BOOK REVIEW
Landmarks of the American Mosaic
Bureau of Indian Affairs
by Donald L. Fixico
The Bureau of Indian Affairs was
created essentially by one man. No act of
Congress was passed, nor did the President
of the United States sign into law an act
that initiated what was then known as the
Indian Office. Created by Secretary of
War John C. Calhoun in 1824, the Bureau
of Indian Affairs has implemented policy
for hundreds of tribes in the United States
for the past 188 years.
“He took such ownership,” said author
Donald L. Fixico, Arizona State University Distinguished Foundation Professor of
History in the School of Historical,
Philosophical & Religious Studies, College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “He just
went out and did it.”
Fixico details the story, history and
effects of policies administered by the BIA
in his latest book, Bureau of Indian Affairs
(Greenwood Press, 2012). “I have always
wanted to do a book on the BIA and I
dedicated it to my relatives and friends of my four tribes the
Shawnee, Sac and Fox, Muscogee Creek and Seminole,” he said.
Milestones detailed in the book include moving the BIA out
of the Department of War and into the Department of
Interior and the debate that ensued when this effort was underway. There are also heartbreaking aspects of policy changes such
as creating reservations and relocating American Indians to their
new homes – journeys that are now referred to as The Trail of
Tears by Eastern tribes and The Long Walk by Navajos. The
Indian Removal Act passed by President Andrew Jackson in the
1830s had terrible consequences. “That act was just horrific,”
Fixico said. “A lot of people died on the Trail of Tears.”
What has impressed him throughout his research, however,
are the ways that American Indians adapt and even embrace
changes, incorporating challenges into their lives from the
lands where they were moved to the boarding schools that
separated children from their families.
“What comes out of this is the resilience of Native peoples,”
Fixico said. “One of the keys that Native people have embraced
is education.” Fixico pored over archival documents, treaties
and annual reports to research the book. “The annual reports
come from field agents. It’s first-hand information,” he said.
That information allowed him to thoroughly research
benchmarks such as the Dawes General Allotment Act of 1887
that divided reservations into parcels for individuals, creating
a lifestyle that deviated from the communal atmosphere that
Published by ABC-CLIO, Greenwood
ISBN 978-0-313- 39179-8 (hardcopy)
978-0-313-39180-4 (ebook)
224 pages - $58.00 (hardcover)
www.abc-clio.com
was dominant before the act.
The General Allotment Act proved to
be devastating to Native people. The
traditional Native emphasis on the
community, rather than the individual,
contradicted the federal government’s
plan to make Native people into individual landowners, Fixico writes.
When problems of poverty and
sickness from foreign diseases invaded
the reservations, the BIA was charged
with trying to solve the problems through
reform and change. Fixico also includes a
chapter on boarding schools and Indian
education, a time that scarred Native
children who were separated from their
families when they went away to school.
There were also opportunities, such as
the Indian Education Assistance Act passed
in 1972, that provided federal funds for
education. Fascinating personalities are
discussed like that of Thomas Jefferson
who had a vision of Native peoples becoming farmers and
helping whites settle the west side by side. Other milestones
included later years, such as during the Richard Nixon administration, when sacred lands were returned to Native peoples
for the first time and the foundation was laid for the policy of
self-determination.
Organized with a timeline introducing the book, chapters
are subdivided into sections with a conclusion at the end of each.
Chapters explore topics such as: the reform years and the
Indian problem; Indian Land Allotment and U.S. Citizenship; termination and relocation and Indian self-determination.
Fixico includes biographies of key figures and documents,
such as the Delaware Treaty of 1778, the Indian Removal Act
of 1830 and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Modern times are discussed in the book, such as the years since
the Clinton era, when more of a partnership with the United States
government has existed, relating on a nation-to-nation basis.
“There is more of a government-to-government relationship with the governments themselves very separate,” Fixico
said. “Native people still have a long way to go, especially
overcoming negative stereotypes,” he said.
“An important part of my job is to use my education and help
people obtain a better understanding of Native people and what
they’ve done through writing and teaching,” he said. “I will
always write as much as I can. I’ve always wanted people to have
a better understanding of Native people.” ♣
March 2012
Indian Gaming 61