Since the beginning of European colonists’ arrival on American shores, the native Indians were pushed back. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which created a nightmare for many Native Americans, and to fix the situation, the U.S. created Indian reservations.
On this day January 31st, in 1876, the U.S. ordered for Native Americans to move into reservations. The hope of creating these reservations was to reduce clashes between the white settlers and the Natives. At first the Native American tribes were given land that they could use for agriculture, but eventually even this diminished as white settlers set their eyes on land that the Natives had received for reservations.
For the most part, reservations are self-governing and neither local nor federal jurisdiction is enforced. This is why casinos have become a major source of revenue for reservations, as President Ronald Reagan suggested. But don’t be fooled, most Native Americans who live on reservations live in squalor. However there are many tribes which currently sit on natural resources in addition to casinos; these factions have come out financially successful. There are over 300 reservations, but more than 500 tribes, meaning some don’t have their own reservation, having to share land with other tribes.