The reformation of American Indian policy and the Flathead Confederation, 1877-1893

During the late nineteenth century, eastern philanthropists led a reform movement in American Indian policy that aimed at converting the Indians' status from one of wardship to one of citizenship.Fearing that frontier settlement would drive the Indians into extinction, the reformers developed theories and programs designed to promote their assimilation.When Congress passed the General Allotment Act in 1887, the reformers' efforts reached their culmination.The so-called Dawes Act provided for allotting the reservations in severalty and for opening them to white settlement.The implementation of this policy on any particular reservation rested upon the assumption that the Indians there were ready for assimilation.The Dawes Act made citizens of the Indian allottees and anticipated the eventual disappearance of the Indian reservations.Within the context of the national reform movement, this thesis focuses upon the administration of United States Indian Agent Peter Ronan.Between 1877 and 1893, Agent Ronan served the Flat-head Confederation, and during his extraordinarily long tenure, he initiated the reformers' programs for the Indians' assimilation.Although the confederation did not complete its allotment schedule until 1909, it was primarily during Agent Ronan's administration that they were prepared for assimilation.Peter Ronan was an unusually competent Indian agent, and this study examines his administrative policies as well as his political connections.Agent Ronan managed to increase the general welfare of the tribes, but because they induced tribal factionalism many of his specific accomplishments tended to be somewhat counter productive.Although he agreed in principle with the assimilative process, Agent Ronan advised the government against forcing the issue on the Flathead Reservation.Agricultural productivity and education were Ronan's two outstanding areas of success.But his successes were dampened by a paralyzed legal system, friction in Indian and white relations, Indian conservatism, insufficient medical facilities, and a host of other problems that revolved around the government's desire to confine the Indians to their reservations.Yet on a relative basis, the Flathead Confederation was considered to be advanced far beyond the accomplishments of most Indian tribes.Consequently they were considered to be prime candidates for assimilation.When the allotment process did take place, the tribes utterly failed to assimilate.Fallacious assumptions, haste, and inadequate funding and preparation all contributed to the reformed Indian policy's ultimate failure.These serious obstacles aside, perhaps the most damaging factor was an inability on the part of both the government and the public to appreciate the magnitude of the task that they faced.The reformers boasted that the Indians could be assimilated and civilized within the course of a single generation, and beyond all others, it may well have been this attitude that doomed their program to failure.