Webquest+3

**Laws affecting where and how Indians can live**
Your response is due first class of next week


 * Introduction**

Because Native Americans occupied large portions of what America viewed as its natural territory, a great number of laws were enacted to control where Native Americans could live. As a result of these laws, the lands occupied by Native Americans were reduced to the tiny fragments that they still control today. Beginning in the 1800s and continuing into the 20th century, Congress made a number of key laws that influenced Indians in dramatic ways. The following short speech by Tecumseh to Governor Harrison at Vincennes in 1810 describes the Indian view of owning land and illustrates the clash of cultures when Whites wanted land. This speech was delivered to Governor Harrison in council at Vincennes, on August 12, 1810. Large tracts of land in Tecumseh’s absence had been sold by the Indians on both sides of the Wabash River.

Read this speech and then continue with the Webquest below. //"It is true I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior. From them I take only my existence; from my tribe I take nothing. I am the maker of my own fortune; and oh! that I could make that of my red people, and of my country, as great as the conceptions of my mind, when I think of the Spirit that rules the universe. I would not then come to Governor Harrison to ask him to tear the treaty and to obliterate the landmark; but I would say to him: "Sir, you have liberty to return to your own country."// //"The being within, communing with past ages, tells me that once, nor until lately, there was no white man on this continent; that it then all belonged to red men, children of the same parents, placed on it by the Great Spirit that made them, to keep it, to traverse it, to enjoy its productions, and to fill it with the same race, once a happy race, since made miserable by the white people who are never contented but always encroaching. The way, and the only way, to check and to stop this evil, is for all the red men to unite in claiming a common and equal right in the land, as it was at first, and should be yet; for it never was divided, but belongs to all for the use of each. For no part has a right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers--those who want all, and will not do with less."// //"The white people have no right to take the land from the Indians, because they had it first; it is theirs. They may sell, but all must join. Any sale not made by all is not valid. The late sale is bad. It was made by a part only. Part do not know how to sell. It requires all to make a bargain for all. All red men have equal rights to the unoccupied land. The right of occupancy is as good in one place as in another. There can not be twp occupations in the same place. The first excludes all others. It is not so in hunting or traveling; for there the same ground will serve many, as they may follow each other all day; but the camp is stationary, and that is occupancy. It belongs to the first who sits down on his blanket or skins which he has thrown upon the ground; and till he leaves it no other has a right."//


 * Task**

In this webquest you explain what each of these four pieces of legislation were intended to do, and what their actual effect was on Indians. You will discover how so much Indian land was lost to the U.S. - and how it now forms part of the U.S. You should be writing a short paragraph (10 to 20 lines) that summarizes the legislation and its effect.

Use the internet to identify books, websites or other media sources that describe the content and effect of the following pieces of legislation.
 * Process**
 * Indian Removal Act 1830
 * Dawes Severalty Act 1887
 * Indian Reorganization Act 1934
 * Indian Trust Reform Act.1994

Do these laws illustrate how powerful interests can control the destiny of entire countries? Whose interest was served by this legislation - Indians or Whites? Should the US make restitution for these historic wrongs?
 * Consider these questions**

At the end of this webquest you should have a good understanding how legal 'fictions' were employed to grab land in America that used to belong to Indians. Could you write an essay discussing how legislation shaped Indian history?
 * Conclusion**

Try these links to get started on this webquest. Use the backbutton of your browser to return to this wiki. [|Link 1] [|Link 2] [|Link 3] [|Link 4]
 * Suggested Sources**

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