In 1871, the status of First Nations changes again under federal law. Congress declares “hereafter no Indian nation or tribe…shall be…recognized as an independent…power with whom the United States may contract by treaty,” (Merchant 143). First Nations are hereafter classified as non-national entities.

These images, one a sketch rendering of Eunice Meehaw–a one hundred year old woman claimed by the author to be the last surving member of the Pequod tribe–and the other a sketch of Native Americans bringing furs to trade to a government outpost on the Great plains were both published in the 1871 volume of The Century Illustrated Magazine. Both images communicate a lack of indigenous independence from white culture and assimilating push of the United States government. Eunice, to white eyes, would be seen as a relic of a bygone era who is evidence of the positive effect which the government can have on First Nations. The economic relationship and stabilizing presence of the government on the Great Plains implied by the second image speaks to a broader application of the 1871 policy. The third image creates an infantilized representation of Native Americans as being in need of government/parental intervention.