At the federal level, recognition places tribal governments on the same level as state governments with their rights to tax, enact and enforce laws and regulate. By the early 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida—lands that their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. But by the end of the decade, there were very few natives left anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on Indian lands, the federal government forced them to leave their countries of origin and walk hundreds of miles to a specially designated “indigenous territory” on the other side of the Mississippi River.
This difficult and often deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears. However, Native American land, located in parts of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee, was valuable and became more coveted as white settlers flooded the region. Many of these whites wanted to make their fortune growing cotton and often resorted to violent means to take land from their indigenous neighbors. They stole livestock, burned and looted houses and towns, committed mass murder, and occupied land that did not belong to them. State governments joined this effort to expel Native Americans from the South.
Several states passed laws that limited the sovereignty and rights of Native Americans and invaded their territory. Andrew Jackson had long advocated what he called the “expulsion of Indians”. As an Army general, he had spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida, campaigns that resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from indigenous nations to white farmers. For the federal government, the treaty (signed in New Echota, Georgia) was closed, but most Cherokees felt betrayed. Importantly, the negotiators did not represent the tribal government or anyone else.
Most Cherokees considered the Treaty of New Echota to be fraudulent, and the Cherokee National Council voted in 1836 to reject it. By 1838, only about 2,000 Cherokees had left their homeland of Georgia for Indian territory. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to accelerate the expulsion process. Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee to enter palisades at bayonet point while his men looted their homes and belongings. The situation of the Indians differs from state to state. The United States has more than 550 federally recognized tribes and forty to fifty state-recognized tribes.
In North Carolina and nearby states, most Indians are members of tribes recognized by the state and do not live on reservations. This is very true across the country according to the 2000 U. S. Census report which found that more than 62 percent of Indians live on reservations.
There are three reservations in Virginia none of which are recognized by the Office of Indian Affairs (BIA); The BIA does not provide tribesmen with services or funding for things like health care schools police or fire protection. Tribes are not allowed to establish casinos or other gambling companies that federal recognition allows as a tool for economic development. In North Carolina only the Eastern Band of Cherokee tribe is eligible to receive BIA services and operate a casino. In South Carolina only the Catawba tribe has this status. Today with 10 350 Native American students attending public schools in the county Robeson County Public Schools manages one of the most important educational programs for indigenous people in the country funded by U. The 1971 Commission on Indian Affairs provides strong evidence that the state currently has a positive relationship with its citizens tribes and American Indian groups. Some may think that land-related treaties are the only example of governmental relations with Indians over the years.
Criteria that can then be used to support a request for recognition include traditional names of North Carolina Indians; kinship relationships with other recognized tribes; official records that recognize people as indigenous; anthropological or historical accounts related to group's indigenous ancestry; traditions customs legends etc. documented that indicate group's indigenous heritage; and others. This resulted in Indian Gaming Regulatory Act 1988 which provided framework that governs Indian casinos. In 1830 he signed Indian Expulsion Act which gave federal government power to exchange native lands in cotton kingdom east Mississippi for lands west “zone indigenous settlement” United States had acquired part Louisiana Purchase. Creation institutions such Pembroke Normal School East Carolina Indian School (ERN) provides example historical relationship Indians have had this state. For many Native Americans history European settlement has been story cautious reception followed opposition defeat near extinction now revival. Benefits state recognition range being eligible be member Commission Indian Affairs fund program securing legitimate place history. Visit South Carolina Commission Minority Affairs website additional information Native American issues list Native American Indian entities recognized state.
