There is a
sadin the phrase, "as long as Grass grows or water runs." Grasses die and rivers can
be diverted. Such were the promises given to the Native American people especially during the
periods of expansion between the American Revolution through to the Reconstruction after the
Civil War. However, the irony of the statement has been used by Native American groups
especially the Choctaw and the Cherokee to cite the injustices to Native Americans throughout
all of American History.
How the phrase became
symbolic:
The phrase, "As long as grass grows or water
runs," has become the representation of the United State's failure to keep their promises
and treaties with Native American throughout American history.
A version of
the phase was first used by President Monroe, in 1817:
You are now in a country where you can be happy; no white man shall ever
again disturb you; the Arkansas [River] will protect your southern boundary when you get there.
You will be protected on either side; the white shall never again encroach upon you, and you
will have a great outlet to the West.
As long as water
flows, or grass grows upon the earth, or the sun rises to show your pathway, or you kindle your
camp fires, so long shall you be protected from your present habitations.
- President Monroe, 1817
Monroe's reason for
giving this speech was to assure the Cherokee their land in Arkansas, Georgia, and present day
Mississippi would be theirs forever. However, as the United States began to expand, settlers
began settling on Native American land. In 1824 the Cherokee council went to Washington DC and
stated that the land they held in Georgia was closed to settlement. Senators and
Representatives in Georgia were offended by the statement. The delegation went further. They
cited a 1804 Treaty where they were promised by President Thomas Jefferson that they would
receive money from the United States; the money had never been paid. President Monroe denied
that the treaty ever existed and was humiliated when the delegation produced a copy. The money
still wasn't paid and President Monroe began working on a new Indian Policy: This policy relied
on two factors- 1) The United States should preserve and civilize the Indians, and 2) the Native
Americans could only control the land that they were able to actually farm.
In 1818, things changed again when gold was discovered in Georgia and the United States
entertained a policy where Native Americans should be considered citizens of the United States
rather than sovereign nations. This was due to John C Calhoun, who was Secretary of War at the
time. He also suggested reducing the land that had been given to Native Americans, moving them
to Mississippi, and forcing them to educate their children with the American schooling system to
speed up the melting pot.
Between 1818 and 1830, several changes to United
States policy and removal of Native Americans off of promised property are available- I am
including a website (digitalhistory archives) with the complete list in the references section
below.
Andrew Jackson in 1829 Calhoun's ideas were realized with the Indian
Removal Act. Andrew Jackson had no love for Native Americans. He was born and raised in the
American Frontier in the South. Because of the cotton boom, many American settlers wanted the
land owned by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. These tribes were
considered "civilized" and used the American justice system to maintain their
boundaries. With the election of 1828, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia changed their states
polices and started encroaching on Native American's lands despite Federal Laws saying this was
illegal.
Native Americans appealed to President Andrew Jackson to
intervene in the land grab. Jackson, siding with the states, cited the 10th Amendment and
refused to stop the states from violating Federal Treaties. In his response to the Native
Americans who claimed injustice:
"Say to my reel
Choctaw children, and my Chickasaw children to listen-my white children of Mississippi have
extended their law over their country. Where they now are, say to them, their father cannot
prevent them from being subject to the laws of the state of Mississippi. The general government
will be obliged to sustain the States in the exercise of their right. Say to the chiefs and
warriors that I am their friend, that I wish to act as their friend but they must, by removing
from the limits of the States of Mississippi and Alabama and by being settled on the lands I
offer them, put it in my power to be such-There, beyond the limits of any State, in possession
of land of their own, which they shall possess as long as Grass grows or water
runs. I am and will protect them and be their friend and father."
The tribes appealed to the United States Supreme Court
in Worchester v. Georgia. In the ruling SCOTUS determined that the land
grabs happening in Georgia were unconstitutional. Jackson's response to the Supreme Court
ruling was to ignore it. Of Chief Justice, John Marshall's ruling, he said- "John Marshall
has made his decision, now let him enforce it." This action should have been impeachable,
but at the time Congress agreed with his attitude toward Native Americans. This led to the 1830
removal of the five tribes from their property. 1830- the Choctaw were removed, many died along
the way; 1837- the Creek were removed in chains (3500) died en route. Of course, the infamous
1837 Cherokee Trail of Tears, where 15,000 Cherokee were removed and 1/4 of the population died
along the way. The Seminole didn't go quietly. They managed to hold out in the swamps of
Florida until 1842.
In 1850, Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act,
which officially broke Andrew Jackson's fallacious promise of the Native American tribes owning
lands west of the Mississippi: "There, beyond the limits of any State, in possession of
land of their own, which they shall possess as long as Grass grows or water
runs."
href="http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1227">http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1227
