As American power and population grew in the 19th century, the United States gradually rejected the main principle of treaty-making—that tribes were self-governing nations—and initiated policies that undermined tribal sovereignty. For Indian nations, these policies resulted in broken treaties, vast land loss, removal and relocation, population decline, and cultural decimation.

The "Indian Problem" was produced to serve as the central video in the exhibition "Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations," on view at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. This video introduces visitors to the section of the exhibition titled "Bad Acts, Bad Paper."