INDIAN CITIZENSHIP

Do you know anyone who is new to their city? Moving to a new place can be tough, especially starting at a new school. It’s important to be welcoming and show new kids around. Long ago, when new people came to America, the Native Americans helped them, but sadly the newcomers didn’t always treat them kindly.

When Columbus discovered America in 1492, many Europeans decided to move there. The Native Americans living in America were mostly peaceful people who helped the new settlers. People whose families are from a certain place are natives of that area. Settlers are people who live in places other than where their families are from. The European settlers did not understand the natives’ culture, meaning way of life, and began taking their land. As more Europeans came, the natives were slowly forced to move deeper west into the American continent.

When the United States became a country in 1776, there were many battles between the natives and the settlers. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act.

This law gave the U.S. permission to force the rest of the natives to move west of the Mississippi River. They were told to move or be forced to leave by the army. Many tribes, or groups, left peacefully on their own. Others refused to leave the land they owned and lived on for so many years.

Over the next few years, the United States Army forced the natives from their homes. The army forced the natives to walk more than five thousand miles through terrible weather and floods without enough food. Thousands of natives died on the way. The route they walked is called the Trail of Tears. The government gave them land with very few resources, making it difficult for them to support their families. These areas are called Indian Reservations. Most people on the reservations became very poor.

On June 2, 1924, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act. Before this, very few natives were granted, or given, U.S. citizenship. Native men had to serve in the U.S. army to become a citizen. They were often instructed to spy on their own people. The Indian Citizenship Act granted automatic citizenship to all natives. The United States said that the law was to give Native Americans the right to vote. Many natives saw the law as an attempt to force them to give up their rights as natives. They believed that the U.S. stole their land.

As of 2023, there are over three hundred Indian reservations. These reservations are in western states such as Arizona, California and Utah. Most Native Americans live in American cities and not on reservations. The natives on the reservations do not have to pay taxes, and some even have their own court systems. However, most are very poor, and many Native Americans still do not like the U.S. government.