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by Roberta Carol Harvey (Author)
In 1890, Commissioner of Indian Affairs J.P. Morgan pronounced the settled citizenship policy of the federal government. It didn't simply involve citizenship but a series of actions changing the Indian way of life. He stated: "It has become the settled policy of the Government to break up reservations, destroy tribal relations, settle Indians upon their own homesteads, incorporate them into the national life, and deal with them not as nations or tribes or bands, but as individual citizens. The American Indian is to become the Indian American." It was formulated on the destruction of Indian culture, language, religion and customs and expropriation of their lands and natural resources. Through fear, uncertainty, starvation, disease, and death, Indians were made to question their ability to survive. The process destroyed their cohesiveness and their ability to counter white settlers' encroaching and settling on their lands. Since its ratification in 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act has perpetuated this destructive set of policies.
