Bureau of Indian Affairs

American Indian Religious Freedom Act Passes Without Enforcement Mechanisms, Proving Ineffective at Protecting Sacred Sites

1978-08-11 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 6/10

Congress passes and President Jimmy Carter signs the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), establishing that it is “the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions …

U.S. Congress President Jimmy Carter Bureau of Indian Affairs Native American tribes indigenous-rights religious-freedom sacred-sites ineffective-legislation symbolic-policy

Dawes Allotment Act Destroys Tribal Land Ownership, Facilitating Loss of 90 Million Acres to White Settlers

1887-02-08 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 10/10

President Grover Cleveland signs the Dawes General Allotment Act (also called the Dawes Severalty Act), authorizing the President to subdivide Native American tribal communal landholdings into individual allotments for Native American heads of families and individuals. The Act represents a …

Senator Henry L. Dawes U.S. Congress President Grover Cleveland Bureau of Indian Affairs Five Civilized Tribes indigenous-genocide land-theft forced-assimilation tribal-sovereignty institutional-corruption

Carlisle Indian Industrial School Opens With "Kill the Indian, Save the Man" Mission of Cultural Genocide

1879-10-01 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt opens the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania under U.S. government authorization, establishing the blueprint for more than 400 federal Indian boarding schools nationwide designed to forcibly assimilate Native American children through cultural …

Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt U.S. Government War Department Bureau of Indian Affairs indigenous-genocide cultural-genocide forced-assimilation institutional-abuse boarding-schools

Civilization Fund Act Authorizes Federal Funding for Indigenous Assimilation Schools, Laying Groundwork for Boarding School System

1819-03-03 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Congress passes and President James Monroe signs the Civilization Fund Act (also known as the Indian Civilization Act), authorizing federal funding for organizations to run schools on Native American reservations with the explicit goal of assimilating Indigenous peoples into white society. The Act …

U.S. Congress President James Monroe Bureau of Indian Affairs Religious missions Protestant organizations +1 more forced-assimilation cultural-genocide indigenous-education institutional-corruption boarding-schools