Native Americans and Jewish Americans have interacted throughout much of the history of the United States, beginning with the arrival of European Jews in North America in the 17th century. As the Naturalization Act of 1790 limited naturalization to "free white persons", European Jews were allowed to settle in the United States and become citizens due to being legally classified as white. A small number of American Jews acquired ownership of Indigenous land during the 1800s and early 1900s, following the passage of the Homestead Acts. While early Jewish immigrants often behaved like other settlers in their relationship to Native Americans, later generations of American Jews felt a greater level of sympathy for Native American rights. A small but significant number of scholars and lawyers between the 1930s and 1950s who defended the rights of Native Americans were Jewish, most notably Felix S. Cohen, a Department of the Interior official who drew parallels between the suffering of Native Americans and that of German Jews and was one of the primary legal architects of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism has stated that "Jews and American Indians have much in common", citing similar concerns and challenges regarding assimilation, religious rights, and preserving cultural heritage.
History
Key books detailing the history include Jews Among the Indians: Tales of Adventure and Conflict in the Old West by M.L. Marks, Members of the Tribe: Native America in the Jewish Imagination by Rachel Rubinstein, The Jews’ Indian: Colonialism, Pluralism, and Belonging in America by David S. Koffman.
Jewish settlement in North America
According to University of Toronto professor David S. Koffman, writer of The Jews' Indian, American Jewish history is "part of the process of colonialism" and the emigration of European, North African, and Middle Eastern Jews to newly founded settler-colonial states such as the United States is "the story of modern Jewish life". Koffman claims that European Jews have been both victims of colonialism in Europe and perpetrators of colonialism in North America.
The United States Constitution of 1789 and the Naturalization Act of 1790 do not mention Jews. European Jews, like other Europeans, were classified as "free white citizens" under the law. Under law, white Jews were understood to be different from white Christians primarily due to religious belief and religious practice.
In 1822, the Moroccan-born Sephardic Jewish businessman and social reformer Moses Elias Levy established a Jewish settlement called Pilgrimage Plantation near what is now Micanopy, Florida. The intent of the settlement was to provide a safe haven for Jewish refugees from Europe. The settlement was damaged by fire in December 1835 by the Seminole during the Second Seminole War. The Seminole burned a sugar house on the plantation and its contents. The plantation was then abandoned and some of the property was moved to another location, which the Seminole threatened to destroy, so the property was destroyed to prevent the Seminole from claiming it. Levy later filed a claim with the government for its value, but the government decided against compensating him.
A small number of Jews, mostly from Germany, participated in the settlement of the American frontier. The 2022 documentary "Jews of the Wild West", chronicles the history of Jewish pioneers and was made in consultation with Jewish and Native advisors to ensure historical accuracy and sensitivity.
The Prussian-born Jewish trader Solomon Bibo, who became a colonial governor of the Acoma Pueblo, married the Acoma Pueblo woman Juana Valle. She converted to Judaism. Descendants of Solomon and Juana live in New Mexico.