Page 115 - Blue Feather Book 2

Compared with the southern part of the continent, the northern part was less populated.
All the lack of respect for these cultures and their land led to many years of wars between whites and Indians. Especially during the 19th century expan- sion of the United States when they forced the natives to leave their land.
In 1830 the United States Congress passed a law signed by President An- drew Jackson to expedite the removal of the five “civilized” Indian Tribes living east of the Mississippi River (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole) and relocate them in different areas, this was called The In- dian Removal Act. This law basically gave the government funds to negoti- ate treaties to exchange land. It has been said that the leaders of the tribes were forced to sign the treaties. A famous opponent was David Crockett, an American legend (who has been portrayed in several movies).
The Native Americans Today
In the late 1800’s to give a solution to the growing “Indian problem” the US government decided to create Indian reservations and the natives were forced to live there.
In current times an Indian reservation is an area of land which is man- aged by a Native American under the United States Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most Native Americans still live there today. An important factor is that tribes have tribal sovereignty, meaning they have the authority to govern themselves.
This is especially important today, because this permits them to establish casinos in their lands, which has been very helpful for their economic well- being. But not all tribes have been able to improve their quality of life, some Indian areas are still considered among the poorest in the country.
To this day they are considered to be very spiritual cultures with a very special connection with nature.
112 The Blue Feather Literature First Course