By entering into agreements with tribes, the U.S. acknowledged the government-to-government relationship between the two sovereigns. Many treaties contained provisions for education in exchange for land.

Many tribes chose to assume control over existing boarding schools or establish new tribally-controlled schools that reflected their cultural values and languages. Tribally-controlled schools often emphasized indigenous language instruction, cultural revitalization, and community involvement, fostering a greater sense of pride, identity, and academic achievement among Native American students.

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• Protection of burial grounds at schools

• Repatriation of human children remains to their homelands.

• Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8): The Commerce Clause has been used to justify federal regulation of commerce with Native American tribes, including the establishment of treaties, laws, and policies governing tribal lands, resources, and relations with the federal government.

• Treaty Clause (Article II, Section 2): The Treaty Clause gives the President the power to make treaties with Native American tribes, which historically played a significant role in shaping federal Indian policy. Treaties often included provisions related to education and assimilation.

• Supremacy Clause (Article VI): The Supremacy Clause establishes the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties as the supreme law of the land, binding on all states and individuals. This has been invoked to assert federal authority over Native American

affairs, including education policies.

Key provisions of the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act included:

• Regulation of Trade

• Protection of Native American Lands

• Regulation of Treaties

• Protection of Native American Rights

1.Johnson v. M'Intosh

2.Cherokee Nation v. Georgia

3.Worcester v. Georgia

The result of the “Marshall Trilogy” was Native American tribes were considered “domestic dependent nations.” The relationship between the tribes and the United States was like that of a “ward to a guardian.”

• Expansion Pressures

• Treaty Violations

• Forced Removal

• Resistance

The transfer of Indian Affairs to the Department of the Interior did not, however, lead to a fundamental shift in federal Indian policy. The U.S. government continued to pursue a policy of assimilation and land dispossession, often through coercive means such as the establishment of Indian boarding schools and the allotment of tribal lands to individual Native American households.

Before the Indian Citizenship Act, Native Americans were not considered citizens of the United States, despite being born within its borders. This lack of citizenship rights meant that Native Americans were unable to vote in federal elections, serve on juries, or access certain benefits and protections afforded to U.S. citizens.

While the Indian Reorganization Act represented a positive shift in federal Indian policy overall, its impact on Native American boarding schools was indirect. However, by promoting tribal self-determination and cultural revitalization, the act contributed to a broader movement within Native American communities to reclaim their identities, languages, and traditions.

The termination policy sought to accelerate assimilation by encouraging Native Americans to leave reservations, relocate to urban areas, and assimilate into mainstream American society. As a result, federal funding for education and other social services on reservations was often reduced or eliminated.

The U.S. government determined how much land each Native person would receive and to get the land, the person had to meet certain criteria for enrollment as a Tribal member. The act offered sale or lease of reservation or surplus land to non-Natives.

This order exerted that any land that was terra nullius (vacant land) not inhabited by Christians was available to be taken and ruled. The goal was for "the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself."

Regarding education, Meriam’s team found that Indian schools had significantly lower social and instructional standards than most urban and rural schools serving the general population of American students. The team determined that the assimilation policies were not only ineffective, but harmful, and recommended that schools be relocated to operate on tribal lands and within tribal communities and curriculum be based on Native traditions and histories.