A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government's Dealings with Some of the Indian Tribes

Since its inception, the US government has made hundreds of treaties with Indigenous tribes, only to delay implementation or break the treaties altogether. In some cases, the US government’s repeated lies have resulted in the forced removal of tribes from their rightful homes to a distant reservation. Each forced removal has been carried out by US government officials.

Some prominent colonial leaders and early US statesmen insisted on honest dealings; Jackson points to their example as a model of humane policies for US government officials. The Delawares had an honest neighbor in Pennsylvania founder William Penn, as did the Cherokees in Georgia’s founder James Oglethorpe. Jackson quotes Jefferson and George Washington to prove that Georgia in the 1820s had no constitutional authority over the Cherokees. She also quotes John Quincy Adams to demonstrate that early US officials recognized tribal land rights and intended to deal with those tribes accordingly. Some 18th-century treaties even contained language authorizing tribes to punish as they saw fit any settlers who ventured onto their lands.

Notwithstanding these original intentions, US government dishonesty was rampant. One notorious method of swindling involved making treaties with individuals who had no authorization to sell tribal lands. At his tense meeting with Minnesota Governor Ramsey in 1852, Chief Red Iron reported this as a major Sioux grievance.