Indian Appropriations Act in the context of "State of Oklahoma"

Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the concept of the inherent authority of Indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States.

The U.S. federal government recognized American Indian tribes as independent nations and came to policy agreements with them via treaties. As the U.S. accelerated its westward expansion, internal political pressure grew for "Indian removal", but the pace of treaty-making grew regardless. The Civil War forged the U.S. into a more centralized and nationalistic country, fueling a "full bore assault on tribal culture and institutions", and pressure for Native Americans to assimilate. In the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871, Congress prohibited any future treaties. This move was steadfastly opposed by Native Americans.

Oklahoma (/ˌoʊkləˈhoʊmə/ OH-klə-HOH-mə; Choctaw: Oklahumma, pronounced [oklahómma]) is a landlocked state in the South Central and Southwestern region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the southeast, New Mexico to the west, and Colorado to the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South, it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla, 'people' and humma, which translates as 'red'. Oklahoma is also known informally by its nickname, "The Sooner State", in reference to the Sooners, American settlers who staked their claims in formerly American Indian-owned lands until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 authorized the Land Rush of 1889 opening the land to settlement.

The Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of the former western portion of the federal Indian Territory, which had decades earlier since the 1830s been assigned to the Creek and Seminole native peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of the Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the present-day U.S. state of Oklahoma. The land run started at high noon (12:00 pm) on April 22, 1889. An estimated 50,000 people were lined up at the start, seeking to gain a piece of the available two million acres (8,100 km).

The Unassigned Lands were considered some of the best unoccupied public land in the United States. The Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 was passed and signed into law with an amendment by congressman William McKendree Springer authorized 23rd President Benjamin Harrison, to open the two million acres (8,100 km) of the western portion of the remaining Indian Territory (established in 1834 with a much greater allotment set aside for the southeastern native tribes of extensive lands of the previous Louisiana Purchase of 1803, west of the Mississippi River), during the administration of 7th President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845, served 1829-1837).