The Seed of Robbery: Contraband and Indigenous Policies in the United States Civil War Era

Abstract

The Civil War Era was defined by a failure of bilateral diplomacy and marginalized peoples’ — specifically freed people and Indigenous people — quest for self-determination. For freed people, the Civil War represented the long-awaited exodus from slavery which freed people used to escape bondage, join the U.S. Army, and systemically destroy the Confederacy. While freed people won hard fought victories, such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, those very same laws purposefully excluded Indigenous people. The tension between the relative successes of one marginalized group and the purposeful exclusion of another deserves scrutiny. The Civil War for Indigenous people was a period of turmoil, trauma, and fierce resistance. Indigenous people, especially Dakota, Cherokee, Navajo, Chiricahua, Kiowa, Comanche, and Southern Cheyenne, viewed themselves and their communities as inextricably linked to the events created by the Civil War and its aftermath. Indigenous political acumen and flexibility to dealing with challenges allowed Indigenous societies during an era of intense violence to resist Euro-American expansion and defend their ancestral lands and autonomy. Whether Indigenous societies fractured or coalesced, allied with the U.S. or Confederacy, the practical diplomatic decisions about how to handle the war of the rebellion recast relationships between the federal government and Indigenous societies. While the actions of the Dakota, Cherokee, Navajo, Chiricahua, Kiowa, Comanche, and Southern Cheyenne are not emblematic of all Indigenous people, they offer a unique window into how diverse Indigenous societies interpreted and reacted to the war of the rebellion.