The Absurd Ballet of American Indian Policy or American Indian Struggling with Ape on Tropical Landscape: An Afterword

On a recent visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., I was particularly struck by a painting that I encountered. Quite accidentally I came upon an Henri Rousseau primitive painting of a tropical landscape, in which, amidst abundant, lush foliage, was a tiny American Indian wrestling a giant ape. The plate identifying the work read: “‘Tropical Landscape: An American Indian Struggling With An Ape,’ Henri Rousseau, 1910." At that moment it occurred to me that this artist had captured an essential theme underlying the history of American Indian law and policy. This essay reflects upon and develops that theme in the hope that the overall perspective taken will complement current thinking about Indian law and policy, a subject with deep historical roots and compelling contemporary importance. A thorough review and summary of the nearly four-hundred-year-old relationship between the Indian and the United States government and settlers is not attempted. Rather, some general perceptions will sketch impressionistically the nature of the "tropical landscape" of American Indian policy, and the Indian struggles against the "apes" thereon.