Indigenous People's Glossary

Index of Terms Created and Defined by Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz

Assimilation

Assimilation is an attempt by a dominant culture to convince less dominant cultures to adopt its values. This takes several forms throughout the history of the United States, including Christian missions and boarding schools. But even well-intended endeavors often come from a perspective of White supremacy, as Indigenous peoples faced beatings for following their traditional practices. Massacres of the Moravian Delaware also demonstrate how assimilation did not necessarily protect Indigenous peoples from violence.

Calvinism

Calvinism is John Calvin’s 16th century interpretation of Christianity. In addition to strict adherence to biblical doctrine, Calvinists believed in predestination—that humans have no free will or control over their spiritual fate. As one of the “elect,” however, obedient Calvinists have the highest prospect for salvation and should interpret material wealth as a sign of divine favor. Calvinist beliefs, extreme even for their time, influenced American exceptionalism and disdain towards disadvantaged populations.

Doctrine Of Discovery

The Doctrine of Discovery is a set of Catholic Church communications in the 1400s CE proclaiming that any Europeans who “discover” Indigenous land have ownership over it. These instructions drove the invasion of peoples in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. This doctrine continues to shape history classes by presenting conquests as exploration and settlements.

Environmental Racism

Environmental racism occurs when communities of color disproportionately endure the negative effects of environmental damage, compared to their White counterparts. In the case of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the environmental racism was a matter of policy, as the original plan would have placed the route closer to the North Dakota capital of Bismarck, a majority White city, before its operators moved the route towards the Standing Rock reservation instead.

Ethnic Cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is the act of rendering an area ethnically homogenous by eliminating unwanted peoples or intimidating them out of the area. The United States’ forced removal of Indigenous nations from their homelands is an example. However, Indigenous Peoples’ History warns readers to examine terminology like this critically. The fact that “cleansing” usually refers to positive activities makes the term a euphemism for murder and terrorism.

Genocide

According to the United Nations, genocide is a campaign to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” (13). Much of European and American policy towards Indigenous nations would be considered genocide by modern standards, including the killing of civilians, destruction of food sources, and placing children with out-of-nation foster parents.

General Allotment Act Of 1887

Also known as the Dawes Act for its writer, Senator Henry Dawes, the law reorganized reservation lands as individually owned parcels rather than as communal lands. As the number of parcels outnumbered the residents, the government could then sell the surplus parcels. Both it and the Curtis Act, which did the same to nations that did not technically reside on reservations, dealt severe blows to Indigenous territory sizes.

Ghost Dance

The Ghost Dance is a ceremonial dance created by Wovoka of the Paiute nation in the 1880s. His prophecy stated that the dance would eliminate the settlers, return Indigenous lands to pre-colonial times, and restore the buffalo. The dance spread across reservations as an act of nonviolent resistance, which drove U.S. suppression of it that culminated in the Wounded Knee massacre.

Great Law Of Peace

The Great Law of Peace is the constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which informed parts of the United States Constitution. Its primary tenets are to maintain peace, promote equity and justice for the people, and encourage diplomacy over war. As with most early Indigenous legal systems, it prioritizes community needs over individuals.

Hydraulic Agriculture

Hydraulic agriculture is a form of large-scale farming that incorporates advanced water management techniques, such as dams and irrigation systems. The early Indigenous nations’ use of hydraulic agriculture for crops such as corn, which require human care, is proof of their technological sophistication.

Indian Removal Act Of 1830

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a Congressional act that authorized the creation of tracts of land west of the Mississippi River to assign to specific tribes upon the signing of new treaties. It led to 86 treaties with 26 Indigenous nations to move them to reservations. These treaties were largely a cover as Andrew Jackson’s administration refused to honor previous treaties, imprisoned noncompliant leaders, and negotiated with unauthorized stand-ins. The Cherokee Trial of Tears in 1838 was the most prominent result of this Act, but other nations suffered similar losses from these forced migrations.

Irregular Warfare

As opposed to traditional battle tactics, irregular warfare weakens enemies by specifically targeting civilians. European settlers employed several methods on Indigenous peoples, including scalping rewards, diseases like smallpox, and the destruction of towns. Today, these are considered acts of genocide.

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny is the belief that US expansionism from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean was a divine ordinance. The American government accomplished this through land deals like the Louisiana Purchase and the takeover of Northern Mexico territories in the Mexican-American War. The Indigenous nations within these lands had no input in these negotiations, and the US government saw them as obstacles to be removed or assimilated.

Reservation

A reservation is a land base on which Indigenous nations agree to live in exchange for protection from settlers. Initially developed between the time of American independence to 1871, these reservations are sometimes far away from ancestral lands and the result of military threats. The US government also further reduced Indigenous territory through debt schemes, allotment parcels, and the termination of recognized sovereignty. Indigenous nations have the right to self-governance, but there are legal loopholes such as the inability to prosecute non-Indigenous peoples for crimes committed on their territory.

Reserved Rights

Reserved Rights are rights that nations did not specifically relinquish in treaties. For example, nations can still hunt and fish on public lands. The 1905 US Supreme Court case United States v. Winans established this precedent.

Reparations And Repatriations

Reparations are compensation to victims of historical injustice. With Indigenous peoples, it usually comes as a monetary reward or the return of illegally obtained lands. Repatriations are the return of stolen remains and artifacts from Indigenous lands. This term is important as it defines Indigenous remains as those of a foreign prisoner of war.

Settler Colonialism

Settler colonialism is the book’s preferred term for the method that the United States used to build the country into its current form and the perspective. Its tenets include the concept of White supremacy, the use of enslaved Africans, and a policy of Indigenous genocide and land theft.

Stewardship

Stewardship is the Indigenous peoples’ understanding that careful resource management is necessary to preserve the land for future generations. This took the form of controlled fires to create agriculture and foraging areas as well as grazing fields for hunting. What many Europeans took to be naturally pristine areas was the work of centuries of Indigenous agricultural work, and stewardship continues today in the form of protests against energy and mining projects.

Terminal Narrative

A terminal narrative is the tendency to treat Indigenous nations as obsolete and wiped out by military might or disease. It often ties into the practice of “firsting and lasting,” where societies focus on the first achievements of European settlers, and Indigenous people only appear as dead or defeated groups. 

White Supremacy

White supremacy is the belief that European peoples and culture are superior to others. Its origins date at least as far back as the Crusades against Muslim nations, when the concept of limpieza de sangre gave preference to Christian bloodlines. On a macro level, it justifies the enslavement of other peoples, the removal of their lands, and forced assimilation. On a micro level, it means that White individuals receive better treatment and less severe punishments.