Indian tribes existed as sovereign governments long before European settlers arrived in North America. Treaties signed with European nations and later the United States in exchange for land guaranteed the tribes continued recognition and treatment as sovereign nations. Historically, state governments have been hostile to the concept of recognizing and dealing with tribes as sovereign governments. The United States negotiated numerous treaties which they continuously violated in pursuit of the Indians' lands and assets, and ultimately to impose their will on Indian tribes and people as they seen fit. These actions by the United States reinforce the colonialism theories and the four components of the colonization complex toward indigenous people in the United States. In this project I will expose Colonial practices by the United States toward Native Americans, past and present, the move to assimilate them, and the relationship of those practices to the current condition of the American Indiana. European colonialism uprooted and almost completely destroyed the North American indigenous population. The land grab and expansion west placed all native Americans into harms way. The establishment of the United States of America would be the defining point for the Native American Indians because this created a government with colonial motivation. According to Aguirre and Turner American Ethnicity, in order to create internal colonies government must actively participate and provide coercive force need to control those being colonized. The first rule of the colonization complex: forced entry into a territory and its population. (Aguirre & Turner p.28) American history easily provides us with the facts and intentions of early American settlers. After the independence from England America turned its attention toward Native Americans who were in the way of expansion. The desire for American settlers to move west only accelerated the entry into Indian Territory.
