- Indian Intercourse Act
The Indian Intercourse Acts were several acts passed by the
United States Congress regulating commerce between American Indians and non-Indians and restricting travel by non-Indians onto Indian land. The first of these acts, "An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse With the Indian Tribes", was passedJuly 22 1790 . The acts generally expired and were renewed every two years untilMarch 30 1802 , when a permanent act was passed. OnJune 30 1834 , Congress passed the final Indian Intercourse Act. In addition to regulating relations between Indians living on Indian land and non-Indians, this final act identified an area known as "Indian country". This land was described as being "…all that part of the United States west of the Mississippi and not within the states of Missouri and Louisiana, or the territory of Arkansas…" This is the land that became known asIndian Territory .One of the most defining aspects of the acts was the establishment of a series of "factories" which were officially licensed
trading post s where Native Americans were to sell their merchandise (particularly furs). The factories, which officially were set up to protect the tribes from unscrupulous private traders, were to be used as leverage to cause the tribes to cede substantial territory in exchange for access to the "factory" as happened with theTreaty of Fort Clark in which theOsage Nation exchanged most ofMissouri in order to access Fort Clark.External link
[http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=004/llsl004.db&recNum=776 Text of the Indian Intercourse Act]
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