Issue 2: The denial of civil rights - For students - We have a story to tell: Native peoples of the Chesapeake region

Reading questions:

How did Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924 affect the civil rights of Native Americans?
How did the fight against civil injustices help unite the Native tribes of the Chesapeake region?

The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were difficult times for Native Americans. The wars between American Indians and colonial and American forces had ended and the reservation system was firmly entrenched throughout much of the country. Native people now fought battles against poverty, poor living conditions, lack of health care, limited educational opportunities, and racism. Native Americans could not attend the same schools as whites. They could not dine in the same restaurants, drink from the same water fountains, or use the same restrooms. The nation’s response to Indian educational needs was to set up a boarding school system that separated children from their families and forced them to give up their languages, cultures, and traditional ways of life. Most Native Americans were not considered United States citizens until 1924; they could not vote or enjoy any of the other rights and privileges guaranteed in the United States Constitution. Lands that had been set aside as reservations for Indians were also coveted, particularly if they were found to contain valuable natural resources. During this time, millions of acres of Indian lands were acquired by non-Indians through fraudulent or unfair land deals.

Racism found its way into public policy, such as in Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which held that, as a result of interracial marriages, there were no longer any American Indians in Virginia. The act asserted that all people in Virginia were either white or black. Native people were classified as “free persons of color” and, thereby, denied their own identity. This law and others in Maryland, Delaware, and many other states forbade anyone, including Native Americans, from marrying people belonging to races other than their own. These policies were known as anti-miscegenation laws.

In the early 1900s, Native Americans began to organize and fight against unjust laws and social practices. The Chesapeake communities began to work together and with non-Native people who supported their cause. In the 1920s, a number of Powhatan tribes formed an official organization called the Second Powhatan Confederation. At the same time, the Nanticoke chartered the Nanticoke Indian Association in Delaware. A Piscataway leader visited and worked with both groups, hoping that a similar organization could be established in Maryland.

These political organizations and communities held meetings and celebrated with one another through powwows and traditional festivals.

As a result of a nationwide movement of people and organizations supporting social justice for Native Americans, laws were created during the twentieth century that began to restore civil rights. Following are two of these laws and their effects:

The 1924 American Indian Citizenship Act: This Act made all American Indians citizens of the United States, and gave American Indians the right to vote. The Powhatans in Virginia, however, would not vote for another twenty years because of the racial segregation and discrimination in the state. The act prompted the Powhatans and Nanticokes to meet and talk about how the act affected them.

The 1964 Civil Rights Act: Officially ended government-sanctioned racial discrimination in the United States. This act desegregated schools and churches, and led to the closure of the Powhatan and Nanticoke Indian schools. The Piscataway Catholics moved from the back of the church, where they had been made to sit, and occupied the front pews.¹

Research resources:

For additional information on racism and its effects on Native American identity, communities, and civil rights, go to the National Museum of the American Indian website.

Group discussion:

As a group, brainstorm about civil rights in America. What do you already know about civil rights?

Think about it: What do civil rights mean to you? Are civil rights a “black and white” issue? What are examples of different civil rights issues faced by various ethnic or racial communities in the United States today? Consider ways that the experiences of Native American people in the Chesapeake region relate to the experiences of others who have fought for civil rights in America.