June 2, 1924 - Native American Citizenship

Human Rights a Day

U.S. Congress grants Native Americans citizenship. Native Americans were deprived of most of the rights that non-native Americans took for granted. Worse, they were resettled on unproductive land. In 1887, the Dawes Act was created to protect Indian property rights before settlers could claim the land. But numerous fraudulent bureaucrats who were sent to protect natives profited from them instead. Even when the government repealed the Dawes Act, the land was not returned. On June 2, 1924, U.S. Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. This did not give them the vote, since state law governed that right, but by 1948, all states had legislated Native Americans’ right to vote. Of course, the law was only as good as the politicians and officials who administered elections. Over the years, the government of the United States, like all Western countries with indigenous peoples, initiated strategies to assimilate natives into the American way of life. As history shows, this only ended up devastating them and their culture. Although much has been done since then to restore property rights, and many bands have gained control over their own resources and well-being, there remains a long way to go.