American Indian Law Swings Like a Pendulum

Several events are representative of the pendulum in American Indian law, which, throughout the history of the country, has swung from one end to the other, supporting and then tearing down Indians’ sovereign status as outlined in original treaty language.  In the 1896 case Ward v. Race Horse the majority opinion set a negative precedent when the court ruled that the equal footing doctrine allowed states newly admitted into the Union to deny Indians access to traditional hunting and fishing grounds.  Similarly, in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) the court ruled that the doctrine of separate but equal was legal, setting the stage for the Jim Crow south as well as institutionalized racism that impacts American Indian communities today.  By 1905, the court had moderated its position with regards to hunting and fishing rights for Indians and in United States v. Winans found that treaty language did indeed secure these and other rights for the Yakama Nation and all other Indian tribes with treaties.  And in another victory for Indian people, in the 1908 case Winters v. United States the court found that water rights on Indian reservations remained intact for federally recognized tribes.  By 1919, after many American Indians had fought bravely in World War I in the United States Armed Forces, Congress was grappling with citizenship issues for Indians and passed the American Indian Citizenship Act, offering voluntary citizenship to Indians that had fought in the war.  And by the end of the 1920’s the Secretary of the Interior had cause for surveying the status of American Indian communities across the country, as reports of poor conditions were pervasive.  In response, the Secretary authorized the Institute for Government Research to conduct the survey, which produced the Meriam Report, detailing appalling conditions on reservations where many Indians lived in abject poverty, bereft of services.  The Meriam Report would effectuate changes in the way the federal government would manage and promote Indian lands, culture, and legal status.