http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation For more than 300 years, Native Americans have fought, often through legal efforts, to preserve and maintain their cultures, land and way of life. en Copyright 2013, History.com Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT History.com 2013-06-19T04:00:00Z en Copyright 2013, History.com http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo1 American Indian Movement members, involved in "The Longest Walk,"march in Washington, D.C. to protest anti-Indian legislation and draw attention to their cause. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo1 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo2 A public health nurse treats an elderly Native American villager in remote southwestern Alaska. Thousands of natives receive health care at homes and clinics nationwide. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo2 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo3 A map of Georgia and Alabama in 1823, prior to the Indian Removal Act of 1838, which forced the Cherokee and Creek out of the Southeast and into the Indian Territories (modern Oklahoma) along the Trail of Tears. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo3 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo4 A Tuscarora Indian from near Niagara Falls, N.Y. protests a New York Supreme Court injunction which prevented members of the SiX Nations Indian Confederacy from halting construction lands in the Onondada Indian Reservation. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo4 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo5 In 1926, members of the Osage tribe visited the White House for a meeting with President Calvin Coolidge. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo5 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo6 Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier meets with South Dakota Blackfoot Indian chiefs in 1934 to discuss the Wheeler-Howard Act. The Act, later known as the Indian Reorganization Act allowed for Native American self-government on a tribal basis. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo6 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo7 Harold Ickes and members of the Confederated Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, announce the first North American Indian Tribe Constitution ever adopted and approved under the Indian Reorganization Act. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo7 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo8 In 1948, after years of legal challenges, Native Americans in New Mexico gather to register to vote. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo8 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo9 In November, 1972, 500 American Indians occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs to demand adequate housing and food. Native American Protest in Washington. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo9 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo10 American Indian Movement (AIM) leader Russell Means and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kent Frizzell, sign an agreement to end the Native occupation of the historic village of Wounded Knee. South Dakota. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo10 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo11 Buck Chosa fishes in Keweenaw Bay. The commercial fishing rights of the Chippewa had been granted by an 1854 treaty and later upheld in 1971 by the Michigan Supreme Court. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo11 http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo12 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Native American tribal leaders sign legislation guaranteeing increased economic and environmental protections at American Indian casinos. http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-legislation/photo12