Indian Removal
From the early years of the nineteenth century U.S. policymakers sought to relocate indigenous nations to the western regions of North America. The 1830 Indian Removal Act codified this policy. Though many Americans associate removal with the “Trail of Tears,” which refers to the displacement of southeastern Indian nations, Midwestern nations were also dramatically affected. The Shawnee, Miami, Potawatomi, and many other tribes were forced to relocate west of the Mississippi. Leaders like Quatawapea, a Shawnee from Ohio, spent the last part of his life in the distant west with only a small portion of his people.
Menominee Case Study
In 1953 Congress passed Public Law 280, which granted states power over Indian reservations. This resulted in the termination of the reservation status of several communities, one of the largest of which was the Menominee Reservation. In 1954 Congress passed the Menominee Termination Act, which revoked federal recognition of the Menominee’s Indian status. The Menominee’s subsequent legal fight against termination led to the 1975 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, which effectively ended termination policy in the United States. Note the location, disappearance, and reappearance of the Menominee Reservation on the maps displayed, which cover the years 1941, 1961, and 1992.
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This page references:
- Portrait of Qua-Ta-Wa-Pea in History of the Indian Tribes of North America, Vol. 2
- Map Showing Indian Reservations in the United States
- Map showing the lands assigned to emigrant Indians west of Arkansas & Missouri
- A quincentennial map of American Indian history
- Map Showing Location of the Indian Reservation Areas and Principal Highways Leading Thereto
