Current territorial conflicts

Native Americans handed over 810 million hectares of land to the white in 370 treaties between 1784 and 1871. They were almost always signed under coercion or deliberate deception. The Indian territory of the United States was further reduced due to the Dawes General Distribution Act of 1887 and the amendments added until the early twentieth century. By 1934, the area had decreased from 56 million hectares to 14 million. Almost half of this territory was under federal control.

The Indians demanded justice in the courts, and their demands flooded the judicial system. The Indian Claims Commission (ICC) was created by the U.S. Congress in 1946 to meet the demands of Native Americans. None of the cases examined envisaged the restitution of the land requested, but only a financial compensation for the land that had been expropriated.

The ICC remained operational until 1978, when it was dissolved, leaving 68 cases unresolved.

The Western Shoshon claim, whose ancestors signed the Treaty of Ruby Valley in 1863, is one of the most persistent claims. One third of the ancestral land they claim belongs to the state of Nevada, where numerous and important government facilities are located. According to the shoshons, they did not give up their lands in the Ruby Valley Treaty; instead, they allowed the whites to use them. The ICC investigated the case and found that the agreement had been used as an excuse for the illegal expropriation of 10 million hectares of Shoshon land. Despite the fact that the ICC offered a compensation of about 42 cents per hectare, the land price in 1863, the western shoshons have not accepted money in exchange for their land because many of them believe that Mother Earth cannot be bought or sold. Currently, the shoshons have applied to Congress for their territorial claim.

The problems facing Canada are similar. The James Bay case is one of the most tragic, difficult and prolonged in Canadian legal history, as they face the energy company Hydro-Québec, who seeks to build on their lands the largest hydroelectric complex in North America. Hydro-Québec has flooded 11,400 square kilometres of land and caused ecological damage on another 17,600 square miles. The fish is said to be affected by mercury contamination caused by the decomposition of trees and plants, and it has been found that in the bodies of some elderly people there is a level of Mercury 20 times higher than the acceptable level. The government has advised farmers to stop eating fish in response. During the George River Caribbean migration in 1984, more than 10,000 animals were killed by a sudden discharge of water from the Caniapiscau basin. Continuing environmental problems have reinforced the Crisis’ opposition to the project and their demands for conscientious environmental studies before building new dams. The Cris and other Canadian indigenous communities have urged the government to intervene, but the government’s response has left them confused and frustrated.

In addition, Indian nations face territorial disputes due to cultural differences, the reserve system and the challenges of population growth. Often, these conflicts are complicated by intervention by government or energy companies eager to know with whom to negotiate the use of disputed land. In one of these conflicts, the hopis confront the southwestern navajs (dineh). The Arizona hopis share their traditional territory with the Navajo.

The Navajo Reserve completely surrounds the Hopi Reserve. Both tribes worship the earth as sacred and claim to be descendants of it. The agreement of 1882 established the hopi reserve with the promise to "protect" the other Indian inhabitants of the area. In the shared reserve of 1882 there were about 1,800 hopis and 400 navajo, however, the Navajo population increased significantly compared to the hopi. In 1900, the hopis were about 2,000 while the Navajo were already 7,500, while today there are about 10,000 Hopis and 275,000 Navajo. In 1950, there were more hopis than hopi in the reserve, and by 1968, tribal tensions between these known enemies began to exacerbate. The hopi reserve was officially divided in 1974 when Congress intervened to separate the two villages.

More than 364,000 hectares of hopi land and an additional 162,000 ha were granted to the Navajo as compensation for the 5,000 Navajo who were forced to abandon the new and diminished hopi reserve. Only one hundred of the hopis had to abandon the lands reserved for the Navajo, despite the loss of half of their reserve. However, the conflict has not come to an end due to the long years of dispute, the opposition of the Great Mountain Navajo to move and the constant attention of the press. This case has set a precedent for tribes seeking to receive land instead of money, instead, from their lost territory. But there are still many problems to solve, the most important of which is that the hopis have not received land or money in exchange for the land that was lost. In addition, social costs have increased due to the problems caused by the resettlement of shipyards.

The way in which Canada resolved one of these conflicts demonstrates positive progress in the process of recognizing the territorial rights of indigenous peoples. The Nunavut Territorial Claim Agreement, which the Inuit ratified in 1992, was approved by the Canadian Parliament in June 1993. In this way, the definition of a new autonomous territory called Nunavut ("Our land" in inuktituk, the Inuit language) was established, which will begin to have legal validity at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The ancestral land of the Inuit is Nunavut, where they have lived for thousands of years in the eastern and central Arctic. Under the agreement, they will receive 350,000 square kilometres and more than one billion Canadian dollars payable over 14 years, in addition to the right to hunt and harvest, as well as equitable representation in nature, resources and environmental management agencies. They will share with the federal government the rights to explore gas, oil and minerals in the Crown lands; they will retain minerals rights on ten per cent of the land, as well as the right to negotiate with industries established in Inuit territory. Three additional national parks will be established.