit the scope of Indian gaming in California; but 58 tribes reached an amicable agreement in 1999. These casino’s are still in operation between Los Angeles and Phoenix.
It seems a shame that once strong people known for living by their wits off the land have been reduced to a culture that runs gambling games for revenue.
THE NATIVE AMERICANS OF TODAY
So; what is the true state of the Native Americans of today?
Most of the Native Americans of today reside in California, which is home to 109 federally recognized tribes.
Looking back; it is clear to see that the slaughter of the Native Americans played a huge part in establishing California’s prosperity.
Not many people are talking about this though.
In 2019 California did apologize for the genocide it carried out against its indigenous residents.
WHAT IS ENOUGH?
Will they do more?
How can this situation ever come to an equitable settlement?
It seems that every single bit of this sad history lesson has been a lose/lose move for both the Native Americans and the rest of the world.
Can anything ever make up for what has happened?
I am constantly amazed at the strength and the durability of these people to keep struggling for their rights while maintaining firm resilience with constant hope.
WHAT DO THE NATIVE AMERICANS REALLY WANT?
History, culture and politics aside; I am also very curious as to what they REALLY want for their people today.
Just what could make the Native Americans happy enough to still be content to reside in America and to be content enough to keep hanging out with all the rest of us?
How can anyone begin to justify land theft, war, starvation, massacres, assimilations and terminations of a culture?
You can’t.
So what do these Native American people need today from those of us who are left with the left-over bad judgements of our ancestors toward their culture?
HOW DO YOU TURN THE PAGE?
What can those of today possibly do to ease this problems of this culture?
Suggestions come and go with time.
One group thinks that doing away with the preconceptions of the imaginary and fantasy depictions of this culture which have been created from images and advertising and television screens over time would help. A lot of the illusions are not anywhere near true.
Perhaps, for the first time, we could see this culture for who it really is and not for who society has painted it to be over time.
How can your heart truly see a people if you don’t have a true picture of who they really are?
MORE SUGGESTIONS BUT NOT ENOUGH
Then there are other suggestions.
A few ambitious groups are out there who are doing what they can to protect the survival of certain cultures. They advocate for Indigenous People’s rights and they support their communities, their self-determination, their culture and their political resilience.
Is this a waste of time; a venture gone wrong, or something that would actually work out for the Native Americans?
THE DEEPER QUESTION
A deeper question yet would be; how would all of the above (or any suggested solutions) truly work out to the greater good for both the Native American culture AND the present American culture?
Can they co-exist side-by-side in peace and love with two separate governments layered together but working separately and still be fair to both parties?
Isn’t there a way that both cultures can exist in all of their splendor and glory without hurting each other in the process?
Such are the questions of so many cultures out there today.
Yet another ring to ponder in the increasingly dangerous step-latter leading up through the culture wars of today.
Where do we want it all to end up and how are we ever going to get there without destroying each other?
My prayer is that God will help us to find the right answers.