Oklahoma Academic Standard 5. The student will examine the Oklahoma’s political, social, cultural, and economic transformation during the early decades following statehood.

Objectives:
5.1  Examine the policies of the United States and their effects on American Indian identity, culture, economy, tribal government and sovereignty including:

  A.  passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

  B.  effects of the federal policy of assimilation including Indian boarding schools (1880s-1940s)

  C.  authority to select tribal leaders as opposed to appointment by the federal government

  D.  exploitation of American Indian resources, lands, trust accounts, head rights, and guardianship as required by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

6.5  Analyze the evolving relationship between state and tribal governments impacting tribal self-determination and control over American Indian lands and resources including issues of jurisdiction, taxation, and gaming. 

In a Nutshell

Students should examine the impact of government policy on American Indian culture by examining the detrimental effects of the Indian Schools, the policies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the role of the federal government regarding tribal affairs. It is important for students to understand that tribal and state/federal government relations are still evolving as Indian nations seek greater self-determination of their citizens and lands.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Provide opportunities for students to analyze information from visual sources in order to draw conclusions as to the effect of assimilation efforts on American Indian identity and culture.

• Assist students to analyze how various governmental powers and responsibilities are enacted and have changed over time, using the example of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its relationship to Indian sovereignty. 

• Actively engage in asking and answering questions related to the impact of federal government policies toward American nations by acquiring, organizing and analyzing multiple sources of data and information.

• Compare points of agreement and disagreement from reliable information and expert interpretations associated with compelling and supporting questions addressing the policy of assimilation. 

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• policy of assimilation through total immersion, forcible removal from families, Americanization, Indian boarding schools, role of Christian missionaries and organizations, Richard Henry Pratt

• ban on traditional dress, practice of Indian religious beliefs, indigenous languages; training in agriculture, homemaking, vocational trades, Christianity, Anglo acculturation

• Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior

• Kate Barnard's advocacy for fair treatment of American Indians and Indian

• Meriam Report (1926) on conditions in Indian schools

• Osage collective ownership of subsurface mineral rights as opposed to individual owners' allotments; tribal "headrights" assuring equal share of mineral rights 

• Indian Child Welfare Act (1978), Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (1975)

• Most students may mistakenly assume that American Indians were always legally recognized citizens of the United States. 

• Most students will have limited prior knowledge regarding the relationship of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal governments.  

Instructional Resources