500 Years of Indigenous resistanceexTerm IN aTION aND ass ImIla TION :
TWO meThOD s, O Ne GOal
In the early 1900s, the population of Native peoples in North America
had reached their lowest point. In the U.S. alone this population had
declined to some 250,000. As in Canada, Native peoples had been con-
signed to largely desolate land areas and the process of assimilation began
through government agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Here
too, residential schools, criminalization of Native cultures, and control of
political and economic systems were the instruments used. Native peo-
ples, like those in Canada, were viewed as obstacles to be crushed in the
drive for profits.
In both countries, resistance to this assimilation continued in vari-
ous forms: potlatches and sun-dances were continued in clandestinity
and the elected band councils opposed. As well, Native peoples began
forming organizations to work against government polices. In 1912, the
Alaska Native Brotherhood was formed by the Tlingit and Tsimshian at
Sikta. That same year, the Nishga Land Claims Petition was presented
to the Canadian government concerning the recognition of aboriginal
title; no treaties had or have been signed with First Nations in BC [as of
1991]—with the exception of a north-eastern corner of BC included in
Treaty No. 8 and some minor treaties on Vancouver Island. Yet Natives
in BC had found themselves dispossessed of their territory and subjected
to the Indian Act. In 1916 the Nishga joined with the interior Salish and
formed another inter-tribal organization, the Allied Tribes of BC. Funds