Treaty of Mendota - Provisions For Assimilating Native Americans

Provisions For Assimilating Native Americans

Similarly to countless other land purchasing treaties between Native American nations and the U.S., The Treaty of Mendota holds evidence of the ongoing Americanization of Native Americans. In Article 4 of this treaty, the U.S. forced the allocation of certain sums of the overall payment to the Native Americans for such purposes as setting up types of educational and economic with the specific argument that it causes prosperity and happiness. Anthropological and historical perspectives have since shown, of course, that much of the focus of these types of provisions was twofold: to "de-barbarize" the Native Americans, and also to try to encourage the Native American's to contribute back to the American economy in the future, if not immediately.

In article 7, de facto sovereignty of the Sioux People affected by this treaty is very much shifted towards the President of the United States and his judgement. No explicit language is used to grant the Native Americans sovereignty over their reservation land.

Furthermore, article 6 prohibits the sale of alcohol in the region. This is seen as a precursor to the 1897 amendment to the Indian Appropriations Act which banned the sale of alcohol to Native Americans. This part of the law was ultimately struck down in the 1916 court decision United States v. Nice.