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The Positive And Negative Effects Of The Native American Reservation System

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The reservation system was created in 1851 to “manage” the Native Americans. Even though the reservation system was created so long ago, it is still being practiced today with less harsh conditions but conditions nonetheless. However, the reservations provide the Natives with their own government and other freedoms alongside the stereotypes and colonialism they face.

Life for Native Americans in the 1800s was far from luxurious. The Native American reservation system was established in the late 1800s by the American government to subdue Indigenous people and take claim over their ancestral lands. The reservations from back then have been compared to prisoner-of-war camps in the sense that the Natives were forced there under federal guidance …show more content…

Even though these numbers continue to grow as the years pass by, the tribes are still suffering from the negative effects of colonialism. Some of the most affected are the Natives who were forced onto reservations when the white settlers took their land. Areas have bad soil and sparse natural resources were given to these specific tribes so their communities couldn’t thrive. Even today, very few Americans can fully grasp the conditions indigenous families must endure every day. There are only 500 recognized tribes and 318 reservations in the United States. That is still leaving out 248 unrecognized tribes. Even with federal recognition, these tribes have to face plenty of issues. In reality, indigenous people are just like any other people out there. “We have an outhouse out back and we go to the school’s gym to take showers when we need to,” says a person from the Navajo Nation. This is not uncommon on reservations as up to 40% of households on the Navajo Nation don’t have access to clean running water at home. Instead, many families are forced to haul water from remote locations. There are many other big problems excluding housing and running water.

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As the Indians now had land to live on, and didn’t have to worry about maintaining the land as much. The way the Indians were able to have land was because they lived on reservations. Reservations, were controversial, but they did give pretty stable land to the Indians. On the topic of reservations, Bennett Elmer said, “The 1851 Indian Appropriation Acts allocated funds to move Western tribes onto reservations.”

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To date, the reservation of the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi consist of 35,000 acres that cover over 10 counties, and with 10,000 thousand members of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. From dire poverty to economically standings the Mississippi Choctaws are proof that no matter the situation you can strive for better tomorrow. Tribal sovereignty has seemed to rage since the time of the great effort for their lands. Since this time there has been frenzy over how much tribal sovereignty a tribe should have. Sovereignty, territory, children, and kinship are critical for the survival of the

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Centuries ago, the vast lands of the Americas were ruled by people not much unlike ourselves, two hands, two feet, and two eyes. However, when our ancestors settled on this land, they distinctly decided that these people were either inferior to us or did not belong on this land as much as we did. Unfortunately for the people that lived here before, there is no match due to the technological advancements or diseases that would soon rain upon them. Although some righteous Americans attempted to do good, they were constantly in conflict with the greedy adventurers from the East. As Native Americans were pushed from reservation to reservation, each migration killed thousands and slowly stripped them of their pride and culture.

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After the Civil War in the 1860s, there were Indian policies put in place to exterminate Native Americans and remove them from their homelands. The idea to “kill the Indian, save the man” was a common ideal that was believed during this time. The racial discrepancies established between white versus Indian, led to the killing of indigenous Americans, and relocation to reservations. These reservations were the significantly smaller pieces of land Native Americans were allowed to have. The reservations are a result of forceful migration which only occurred because of the choehold Manifest Destiny had on white Americans.

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Native Americans were mistreated, and as a result, they too started to rebel and defend their territory. “Red River War…their mounts and supplies were so depleted that they could not survive the winter on the plains and were forced to enter the reservation” (Comanche Reading 4). The settlers eventually took control of them and forced them to cede their lands, their ancestral lands. The numerous conflicts and wars that Native Americans were involved in also resulted in a decline in their population. Such as the Wounded Knee massacre, site of two conflicts between Native Americans and U.S. representatives.

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Many tribes had cultural ties to the environment itself. When the Americans established the Indian Removal Act, the Native Americans were forced to leave these cultural grounds. Those who refused to leave their original homeland had to conform to the ways of colonial life instead

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People are overcrowded in these households and only earn social security, veteran or disability’s income. The reservations do not have industrial employers and most of the employers include federal and tribal governments. The condition has resulted to high level of unemployment, which does not only affect individuals but the entire society. The employment problems are driving many Native American families into a state of poverty which has forced some to become homeless. Housing is another factor causing poverty in the Native American Reservations.

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