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The middle ground revisited : congressional protection and the Choctaw
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The middle ground revisited : congressional protection and the Choctaw
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Description
Identifier
Thesis
1545
Author
Sadlak-Bass, Alita J.
Title
The
middle
ground
revisited
:
congressional
protection
and the
Choctaw
Publisher
Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication
1998
Resource Type
Master's Thesis
Abstract
Charles
Wilkinson
asserts
that the
Supreme
Court
has
responded
to
contemporary
Native
American
pleas
for
justice
by
attempting
to
incorporate
Indian
understanding
of
past
commitments
into
reinterpretations
of
old
laws
. The
new
accommodation
appears
to
represent
a
resurgence
of the
particular
brand
of
cultural
middle
ground
Richard
White
claims
Native
Americans
and
Europeans
shared
in the
Great
Lakes
Region
prior
to
1815
. For the
new
accommodation
to be
assessed
a
return
to
relations
based
on
mutual
respect
and a
commitment
to
making
meaning
of
cultural
differences
,
however
, the
existence
of a
past
relationship
between
Anglos
and
Native
Americans
in
which
the
former
sought
neither
acculturation
nor
assimilation
of the
latter
must
first
be
established
. The
province
of the
Great
Father
by
precedent
,
management
of
Indian
affairs
and
protection
of the
special
sovereignty
of
Indian
Nations
became
the
responsibilities
of
Congress
. This
study
,
therefore
,
examines
the
early
primary
instruments
of
congressional
prerogative
in
Indian
affairs
for
evidence
of an
historical
commitment
by the
United
States
to
preserve
Native
American
culture
and to
protect
guaranteed
Indian
rights
.
It
specifically
seeks
to
determine
whether
a
middle
ground
accommodation
may
have
existed
with the
Mississippi
Choctaw
. A
southern
tribe
, the
Choctaw
offered
the
opportunity
to
test
Anglo
policy
for
middle
ground
characteristics
in a
geographical
setting
substantially
different
from the
Great
Lakes
Region
.
One
of the
Five
Civilized
Tribes
, the
Choctaw
experience
with
Anglo-Americans
presumably
offered
a
high
probability
of
discovering
equitable
relations
. An
examination
in
Chapter
1
of
significant
treaties
from
Hopewell
to the
end
of the
treaty
making
period
reveals
no
middle
ground
characteristics
. To the
contrary
,
Choctaw
treaty
experience
with the
American
Great
Father
demonstrates
the
incompatibility
of
Anglo-American
national
interests
with
Native
Americans
'
unique
domestic/international
status
from the
beginning
of
diplomatic
discourse
between
the
two
entities
.
Promises
made
to the
Choctaw
were not
honored
; the
language
of
peace
and
friendship
was
manipulated
to
serve
Anglo
greed
for
Choctaw
land
.
While
no
evidence
of
middle
ground
human
oneness
was
found
,
contractual
agreement
to
recognize
Indian
sovereignty
and,
insofar
as
practicable
, to
preserve
legitimate
tribal
interests
were.
Chapter
2
pursues
evidence
in
support
of a
middle
ground
in the
Trade
and
Intercourse
Acts
, the
most
significant
and
direct
efforts
of
Congress
to
protect
Indians
from
white
encroachments
. The
search
for
commitment
to
Choctaw
preservation
in
statutory
law
further
supports
the
primacy
of
Anglo-American
interests
over
guaranteed
special
status
for
Native
Americans
.
Legislation
and the
machinery
to
enforce
it
became
more
elaborate
, but their
purpose
was to
manage
the
demise
of the
Choctaw
as a
nation
and as a
people
, not to
prevent
it
.
Despite
significant
expenditure
of
time
,
effort
and
money
to
implement
treaty
promises
by
statute
, the
underlying
legal
imperative
to
protect
Indians
'
special
status
was
ignored
,
subordinated
to
other
national
interests
.
Implementation
of
policies
beneficial
only
to the
Great
Father
did
not,
however
,
alter
the
legal
force
of his
contractual
agreements
.
Chapter
3
assesses
the
combination
of
treaty
promises
and
legislation
to
enforce
them a
success
in
terms
of
consolidating
Anglo-American
power
and a
failure
in
terms
of
respect
for
Native
American
rights
and
commitment
to their
preservation
. With
no
evidence
to
support
its
existence
in the
past
,
new
attempts
to
accommodate
Indian
prerogatives
could
not be
interpreted
as a
resurgence
of a
middle
ground
in the
present
.
While
not a
return
to a
middle
ground
,
however
, the
new
accommodation
may
be
assessed
the
resurrection
of a
past
common
ground
, a
place
in
which
Anglos
and
Native
Americans
agreed
to
agree
for
mutual
benefit
.
Both
agreed
on
separation
and the
protection
of
Indians
'
special
separateness
as the
cornerstone
of
peace
and
friendship
.
Each
,
however
,
interpreted
their
agreements
differently
,
Native
americans
understanding
promises
as
inviolable
and
Anglos
understanding
them as
subject
to
changing
national
goals
.
Treaty
guarantees
and the
statutes
enacted
to
enforce
them
provide
sound
legal
basis
on
which
to
revisit
old
laws
to
try
to
understand
them as the
Indians
would have
understood
them. The
new
accommodation
applies
the
rule
of
law
to
still
legally
compelling
agreements
in
order
to
right
wrongs
committed
when
the
legal
imperative
to
treat
equitabley
with
Native
Americans
was
ignored
. In a
broader
historical
context
,
contemporary
efforts
to
accommodate
Indian
understanding
of
treaty
promises
appear
to be a
manifestation
of the
retreat
phase
of a
broad
cycle
of
domination
and
retreat
common
to
confrontation
between
a
stronger
and a
weaker
culture
. The
conqueror
may
dominate
for an
extended
period
of
time
but
cannot
sustain
exercise
of
absolute
power
forever
; the
former
may
suppress
the
latter
but
cannot
annihilate
it
. As the
power
,
even
the
need
to
dominate
abates
, the
weaker
but
still
extant
culture
reasserts
itself
, not to
displace
the
supreme
sovereign
but to
demand
respect
for and
recognition
of its
legitimate
place
within
the
status
quo
.
Notes
Thesis
advisor
:
Dr
.
Abner
S
.
Baker.
; "
Submitted
in
partial
fulfillment
of the
requirements
for the
degree
of
Master
of
Arts
[in
History].
";
M.A.,Central
Connecticut
State
University,1998
;
Includes
bibliographical
references
(leaves
103-107)
.
Subject
Choctaw Indians--Government relations--History.
Indians of North America--Government relations--History.
Federal-Indian trust relationship.
Department
Department of History
Advisor
Baker, Abner
Type
Text
Digital Format
application/pdf
Software
System requirements: PC and World Wide Web browser.
Language
eng
OCLC number
42543991
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