Indian colony

Last updated

An Indian colony is a Native American settlement associated with an urban area. Although some of them became official Indian reservations, they differ from most reservations in that they are placed where Native Americans could find employment in mainstream American economy. Many were originally formed without federal encouragement or sanction.

Contents

Locations and establishment

Indian colonies are especially common in Nevada. As the Great Basin ecosystem is very fragile, native lifeways became untenable soon after white settlement due to livestock over-grazing, water diversions and the felling of Pinyon pine groves. At that time there were few official reservations in the area, and those were terribly run even by contemporary standards. Many Native Americans chose instead to seek jobs in white ranches, farms and cities. The areas in which they settled became known as Indian Camps or Colonies. In some cases they owned the land they settled on, in other cases they settled on public land. Starting in the early twentieth century, the federal government began establishing Indian trust territories for the colonies on public land.

Following the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, many of the Indian colonies gained federal recognition as tribes. Many of the tribes formed this way are unusual in that they include members from different nations. For example, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony has members with Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone heritage.

Examples

The following is an incomplete list of Indian Colonies in the United States:

Indian ColonyGroup
Battle Mountain, Nevada Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, Battle Mountain Band
Bishop, California Bishop Colony
Burns, Oregon Burns Paiute Indian Colony
Bridgeport, California Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California
Carson City, Nevada Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Carson Community Council
Dresslerville, Nevada Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Dresslerville Council
Elem, California Elem Indian Colony
Elko, Nevada Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, Elko Band
Ely, Nevada Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada
Fallon, Nevada Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas Indian Colony
Lovelock, Nevada Lovelock Paiute Tribe of the Lovelock Indian Colony
Reno, Nevada Reno-Sparks Indian Colony
Carson City, Nevada Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Stewart Community Council [1]
Wells, Nevada Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada, Wells Band
Winnemucca, Nevada Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada
Woodfords, California Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, Woodfords Community Council
Yerington, Nevada Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony and Campbell Ranch

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penobscot</span> Ethnic group

The Penobscot are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Paiute people</span> Native American people in eastern California

The Northern Paiute people are a Numic people that has traditionally lived in the Great Basin region of the United States in what is now eastern California, western Nevada, and southeast Oregon. The Northern Paiute pre-contact lifestyle was well adapted to the harsh desert environment in which they lived. Each tribe or band occupied a specific territory, generally centered on a lake or wetland that supplied fish and waterfowl. Communal hunt drives, which often involved neighboring bands, would take rabbits and pronghorn from surrounding areas. Individuals and families appear to have moved freely among the bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ohio Country</span> Historical region in North America

The Ohio Country was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska Natives</span> Indigenous peoples of Alaska, United States

Alaska Natives are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Russian Creoles, Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups. Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims.

The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washoe people</span> Indigenous people of North America

The Washoe or Wašišiw are a Great Basin tribe of Native Americans, living near Lake Tahoe at the border between California and Nevada. The name "Washoe" or "Washo" is derived from the autonym Waashiw in the Washo language or from Wašišiw (waší:šiw), the plural form of wašiw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian reservation</span> Land managed by Native American nations under the US Bureau of Indian Affairs

An American Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose government is autonomous, subject to regulations passed by the United States Congress and administered by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, and not to the U.S. state government in which it is located. Some of the country's 574 federally recognized tribes govern more than one of the 326 Indian reservations in the United States, while some share reservations, and others have no reservation at all. Historical piecemeal land allocations under the Dawes Act facilitated sales to non–Native Americans, resulting in some reservations becoming severely fragmented, with pieces of tribal and privately held land being treated as separate enclaves. This intersection of private and public real estate creates significant administrative, political, and legal difficulties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation</span> Native American reservation in northwestern Nevada, US

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation is a United States reservation in northwestern Nevada, approximately 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Reno, in Washoe, Storey, and Lyon counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reno-Sparks Indian Colony</span> Indian reservation in the United States

The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony in Nevada was established in the early 1900s by members of related tribes who lived near Reno for work; they became a federally recognized tribe in 1934 after forming a government under the Indian Reorganization Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribe (Native American)</span> Formal Native American tribe recognized by the American federal government

In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in the United States. Modern forms of these entities are often associated with land or territory of an Indian reservation. "Federally recognized Indian tribe" is a legal term in United States law with a specific meaning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native American tribes in Virginia</span>

The Native American tribes in Virginia are the Indigenous peoples whose tribal nations historically or currently are based in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranchería</span> Small, rural settlement

The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the residential area of a rancho in the American Southwest, housing aboriginal ranch hands and their families. The term is still used in other parts of Spanish America; for example, the Wayuu tribes in northern Colombia call their villages rancherías.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California</span> Ethnic group

The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California are a federally recognized tribe of Washoe Indians, living in California and Nevada. There are several Washoe communities south and east of Lake Tahoe united under a tribal council. The Washoe people own over 64,300 acres (26,000 ha) in public domain allotments (PDA); PDAs are land reserved out of the public domain for use by an Indian person or family, but unlike reservations, Tribal governments hold no jurisdiction over them. Nevertheless, PDAs are a consistent part of Indian Country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summit Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada</span> Ethnic group

The Summit Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute Indians in northwest Nevada. Their autonym in their language is Agai Panina Ticutta, meaning "Fish Lake Eaters." They are traditionally known as the "Fish Eaters."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe</span> Federally recognized tribe on the Nevada and Oregon border

The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone peoples, whose reservation Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation spans the Nevada and Oregon border next to Idaho. The reservation has 16,354 acres (6,618 ha) in Nevada and 19,000 acres (7,700 ha) in Oregon.

The terms Indian Country, Indian Reserve, Indian Reservation, Indian Territory and Indian Land may be easily confused. Articles on related topics are titled as follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Native Americans in Utah</span>

Indigenous peoples have lived in the area now known as the state of Utah for thousands of years. Today they are divided into five main groups: Utes, Goshutes, Paiutes, Shoshone, and Navajo. Each occupies a different region within the state, many of which regions extend across borders into other states. In the 2010 census, there were a total of 32,927 American Indian and Alaska Natives living within the state, which totaled to 1.19% of the total population of Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of Maryland</span>

The Indigenous peoples of Maryland are the tribes who historically and currently live in the land that is now the State of Maryland in the United States of America. These tribes belong to the Northeastern Woodlands, a cultural region.

References

  1. "Stewart Community." [ permanent dead link ]Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. (retrieved 8 Dec 2009)