Indian Law Before and After

Joseph Marshall III

Learn ABOUT
(deep listening, information)

  1. What was the 1851 Treaty?
  2. What was the 1868 Treaty?
  3. What was the 1887 Dawes Act?
  4. What was the Citizenship Act?
  5. How many Native Americans fought in WW I?
  6. What are the consequences of Native Americans being “made” US citizens without having been given the opportunity to choose to be citizens?
  7. What is sovereignty?
  8. What are the details of “Indian Law” before European and Euro-American contact?
  9. How well do Native Americans know the Treaties, Acts and Laws that impact them? How well are these taught in schools?
  10. How did the Dawes Act “scatter” the people of the reservations?

Learn FROM
(deep listening, information)

  1. Are there laws or legal actions that
    impact you in negative or unfair
    ways? If so, what are they? What
    are you doing about the situation?
  2. Have you ever been given a “gift” that you didn’t ask for, and which you really might not have wanted? Can you share that story?
  3. What’s the difference between immigrating to a Nation of Laws and adapting to those laws so you can become a part of it, and having a Nation of Laws that are forcibly changed by a colonizing entity from the outside? How might the differences play out among descendants of both immigrants and natives? How aware have you been of these differing ways of becoming “American”?
  4. Have you ever been in a place or situation in which your travel was restricted while others could come and go at will? How did that feel? If you haven’t experienced that, how do you think that might feel? How do you think that would impact you or your family over time?