Blog post 3

            The web source I chose to review is called American Indians and the United States Constitution by Robert J Miller. I think the perspective and viewpoint that Robert Miller conveys represents the argument that Indigenous tribes have always had sovereignty, pre and post contact. I enjoyed the way he laid out his argument, starting with Christopher Columbus and moving through to the Native role in the constitution.

           

            I have never examined the impact of the Constitution on the Native population. I took an American history class in college that studied in dept the impact on the African American population and slavery but we did not touch on Native Americans. I’m just realizing now that we probably should have. I think this web source was included in this course because this isn’t a topic that is widely discussed, at least in my experience.

           

           

            Like I said before Miller starts off pointing out that native government's already existed when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. These governments were fully operational political bodies that had control of their citizens and their territories. They would be an important factor in the development of the United States government. (1)

           

            The European countries that colonized North America dealt with the native tribal governments as Sovereign nations. (1)  They negotiated with these sovereign nations “through official diplomatic means”, like official government-to-government counsel sessions to create treaties. The United States kept up these same practices after they took control. “The United States negotiated signed and ratified almost 390 treaties with American Indian tribes. Most of these treaties are still valid today.” (1) It is important to remember that in these treaties the Native Americans were never given anything for free. In fact, often times something was being taken away from them. “The United States Supreme Court stated in 1905 that the United States and Indian treaties are not a grant of rights to the Indians, but a grant of rights from them”.

            After the United States gained their freedom from England the exclusive power over Indian Affairs would be placed in the hands of the national government instead of each individual state. (1) “In July 1790, Congress passed a law which forbids States and individuals from dealing with tribes and from buying Indian lands. This law is still in effect today.” 

           

            In the constitution of 1789, Article 1 and again in the 14th Amendment ratified in 1868 Native American individuals were addressed. The populations of each state were counted to determine how many representatives a state could have in Congress. Indians would not be counted unless they paid taxes. Indians were not considered to be federal or state citizens unless they paid taxes. Even after the Civil War when the 14th amendment was change to include all persons born or naturalized in the United States it's still excluded individual Indians from citizenship rights and excluded them from being counted towards congressional representation unless they paid taxes. (1) This information demonstrates that Congress still considered Indian governments to have Sovereignty in 1868. Most Indians did not become United States citizens until 1924 when Congress passed a law making all United States Indian citizens. (1) However, in many states Indians were not allowed to vote in state elections because of confusion of whether they belong to a certain state or had a more general citizenship to the United States.

            All this wonderful information from Robert Miller has contributed to my views on the convoluted topic of sovereignty. After reading this web source I understand that Native Americans have always been sovereign nations and how difficult it has been to be independent.

American Indians and the United States Constitution by Robert J Miller, http://www.flashpointmag.com/amindus.htm