Students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania Copyright Western History Department, Denver Public Library

Acculturation
The U.S. government attempted to, force the Native people on the reservation to accept the cultural practices of the Euro-Americans. However, many reservations created after the Civil War were little more than prison camps. The reservation lands were often unproductive and rations given to people were inadequate, so many died of starvation and disease. Some reservations required that Indians apply for permits to leave the reservation. To discourage Native people from retaining their own cultures, reservation officials denied them the right to speak their own languages or to practice their most sacred ceremonies. Native American children were often taken from their families and placed in boarding schools against their parents' wishes. Once removed from their own traditions, the children were more likely to become assimilated into white culture.

Allotment of Land
Government policy towards Indian land changed from tribal ownership of reservation land to individual ownership of lots of land with the passage of the Dawes Allotment Act in 1887. The Act was implemented to give each American Indian a plot of land with the intention of teaching them to farm and hasten assimilation of Native people into the Euro-American culture. In order for the individual allotments to be made, Native people had to surrender their reservation lands to the government. After the government allotted 169 acres to each adult and 80 acres to each child, the rest of the reservation land was offered for sale to non-Indians. Of the 138 million acres of land in Indian possession at the onset of the Dawes Act, only 48 million acres remained in Indian hands by 1932. Today, only 2 percent of the land of the 48 contiguous states belong to American Indians. The people of the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota take great pride in the fact that they never surrendered their land for allotment. Today their reservation is among the few lands in America never owned by Euro-Americans.

Native American children today share the interests of all American children as well as interest in their own cultural traditions. Courtesy: Library of Congress

Native Americans Today
The history of the Native American people is a story of loss, but more than that, it is a story of resilient strength, and continuity. Despite tremendous obstacles, Native Americans have survived. Although their population was decimated, they have recovered. In 1917, for the first time since the arrival of Europeans on this continent, more Native Americans were born than died. Today approximately 2,500,000 Native Americans live in the United States. And, the world they live in is changing. Native Americans are renewing their own pride in their traditions. Education has enabled the Native people to benefit themselves and to accomplish much in the outside world. Today, many American Indian people regard themselves as nations within a nation, governed by their own tribal governments. They have hope for the future.

More about Native American History and Culture