Ethnocentrism and Policies for Native American Tribes

Ethnocentrism can be seen most clearly in the policies of the late 1800’s. Specifically, we can see it in the boarding school system where Native Americans were forbidden to speak their own languages or wear their hair in traditional ways. The design of US policy early on was always to exterminate Native populations and take their land. Those that were not exterminated, attempts were made to exterminate culture such as language and religion. They were often brutally successful (Dawes-Severalty Act).

The Dawes Severalty Act (1887), cosigned Native American tribes to the status of wards of the U.S. Government by forbidding that any more treaties be drawn between the U.S. and the tribes or the tribal nations. This public policy presupposed the ethnocentric position of tribal inferiority against dominant group superiority.

While we look at aspects of American policy such as Indian Reorganization Act and other such decisions as positive, we must not be blind to the way that indigenous people have been marginalized and sidelined systematically for a long period of history. While now the Native American people have their own reserves, it has certainly not allowed them to become more respected of part of the mainstream society.

This is a permanent issue, because there is no question that the lands of Native Americans were taken from them by the US government, and there is no practical or legal way to reserve that crime. The real question now is do native tribes deserve more federal compensation for those lands, and on existing reservations, what rights and authorities Native Americans living there have than non-Natives do not.

When The Americans were colonized, land was taken away from the natives and they were systematically slaughtered, enslaved or “civilized” by their new neighbors. When we felt bad about it, we gave them land in reservations and forced them to stay on it. They can leave, but what opportunities are there for them?

With all this being said, I do feel that Native Americans have begun to take back their independence and the opportunities may be growing to a degree. In the early 21 st century, Native American communities remain an enduring fixture on the United States landscape, in the American economy, and in the lives of Native Americans. Communities have consistently formed governments that administer services like firefighting, natural resource management, and law enforcement. Most Native American communities have established court systems to adjudicate matters related to local ordinances, and most also look to various forms or moral and social authority vested in traditional affiliations within the community.

There are 563 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. The United States recognizes the right of these tribes to self-government and supports their tribal independence and self-determinations. These tribes possess the right to form their own government; to enforce laws, both civil and criminal; to tax; to establish membership; to license and regulate activities; to zone; and to exclude persons from tribal territories. Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money. I feel that it is difficult to draw conclusions on a subject matter like this, because there are such great economic and situational disparities between, say, the Pine Ridge Reservation Sioux, or the Oklahoma Cherokee or the Arizona Navajo.

No one policy has a universal effect. There have been generally positive economic policies for native tribes in recent years, but the actual effect of them has been spotty, in my opinion. We are not able to make generalizations about different tribal groups, and certainly we need to be aware that various policies might impact some groups more favorably than others. Therefore we need to develop a more nuanced view of issues. The only true effective policy is the most effective thing the government has done for them is to in sense “let them be free”.