South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, was banned from most tribal lands in her state after she made inflammatory statements about the tribes living there. A week later, she doubled down and the rest of the tribes joined in.
How can a state executive be banned from land in her own state? In this case, it’s because of American Indian sovereignty. As one tribal leader once told the author of this post, “A reservation is its own country within the borders of the United States. We have our own government, healthcare and education systems.”
Since 1924, those living on reservations can also vote in US elections. And it is this that could actually tip the scales of the 2024 election.
In 2020, President Trump won the state of South Dakota by over 70,000 votes. There are nearly 72,000 tribal people living in the state. Not all can vote, but 71% of eligible voters were registered in 2018.
This article will start with an 1884 US Supreme Court decision about 1 man’s reasonable fight for his right to vote, and end with full citizenship being foisted upon tribal people, whether they wanted it or not.
Elk v. Wilkins
For an official document on this court case, please see here.
For a short video, we found this:
The US Supreme Court decided on 11/03/1884 in a vote of 7-2 that John Elk could not vote because no one born to a tribal family could ever be trusted to pledge true allegiance to the United States.
End of story, right? Wrong!
The next day, voters in Shawnee County, Kansas cast ballots in the Presidential election. Way down on the ballot was the contest for County Attorney, for which they had the choice between a young Kanza (or Kaw) named Charles Curtis (24), and Judge William Douthitt (57).
Anti-Curtis voters were initially arguing he didn’t have enough experience. It was just a mere 3 years earlier that Judge Douthitt had administered Curtis’ bar exam. Plus, Curtis had only gone to the 9th grade, and before that was a racing jockey.
Due to the pending status of Elk v. Wilkins, the matter of “legitimacy” was up in the air. Could Curtis even be on the ballot? He was born outside of the United States (Kansas Territory) on tribal land, lived on a reservation as a child, and was not an American citizen.
Could Curtis even be on the ballot? He was born on tribal land…..[he] was not an American citizen.
According to his unfinished autobiography, that evening while sitting in the audience of a theater with his fiancée, Anne Baird, the votes were in. Shawnee County elected him as their prosecutor.
In the years after the 1884 decision, tribal people could vote in some states but not others. Some had to prove their competency, which seemed to mean nothing because Curtis, who ran for President in 1928, was never deemed competent.
Competent Indians
To be competent, one had to opt-in, partly by not being such an Indian about things. If found competent by asking to be, and also by acting white, one could sell or mortgage the deeded land that could otherwise never be stolen from them. The flipside was that they had to pay taxes.
Curtis never applied for this status, so when he:
- Got Civil Service tests waived for tribal people applying to reservation-related jobs (1915)
- Recovered a $250,000 settlement from the government for the Kickapoo Nation (1916)
- Tried to amend the US Constitution to include equality regardless of sex (1923)
- Maneuvered Teddy Roosevelt (1900), James Sherman (1908), Warren G. Harding (1920) into the White House
he was incompetent. And his opponents agreed!
“Curtis is one-eighth Kaw and one-hundred percent Incompetent.”
– A zinger from Democrats when he was Vice President, and also a perfectly true statement.
Claiming competence would not have helped Curtis do his job, and it would have led to him having to pay taxes on his land in Oklahoma. So, if claiming competency meant you had to pay taxes, why would someone do it?
Among the answers are personal dignity. While Curtis hoped no one would sell their land, especially when, for many, it was their only chance to grow wealth and stability, others had their own hopes and dreams. If those dreams didn’t reside in Kaw City, Oklahoma, it made sense to sell/mortgage/lease the acreage, take the cash, and make a go of it.
Beyond competence, which ironically meant mimicking government bureaucrats, the World War brought forth rewards for those who served.
Tribal World War Vets
Approximately 10,000 American Indians served in the World War. In 1919, Congress passed an act granting “certain Indians” citizenship. Any such service member could present their discharge paperwork and receive the full privileges of citizenship without impairing their tribal affiliations.
It was an opt-in process but one that permitted tribal people to live with a foot in both worlds, as many had already.
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
Eventually, the fearless men in Congress realized that all Indians should be US citizens.
Was it because they got to know many good tribesmen, learning that they, too, love their children? Was it white guilt? A petition from indigenous people?
No!
Photograph of Senator Charles Curtis
The 1924 Republican National Convention was coming up and Calvin Coolidge did not have a running mate. If it was anyone’s turn to be Vice President, it was Charles Curtis’. Since becoming a County Attorney, he’d been elected Congress and the Senate. He was 64 with about 30 years in national office. However, there was a problem. Remember, Curtis was not a US citizen. He wasn’t even born in the US.
Some wanted Curtis to be Calvin Coolidge’s running mate, but Curtis wasn’t born in the US, and was not a US citizen. He was an “incompetent” Indian
Well, it was just days until the convention, and no one in Congress wanted to put the bill forward because:
- Tribes in their district didn’t want it, so could vote them out of office
- Blacks and whites in their district might not have wanted it, so could vote them out of office
- The votes just weren’t there among other Congressmen, so putting forth useless legislation was a waste of time
And then a brave man stepped forward (or maybe all the others stepped back). His name was Homer Snyder (R – NY), and he was determined to make this happen. The other New York reps banded together and told him they couldn’t support it – perhaps as a matter of principle, but likely self-preservation – so he offered them a solution:
“The New York Indians are very much opposed to this, but I am perfectly willing to take the responsibility if the committee sees fit to agree to this.”
– H. Snyder, House Floor, 5/19/1924
To be clear, Snyder said that he would be the US Representative that all New York tribal people would have on their ballot.
The bill was signed into law by President Coolidge on June 2, 1924, and then the Republicans headed to Cleveland for their national convention.
What Were the Immediate Outcomes?
Charles Curtis did not attend the Republican National Convention. His wife was dying, and even as a telephone call came in from Cleveland with the caller saying, “if you get here, we might be able to secure the nomination,” he replied that he wouldn’t leave his dear Anne, even for the Presidency.
As for Homer Snyder, he suddenly recalled that he wasn’t running for re-election in November.
The following Congressional session began with a new Senate Majority Leader: Charles Curtis.
Inauguration Day Photo
From Left to Right: President Coolidge, First Lady Coolidge, Senate Majority Leader Curtis
Tribal People’s Voting Rights Timeline:
- 1856: The Dred Scott decision deemed Native Americans could become US citizens, but would be as though via the Naturalization process, the same as someone from Norway, Congo or Japan
- 1866: The Dred Scott decision was further strengthened when it was ruled that “Indians not taxed” could not be US citizens
- 1868: The Fourteenth Amendment declared all who were born under the jurisdiction of US power were citizens, except for Native people
- 1880: John Elk, an “Indian taxed,” who did not live on tribal land, registered to vote and was denied. The case went to the US Supreme Court
- 1884: The day after the Supreme Court affirmed that John Elk could never vote, because he could never be a US citizen, Charles Curtis, a Kaw Indian, is elected to his first public office as a Republican in Shawnee County, Kansas
- Various Dates: “Competent” Indians could try to get citizenship
- 1919: 10,000 World War vets of tribal descent could opt-in for citizenship
- 1924: Leading up to the Republican National Convention, there was a sudden fervor to force blanket-citizenship on all Native people.
Fun Fact: Today, there are currently 4 tribally affiliated Americans in the US Congress – 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats. They hail from Alaska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
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