Indian agency police were policemen hired by United States
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
s during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and assigned to a
Native American tribe. It was the duty of Indian agency police to enforce federal laws, the laws of the state where their reservation was located, and the terms of the federal treaties with their tribal authority.
Many tribes had no recognizable governments and therefore no tribal laws. On these tribes' reservations, the Indian agent hired tribal members to effect law and order according to federal, agency, and treaty rules.
Some tribes, such as the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
, had well-developed systems of tribal laws and tribal courts; the agency police also enforced these laws, and they testified and maintained order in the tribal courts. Since the agency police were federal officers, crimes against them had to be tried in a
United States district court
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
.
Several Indian agency police were responsible for the death of the Lakota leader
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...
.
See also
*
Australian native police
Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some ...
*
Indian tribal police
Indian tribal police are police officers hired by Native American tribes. The largest tribal police agency is the Navajo Nation Police Department and the second largest is the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service.
History
In the early 1800s the Cher ...
*
Lighthorse (American Indian police)
Lighthorse (or Light Horse) was the name given by the Five Civilized Tribes of the United States to their mounted police force. The Lighthorse were generally organized into companies and assigned to different districts. Perhaps the most famous were ...
*
United States Indian Police
The United States Indian Police (USIP) was organized in 1880 by John Q. Tufts the Indian Commissioner in Muskogee, Indian Territory, to police the Five Civilized Tribes. Their mission is to "provide justice services and technical assistance to ...
References
*Bureau of Indian Affairs. ''Indian Law Enforcement History''. Republished a
Tribal Court Clearinghousefrom original published by Bureau of Indian Affairs and archived at
*Ellis, Mark R.
Indian Police, ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains''. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 2011.
*
Remington, Frederic, ''"On the Indian Reservations"''. ''The Century'', Vol. 38, Issue 4, August 1889, pp 536–545.
Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Vol. I, Laws (Compiled to December 1, 1902)
{{US-hist-stub
Native American tribal police
History of the American West
Indian agency police