The Reservation

A bit part of Native American history is the reservation. Reservations are areas of land that are managed by specific tribes under the United States Government. There are about 310 reservations in the United States but over 550 recognized tribes, so some tribes don't have their own specific reservation. The tribal council makes the laws and rules on the reservation, and the American government doesn't generally have any say over it.

The United States government began forcing Native Americans onto reservations in the 1800s when the Indian Appropriations Act was passed. The government moved the tribes from the places where their people had always lived so that more white settlers could get the land that they wanted. Many people at first tried to ignore the orders for them to move, and ended up being forced into new land where they had no desire to be. This often lead to wars with the Native Americans.
Many things have changed over the years, and there have been many laws and acts passed by the American government, however the majority of Native Americans still live on reservations today. The reservations are in places where the land is not necessarily good for farming and where there are not a lot of places for them to get jobs. While things may have technically changed for them legally, I'm not sure if much has really changed for them.