In what year were Native Americans granted full citizenship and the right to vote?

Self-government in America was practiced by Native Americans long before the formation of the United States government. And yet, Native Americans faced centuries of struggle before acquiring full U.S. citizenship and legal protection of their voting rights.

Many government officials felt that Native Americans should be assimilated into America's mainstream culture before they became enfranchised. The Dawes Act of 1887 was passed to help spur assimilation. The Dawes Act had a disastrous effect on many tribes, destroying traditional culture and society as well as causing the loss of as much as two-thirds of tribal land. The failure of the Dawes Act led to change in U.S. policy toward Native Americans. The drive to assimilate gave way to a more hands-off policy of allowing Native Americans the choice of either enfranchisement or self-government.

The Snyder Act of 1924 admitted Native Americans born in the U.S. to full U.S. citizenship. Though the Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, granted all U.S. citizens the right to vote regardless of race, it wasn't until the Snyder Act that Native Americans could enjoy the rights granted by this amendment.

Even with the passing of this citizenship bill, Native Americans were still prevented from participating in elections because the Constitution left it up to the states to decide who has the right to vote. In 1948, the Arizona Supreme Court struck down a provision of its state constitution that kept Indians from voting.

More Info: www.loc.gov

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15 Comments

William Laughlin

Ironic that such legislation was ever necessary. They were here first and we make them aliens on their own land!

lls

As First Nations citizens, that should always have been a given.

Paul Greenslade

Australian Aboriginal people weren’t recognised as citizens until the 1967 referendum. Colonialism has a lot to answer for.

Gary Chadwick

surprised that it was so early. Hard to believe that anyone born in a so called civilised country and who's parent etc. were born there weren't automatically . Especially when it involves the indigenous people.

Donna Carder-Kummer

Their voting rights were state to state regulated until 1957, so sad!

Shelley Welch Dunivan

Apparently they were not given the right to vote because they were not taxed. So definitely the heads of churches should not have been allowed to vote!

Noelito

"...Native Americans faced centuries of struggle...". Never was a graver understatement written 😩

catmom

Pat Wells, I agree & other countries as well. This never should happen anywhere in any country. Ugh.

catmom

Pat Wells, I agree with you.

Pat Wells

Gery Tillmanns, Everything like this happens in the U.S. Canada has never created the racist problems that America has.

Pat Wells

ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS THAT WHITE MEN DECIDED WHEN OUR NATIVE PEOPLES COULD BE CITIZENS OF THEIR OWN COUNTRY, especially since all those white guys were of immigrant stock. America should be embarrassed for all eternity.

Jacqueline Tattam

Leapy Lee, could not agree more ✅

Leapy Lee

Joy Holbrook, indigenous Australians were formally given the vote by Federal legislation in 1962. The 1967 referendum ensured they are counted in our population and included in census data. I suggest you look past Wikipedia for your “facts” in the future. Many of your comments on this website border on racist and do not reflect the opinions of many of your fellow Australians

Joy Holbrook

Paul Greenslade, I’m quoting Wikipedia but study over many years taught me that this information is factual. ‘Indigenous Australians, that is Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, began to acquire voting rights along with other adults living in the Australian colonies from the late 19th century. Other than in Queensland and Western Australia, Indigenous men acquired the vote alongside their non-indigenous counterparts in the Australian colonies. In South Australia, Indigenous women also acquired the vote from 1895 onward. Following Australian Federation in 1901, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 restricted aboriginal voting rights in federal elections. For a time, Aboriginal people could vote in some states and not in others, though from 1949 aboriginal people could vote if they were or had been servicemen. In 1962, the Menzies government amended the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to enable all Indigenous Australians to enroll to vote in Australian federal elections. In 1965, Queensland became the last state to remove restrictions on Indigenous voting in state elections, and as a consequence, all Indigenous Australians, in all states and territories, had equal voting rights at all levels of government.’ There is more rubbish talked about this 1967 referendum than almost anything else concerning Aboriginal affairs. As to your claim that Aborigines were not recognised as citizens until after this referendum, you’ve been led astray by the strident voices of the city dwelling elites who wouldn’t survive 24 hours in a town camp or remote community.