Statute
Indian Appropriations Act of 1851
The February 1851 Indian appropriations act reorganized the Indian Department and extended trade-and-intercourse laws to New Mexico and Utah.
- Citation
- Act of Feb. 27, 1851, 9 Stat. 574
- Year
- 1851
- Effect on land rights
- eroded
What happened
The act approved on February 27, 1851, is titled "An Act making Appropriations for the current and contingent Expenses of the Indian Department, and for fulfilling Treaty Stipulations with various Indian Tribes." Most of it is a long list of payments the United States owed under earlier treaties, such as annuities, blacksmiths, salt and tobacco.
The act also changed how Indian affairs were run. Section 2 repealed the old laws on superintendents for tribes east of the Rocky Mountains and north of New Mexico and Texas. It authorized the President, with Senate consent, to appoint three superintendents at $2,000 a year each. Section 3 says that from then on all Indian treaties "shall be negotiated by such officers and agents of the Indian department" as the President designates. Section 4 replaced the twenty-three agents and sub-agents with eleven agents at $1,500 and six at $1,000.
Section 5 added four agents for New Mexico and one for Utah. Section 7 extended the laws regulating trade and intercourse with Indian tribes over the tribes of New Mexico and Utah Territories.
Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
shall be negotiated by such officers and agents of the Indian
Act of Feb. 27, 1851, 9 Stat. 574 (Statutes at Large), govinfo.govto appoint three superintendents of Indian affairs
Act of Feb. 27, 1851, 9 Stat. 574 (Statutes at Large), govinfo.govand one agent for those in the territory of Utah
Act of Feb. 27, 1851, 9 Stat. 574 (Statutes at Large), govinfo.gov
Research notes. The Statutes at Large text was read in full for chapter 14, but no secondary source on why Congress passed it, or its effects, was opened. Historians' accounts that tie this act to reservations were not found in the text; if the atlas keeps that claim it needs a source. The famous 'colonization' appropriations of this period were not found in this chapter.
Who is doing the work
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Corrections to this record
- The summary was listed as “Appropriated funds for the Indian Department and treaty obligations, reorganized superintendencies and agencies, provided that treaties be negotiated by officers the President designates, and extended the trade and intercourse laws over the tribes of New Mexico and Utah.”; corrected from govinfo.gov
shall be negotiated by such officers and agents of the Indian
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Doctrine applied 2
Policy era 1
- Reservation1851suggested
Sources
- govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-9/pdf/STATUTE-9-Pg574-2.pdfprimary record
shall be negotiated by such officers and agents of the Indian
- Kind
- Statute
- Confidence
- Low