Villanova University Celebrates Native American and Indigenous People Heritage Month

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 celebrated its 100^th anniversary on June 2. The law was an important and imperfect step toward equal rights for Native Americans.

Until 1924, Native Americans did not have universally acknowledged citizenship in the U.S. The 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford case clarified American Indians could become citizens, but the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution was later interpreted to exclude most Native Americans.[1]

The paternalistic Dawes Act of 1887 saw the U.S. government claim two-thirds of the 138,000,000 acres Native Americans held before its passage, only 2,000,000 of which was returned between 1934 and 1953 under the Indian Reorganization Act.[2]

While not universally supported among Native American communities because of concerns about assimilation and sovereignty, the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 ensured all Native Americans born within the U.S. had citizenship, though Native voting rights were not universally secured for decades.[3]

Some U.S. states explicitly restricted Native voter participation until 1957. In 2008, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives sued to have their voting rights respected under the Voting Rights Act. The Spirit Lake Tribe and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa were among a group which sued to challenge North Dakota's anti-Native American gerrymandering in 2022.[4]

This Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month, we recognize the legacies of genocide, expulsion, exclusion, forced assimilation, and the long ongoing fight for Native American citizenship rights.

This overview was prepared by the Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest.

[1] NCC Staff, "On this day, all American Indians made United States citizens," National Constitution Center, June 2, 2023, https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-in-1924-all-indians-made-united-states-citizens.

[2] "Today in History - June 2," Library of Congress, accessed October 24, 2024, https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-02/.

[3] Onodanga Nation, "The Citizenship Act of 1924," Onondanga Nation, June 7, 2018, https://www.onondaganation.org/news/2018/the-citizenship-act-of-1924/.

[4] "The Indian Citizenship Act at 100 Years Old," Native American Rights Fund, June 4, 2024 (originally published in NARF Legal Review, Vol #49 No. 1), https://narf.org/the-indian-citizenship-act-at-100-years-old/.