From “Savage” to Citizen: How Native Americans were Rewarded for Centuries of Struggle and Contribution

By Jason Wallace

For centuries, most Native Americans lived in a state of limbo, neither citizen nor foreigner, at times, considered part of "domestic dependent nations" but never really having full rights. It was not until after their efforts in World War I that universal citizenship was given to Native Americans.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jason Wallace
• Release date: Mar 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310185618

Jason Wallace

Make sure to check out my other poetry at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jasonwallacepoetry. There are books on Amazon that are not shown here because they are offered through Kindle Unlimited. There are also books shown here that are not available on Amazon because they are free at all times. http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Wallace/e/B00JG37PVO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1399103321&sr=8-1 Jason Wallace is an Indie author from the Midwest, aspiring to bring his works to the masses and through this, bring joy into their lives. He has been writing for more than 20 years, mostly poetry, but since 2011, he has been writing novels and short stories, in various genres. Come check out my new page and see what's going on. https://www.facebook.com/thepageofauthorjasonwallace

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From Savage to Citizen:

How Native Americans were Rewarded for Centuries of Struggle and Contribution

By Jason Wallace

Smashwords Edition

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Jason Wallace on Smashwords

From Savage to Citizen:

How Native Americans were Rewarded for Centuries of Struggle and Contribution

Copyright © 2013 by Jason Wallace

Because of the unprecedented patriotism of Native Americans during World War I, both overseas and at home, and because of a national citizenship campaign, Congress granted full citizenship to all non-citizen Native Americans within six years of the war’s conclusion. Arthur C. Parker, a member of the Seneca tribe and the Indian Bureau’s officer in charge of capturing Iroquois draft dodgers, later pointed to Native American patriotism as proof that all Native Americans were ready for full citizenship. Citizenship was first granted to all honorably discharged Native American veterans, in 1919, and then to Native Americans, as a whole, in 1924. Acts passed in 1887 and 1906 that contained citizenship clauses for Native Americans were meant to assimilate to American culture all Native Americans who became citizens. The Act of June 2, 1924, also known as the Indian Citizenship Act, however, was passed specifically for non-citizen Native Americans to become United States citizens and contained no provisions or clauses pertaining to assimilation. The assumptions by 1924 were that Native Americans had all been assimilated by the experiences of World War I and that any tribal culture and/or autonomy that remained were acceptable. It later became evident that cultural autonomy was all that the act guaranteed, addressing no specific rights because citizenship was assumed to guarantee all of the rights that other citizens possessed.

From the ratification of the Constitution to the passage of the Act of June 2, 1924, Native Americans have had ambiguous statuses that have varied over time, with no widespread calls for citizenship from Native Americans until World War I. Few gained American citizenship until the Indian General Allotment Act, or Dawes Act, of 1887 was passed. Because of the Dawes Act, close to two-thirds of Native Americans were United States citizens by the start