A Shoshoni summer camp in the Rocky Mountains
- The federal government of the United States recognizes 562
sovereign Indian nations within it borders. (click here for more)
- 230 of the tribes are village groups in Alaska.
- There are 322 federally recognized reservations.
- Between 1778 and 1868, the U.S. govt. negotiated more than 600
treaties with Indian nations. Of those, 371 were
ratified by the U.S. Senate.
- Between 1789 and 1850 - Indians ceded approximately 450 million
acres of land (some under removal) Between 1851 and 1934 -
Indians lost 125,000 million acres of treaty-protected land to
homestead acts, executive orders, and unconstitutional
- Treaty making ended with the passage of the Indian
Appropriations Act, in 1871. After that, the government
treated with the tribes through congressional agreements, or by
executive orders, and statutes. The last treaty was made with the
Nez Perze, in 1871.
- Treaties are protected by Article VI, Clause 2, of the U.S.
Constitution, as "the supreme law of the land."