The need for additional regulation led to the 1832 creation of the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Congress passed a law giving the President authorization “to prevent or restrain the vending or distributing of spirituous liquors among all or any of the said Indian tribes.” Part of this authorization included the first attempt to define the borders of “Indian country”, a process that would continue through legislation and court cases for decades. President Thomas Jefferson requested legislation prohibiting alcohol on tribal lands in 1802. This agency still exists as of 2017 in the United States Department of the Interior, along with the Bureau of Indian Education.įollowing the American Revolution, Congress passed laws specifically impacting the sale and consumption of alcohol on Native American reservations. Five years later, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was formed to manage these funds. President James Monroe signed the Civilization Fund Act in 1819 providing funds for schools on Native American reservations with the stated purpose of “guarding against the further decline and final extinction” of tribes. In 1778, the Treaty of Fort Pitt created an alliance between the newly formed country and the Lenape tribe.
The tenuous political history between Native Americans and the United States pre-dates even the signing of the Constitution.
