The Political Economy of the White Mountain-San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona’s Copper Fields
This paper examines intersections between the mining industry and colonialism in Arizona at the turn of the twentieth century. More specifically, it will aim to reconstruct the social relations of Indian reservations, focusing on one Arizona reservation in particular: the White Mountain/San Carlos Indian Reservation, located adjacent to the copper industry and to the Phelps Dodge corporation’s mining towns. After years of intermittent war and forced relocations, in the 1890s, local Apaches and their Yavapai neighbors pooled a variety of resources to live with relative economic autonomy on their copper-adjacent reservation. They produced goods and foodstuffs for use and sale in nearby towns. Some took up cattle herding. Another crucial resource was government-issued rations. Assuming the roles of boss, landlord, and colonial administrator, U.S. forces attempted (with mixed success) to use rations tickets to reorganize Native labor and household relations, creating what might be considered a colonial iteration of the industrial company town. Faced with Native opposition, the government shifted tactics to formally compel off-reservation wage labor. As more Native workers took seasonal jobs with private corporations, off-reservation wages became a partial but necessary resource that helped to sustain life on the reservation and struggles for sovereignty. In tracking these developments, this paper shows how Indigenous labor struggles intersected with and diverged from those of non-Native mine workers and how the mining industry shaped – and was shaped by – the politics of colonialism.
