Indian Citizenship Act facts for kids
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| Other short titles | Native Indian Freedom Citizenship Suffrage Act of 1924 and 1925 |
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| Long title | An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to issue certificates of citizenship to Native Indians. |
| Acronyms (colloquial) | ICA |
| Nicknames | Snyder Act |
| Enacted by | the 68th United States Congress |
| Effective | June 2, 1924 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub.L. 68-175 |
| Statutes at Large | 43 Stat. 253 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality |
| U.S.C. sections amended | 8 U.S.C. ch. 12, subch. III § 1401b |
| Legislative history | |
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The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 was a special law passed by the United States Congress. It was signed into law on June 2, 1924. This act gave US citizenship to almost all Native peoples living in the United States.
Before this law, many Native Americans were not considered US citizens. Even though the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution said anyone born in the US was a citizen, courts had ruled this didn't apply to most Native peoples.
Representative Homer P. Snyder from New York suggested this law. President Calvin Coolidge signed it. One big reason for the act was to recognize the thousands of Native Americans who fought for the US in World War I.
Contents
What the Act Said
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 was quite short. It said:
- All Native Americans born within the United States who were not already citizens were now declared US citizens.
- This new citizenship would not take away any Native person's right to their tribal lands or other property.
This law was a big step. It meant that Native Americans could become citizens without having to give up their tribal connections.
Why This Law Was Needed
For a long time, Native American tribes were seen as separate nations. This meant their people were not considered citizens of the United States.
Early Steps Toward Citizenship
Some Native people became US citizens even before 1924. For example, in 1831, some Choctaw people became citizens. This happened after the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed. If they chose to stay on their lands instead of moving, they could become citizens after five years.
The US Supreme Court also discussed Native American citizenship. In 1857, the Dred Scott v. Sandford case said that Native people could become citizens. But this would be through a process called naturalization, like people from other countries. It wasn't just by being born in the US.
After the American Civil War, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 also talked about citizenship. It said that people born in the US were citizens, but it specifically left out "Indians not taxed."
The Fourteenth Amendment and Native Americans
In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the US Constitution. It said that everyone "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" was a citizen. However, courts often said that most Native Americans were not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the US in the same way. This meant they were still not considered citizens.
By 1870, the Senate Judiciary Committee made it clear. They said the 14th Amendment didn't change the status of Native American tribes. Only about 8% of Native people at that time qualified for US citizenship. This was usually because they paid taxes. Others became citizens by joining the military, marrying white people, or getting land through programs like the Dawes Act.
The Supreme Court confirmed this in the 1884 case Elk v. Wilkins. The court ruled that a Native person born into a recognized tribe was not automatically a US citizen. They didn't become one just by leaving their tribe and living among white people.
Impact of the 1924 Act
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 changed things. It granted citizenship to about 125,000 of the 300,000 Native people in the US. The others had already become citizens in other ways. For example, by serving in the armed forces or by giving up their tribal connections.
Before this act, citizenship was given out piece by piece. The 1924 Act was the first time it was given more widely.
Even after 1924, some Native Americans didn't immediately get full voting rights. The right to vote was decided by state laws. In 1938, seven states still didn't allow Native Americans to vote. States gave different reasons for this. Some said it was because Native people didn't pay real estate taxes. Others said it was because they kept their tribal ties. Or that they lived on lands managed by the federal government.
By 1947, most states allowed Native Americans to vote. But Arizona and New Mexico still had restrictions. Finally, in 1948, a court decision led these states to remove their bans. Still, some states prevented Native Americans from voting until 1957.
A key part of the 1924 Act was that Native people didn't have to apply for citizenship. They also didn't have to give up their tribal citizenship. This was important because many tribes had shared property. To have rights to this land, individuals needed to be part of their tribe. So, the law allowed Native Americans to be citizens of both their tribe and the United States.
Earlier ideas for granting citizenship often involved giving individual Native people land. The Dawes Act was one such effort. It gave tribal lands to individual tribal members. The idea was that these landowners would pay taxes and become "proficient members of society." Then they could become citizens. This idea came from a group called "Friends of the Indian." They wanted Native people to blend into American society. But by the early 1900s, the idea of linking land ownership directly to citizenship was mostly dropped. A more direct path to citizenship was preferred.
Debate About the Act
Not everyone agreed on the Indian Citizenship Act. Some white groups supported it. But Native Americans themselves had mixed feelings.
Some Native people supported the act. They saw it as a way to gain a lasting political identity. Others were worried. They feared it would harm their tribal sovereignty and their own tribal citizenship. Many Native leaders, like Charles Santee, wanted Native Americans to be part of the larger society. But they also wanted to keep their Native American identity strong. Many also found it hard to trust the government. This was because the government had taken their land and treated them unfairly for so long.
One group that opposed the bill was the Onondaga Nation. They felt that accepting this act was "treason." They believed the US Senate was forcing citizenship on all Native people without their permission. The Iroquois, including the Onondaga, felt the bill ignored earlier treaties. Treaties like the 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua recognized the Iroquois as "separate and sovereign" nations.
On May 19, 1924, Representative Snyder, who proposed the bill, spoke about it. He said, "The New York Indians are very much opposed to this, but I am perfectly willing to take the responsibility." After the bill passed, Snyder became the representative for some of these Native groups.
On December 30, 1924, the Onondaga Chiefs sent a letter to President Calvin Coolidge. They wrote that they "sternly protest" the Snyder Bill and asked for it to be "abandoned and repealed."
Native Americans themselves did not do much lobbying for the bill. Instead, two main groups of white citizens shaped the law. These were Progressive senators and activists like the "Friends of the Indians."
Progressive senators on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee supported the act. They thought it would reduce corruption in government departments that dealt with Native Americans. They believed that if all Native people were automatically citizens, these departments would have less control over citizenship rules. They also hoped citizenship would empower Native Americans.
Other groups supported Native American citizenship because they felt the US government should protect Native people. They worried that non-Native Americans were taking advantage of Native people to get their land. They argued that the government had a duty to supervise and protect Native citizens. The Indian Rights Association was a key group in creating this law. They believed that federal protection was a necessary part of citizenship. They pushed for the clause "tribal rights and property" in the act. This was to help Native people keep their identity while gaining citizenship rights and protection.
Joseph K. Dixon, a supporter of Native Americans in the early 1900s, wrote about Native soldiers in World War I. He said that even though Native people had suffered many wrongs, they still fought for the US. He believed that because they helped win the war, the US should now "redeem all the tribes" by granting them citizenship.
Nipo T. Strongheart, a Native American performer and speaker, also worked to support the bill. He gathered tens of thousands of signatures on petitions. His efforts helped the bill pass. However, he was later disappointed with the results of the act.
