United States Federal Policies Towards Indigenous Peoples – A Comparative Summary

Abstract

Throughout the last three hundred years the indigenous Native peoples of the United States have been subjected to a number of differing policies by the U.S. federal government. Beginning in 1787 with the creation of the U.S. Constitution, federal policies towards indigenous Native peoples have not followed a single policy track toward a specific goal. Rather, they have been marked by dramatic shifts in both the policy goals and the means by which to achieve those results. The history of such shifting policies can best be compared and framed by examining them across three broad periods: the Isolation and Removal period between 1789 and 1887, the Acculturation and Assimilation period between 1887 and 1934, and the Self-Determination and Sovereignty period between 1934 and the present. Each of these periods are characterized by a specific set of federal policies towards Native peoples, primarily enacted by Congressional laws and acts. While helpful in identifying the comparative trends in federal policy towards Native peoples, these periods should not be viewed in isolation from one another, since only when they are compared do the overall policy shifts become apparent. Furthermore, these periods have not been unanimously accepted by all scholars, and other periods are often defined depending on the situation.