Tom Benjey's Weblog

While researching Keewatin Academy, I stumbled across a mention of Leon Boutwell as having been drafted during WWI. Seeing that reminded me of the statement I’ve both seen and heard lately that Indians weren’t made citizens until 1924. How then could a non-citizen Chippewa Indian like Leon Boutwell be drafted?

The short answer is that Boutwell was a citizen as were many Indians. But how did he become a citizen? There were multiple ways for Indians to become citizens as listed by Wikipedia below:

Key Pathways to Citizenship Before 1924:

• Dawes Act (1887): Accepting individual land allotments in exchange for citizenship was a major path for assimilation, notes this YouTube video and this article from The National Constitution Center.
• Military Service: Serving honorably in the U.S. armed forces, particularly in World War I, led to citizenship for many who applied, reports this article from the University of Iowa and this page from Nebraska Studies.
• Treaties & Specific Acts: Some treaties or Congressional decrees granted citizenship to certain groups, says this YouTube video and this article from the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
• Assimilation: Leaving tribal communities, adopting mainstream white American ways, or marrying a white U.S. citizen could also lead to citizenship, according to this YouTube video and this article from the Institute for Policy Research. 

Why It Was Complicated:

• The 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship didn’t automatically apply to Native Americans, as the Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins (1884), explains this YouTube video and this article from the Maine Morning Star.
• Many were considered “Indians not taxed,” living outside state jurisdiction and not fitting the standard definition of a citizen, reports this entry from Encyclopedia Virginia.

Richard Henry Pratt, founder and superintendent of Carlisle Indian School for 25, years urged not just his students but Indians in general to become citizens in order to acquire the full rights of being an American. Many were reluctant to do so because citizens were required to pay taxes, become eligible for military drafts, as well as for other reasons. Apparently, Boutwell or one of his parents did something to get him made a citizen. He listed himself as a natural-born citizen on his WWI draft registration card and answered “No” to “Do you claim exemption from draft?” So, he must have considered himself to be a citizen. But why?

His eligibility for Federal aid form, completed April 26, 1915 lists both his parents as citizens. His father, who was 1/16 blood Chippewa, owned no land but his mother, who was listed as being 1/3 blood (an unlikely percentage), owned 160 acres. Leon owned 80 acres at that time and had sold another 80 acres. This land ownership suggests that Leon’s parents and he became citizens after accepting allotments, which must have been quarter sections (160 acres). His father likely didn’t receive an allotment because he was only 1/16 blood and the requirement for eligibility was probably ¼ blood. His valuation of his mother’s land seems optimistic.