Empire of Graft: The Reservation System and the Plundering of Native America
Since its origins in the mid-nineteenth century, the sprawling system of Indian reservations administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs has long been central to Native American life. My project demonstrates how in the formative decades of the reservations’ existence, federal administrators known as “Indian agents” systematically robbed Native communities of the federal payments and support they were promised in treaties. The systematic theft of Indian patrimony became an essential source of power in frontier communities and crippled reservations at their most crucial moment, intensifying Native poverty and fostering a culture of distrust and acrimony. The resulting impoverishment was blamed on Native people, who were then subjected to more coercive forms of government intervention like land allotment, child removal, and forced schooling. This project therefore demonstrates how the administrative plundering of Indian reservations played a crucial part in both Native American and United States history.
Speaker
Ryan Hall, Newberry Library Lloyd Lewis Fellow in American History
About Colloquium
Colloquium is a weekly series of talks featuring staff, fellows, and scholars who are working with the library’s vast collections. These events bring together experts from various fields to share their research on a wide range of topics, followed by an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and engage in conversation.
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