Today in History

June 2, 1924: Indian Citizenship Act is passed.

Before the Civil War, citizenship was often limited to Native Americans of one-half or less Indian blood. In the Reconstruction period, progressive Republicans in Congress sought to accelerate the granting of citizenship to friendly tribes, though state support for these measures was often limited. In 1888, most Native American women married to U.S. citizens were conferred with citizenship, and in 1919 Native American veterans of World War I were offered citizenship.

By the early 1920s, some 30 years after the cessation of the 19th century wars, most indigenous people (Native Americans) had gained U.S. citizenship through marriage — or through military service, allotments, treaties or special laws. But some were not citizens, and they were barred from naturalization.

Citizenship was granted in this Act as part of a desire by some U.S. leaders to see Native Americans absorbed or assimilated into the American mainstream. This was echoed in the Termination era of the 1950s. Success seemed possible after the World War I service of many Native Americans, who were usually not, unlike African Americans, segregated into special units.
One active assimilation proponent of the early 20th century, Dr. Joseph K. Dixon, wrote:

"The Indian, though a man without a country, the Indian who has suffered a thousand wrongs considered the white man's burden and from mountains, plains and divides, the Indian threw himself into the struggle to help throttle the unthinkable tyranny of the Hun. The Indian helped to free Belgium, helped to free all the small nations, helped to give victory to the Stars and Stripes. The Indian went to France to help avenge the ravages of autocracy. Now, shall we not redeem ourselves by redeeming all the tribes?"

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, also known as the Snyder Act, was proposed by Representative Homer P. Snyder of New York and granted full U.S. citizenship to America's indigenous peoples, called "Indians" in this Act. (The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to persons born in the U.S., but only if "subject to the jurisdiction thereof"; this latter clause excludes certain indigenes.) The act was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2.

The right to vote, however, was governed by state law; until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting. In a WPA interview from the 1930s, Henry Mitchell describes the attitude toward Native Americans in Maine, one of the last states to comply with the Indian Citizenship Act:

One of the Indians went over to Old Town once to see some official in the city hall about voting. I don't know just what position that official had over there, but he said to the Indian, 'We don't want you people over here. You have your own elections over on the island, and if you want to vote, go over there.'

Important dates in June

June 2, 1924: Indian Citizenship Act is passed.

June 8, 1970: President Nixon ends “Termination Policy” by executive order.

June 18, 1934: American Indian Reorganization Act is signed into law providing for tribal self-government.

June 24, 1675: Beginning of (Metacomet’s) “King Phillip’s War” against New England colonists.

June 25, 1876: Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand). Plains tribes led by Chief Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse are victorious in a battle with the U.S. Seventh Calvary.

Sequoyah Schools Offering Summer Learning Program

Press release

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Sequoyah Schools will once again offer a variety of classes as part of the Sequoyah Summer Learning Program. Classes will be held June 30 – July 11, from 8:25 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. for any student in the fifth through twelfth grades. Breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided.

“We’ve added a summer learning program to keep the focus on academics during the summer,” said Gina Stanley, Sequoyah superintendent. “We are providing an option for students in the area to keep their minds focused and give them a head start on the next school year.”

Classes that will be offered at Sequoyah this summer are Cherokee culture, Cherokee language, robotics, leadership, digital photography, physical education, financial literacy for teens, art, drama, media production, college prep, and computer applications. Students will be able to choose three of these classes to participate in during the two-week class period. Structured recreation time will include activities such as swimming, bowling and roller skating.

“We added college prep and media production this year in an effort to attract more high school age kids,” Stanley said. “The college prep class will show kids how to find scholarships and get a head start on some of the paperwork that has to be done for financial aid.”

The Sequoyah cafeteria will provide breakfast, lunch and a snack each day. There is no charge for participation and enrollment is open to any student in the fifth grade and up, but class size is limited so students are encouraged to enroll early. The deadline for enrollment is June 13.

“I encourage any student who is planning to attend Sequoyah in the fall to come to the Summer Learning Program,” Stanley said. “They can meet their teachers and learn their way around the campus.”

For more information on the Sequoyah Summer Learning Program or to request an application, call Tera Shows at (918) 453-5542 or e-mail tshows@cherokee.org.

Sequoyah Schools, a boarding school for Native American students, originated in 1871 as an orphan asylum to care for children who were orphaned by the Civil War. Now known as Sequoyah Schools, it is named for Sequoyah, the scholar who developed the Cherokee syllabary. The school is regionally and state accredited for grades 7-12 and has become the school of choice for more than 400 Native American students every year. Sequoyah Schools is located five miles southwest of Tahlequah, Okla. For more information call (918) 453-5400.

Tribes work to reverse corrosive effects of boarding schools

By: Jason Stein

TOMAH, Wis. — Chloris Lowe Sr. didn’t teach his children to speak the language of their Ho-Chunk ancestors.

But today, in a small tribal day care, he and his great-grandson chatter happily in Ho-Chunk. Lowe, 80, a tribal elder who lived through the era of English-only Indian boarding schools, is now helping to undo the effects those institutions had on his people.

“These kids here, the way they understand Ho-Chunk, before they even talk, my gosh!” said Lowe, a native speaker of the language who is helping teach it to the toddlers here. “You could almost go to tears because they’re really picking it up.”

Around Wisconsin, tribes are working to reverse the lingering effects of the long-closed boarding schools by helping children learn the languages and cultures the schools once discouraged.

The Lac du Flambeau tribe, for instance, is seeking to turn a dormitory in a former boarding school on the reservation into a center to promote the tribe’s Ojibwe language as well as traditional skills such as mat-making.

Part of the project will also involve restoring the dormitory to its 1907 condition and turning it into an interpretive center on the boarding school era and its legacy, said Kelly Jackson-Golly, the tribe’s historical preservation officer.

“The ultimate reclamation is to have a place that by design was built to take away cultural traditions and flip that around and have a place that’s actually giving back something and promoting healing,” Jackson-Golly said.

Lowe, a former truck driver and the last member of his family born in a wigwam, brought his children up to be college-educated professionals in careers like law and engineering. But something was missing.

Get the rest of the story here: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/06/02/news/z04language0602.txt