new deal for native americans

positives

• The Indian Reorganization Act (Wheeler-Howards Act) of 1934

  • gave NA a greater role in the administration of their reservations Corporations were established to ensure that resources on the reservations were better managed 

  • protected the NA's right to practise their own religion and assert their cultural identity, including the use of peyote

  • children were allowed to attend local schools and learn about Native American culture, rather than having Wester culture forced on them 

  • stopped the sale of NA land and recovered large amounts of unallocated lad, which was then use to expand or create reservations 

  • gave tribes the option of adopting written constitutions and establishing democratic forms of government


  • was largely down to John Collier, Commissioner for Indian affairs 

  • overthrew a law of 1883 that banned ceremonial dances and celebrations

• If a tribe created an NA government it would be eligible for federal funds to purchase land, start business ventures and receive social services  

• training in farming was provided and better medical services were established 

• the reforms helped to create a greater respect for NA culture 

• the allotment policy, which had brought poverty and hardship, was halted and the further loss of land was prevented 

• tribes that still lived on reservations were once again led by tribal councils, and this helped to encourage tribal loyalties which earlier governments had wanted to break up 

• Unallocated land lost between 1900 and 1930 was returned NA's became more involved in the work of the BIA 

• extended political rights to NA women and gave them the opportunity to train for domestic work 

• stimulated interest in NA arts and crafts and encouraged women's cooperatives to produce them as economic ventures

• NA women were encouraged to aspire to higher education 

  • Gladys Tantaquidgeon studied anthropology at the UPenn - she worked for the Indian Bureau promoting 
native arts and supporting women's cooperatives


• Collier

  • had 10 meetings with NA's to discuss the IRA (and informed congress that the 54 tribes he met with approved the bill although many had shared their huge concerns

  • sets up the Indian Emergency Conservation Work program - sets up 72 camps on reservations to provide close to home work: 85,000 were employed between 1933 and 1942 

  • tapped into the resources available through other New Deal agencies to build hospitals, schools and irrigation systems on the reservations 

• Government's paternalistic attitude and improvement in education and health provision had significant benefits 1938 census stats showed the NA population was increasing at a faster rate than nationally 

• tribes on reservations were again led by their councils so some reaffirmation of tribal loyalties and resurgence of tribal culture

• Harold Ickes (Secretary of the Interior) favoured a policy of traditional native cultures - he appointed Collier Johnson-O'Malley Act 1934 - government would pay public school districts for expenses relation to educating Indian children 

• many public schools now welcomed Indian children 

• August 1935 Congress created the Indian Arts and Crafts Board to encourage the production of traditional and contemporary arts and crafts In New Mexico the WPA hired artists and musicians to teach crafts and traditions that were in danger of being lost Collier set up the CCC-ID (Indian Division) in March 1933 - employed young men aged 18-2; 15,000 men served CCCC-ID taught useful skills and provided income

• from the Dept of War Collier got surplus army clothing for those poverty stricken PWA employed NA's in building and improving reservations hospitals, schools and sewer systems

• WPA hired 10,000 NA's a year to index and file records for the
BIA

• The RA constructed water wells for NA in North and South Dakota and purchased 1 million acres of grazing land for the Pueblos and Navajo 

• Ickes cancelled NA debts to the federal government - debts were cancelled worth $12 million by 1936 Collier ordered construction of 11 reservation hospitals and substantial improvement of 10 others 

• Got more comprehensive treatment for trachoma and TB - trachoma dropped from 20.2% to 7.2% between 1939 and 1943 

negatives

• poverty of NA was so great the measures did little to relieve their situation 

• although tribes were organised into self governing bodies, 75 out of 245 tribes rejected these measures (setting up tribal constitution) 

• use of the secret ballot among the tribes to see if they accepted the Act was unpopular as they saw the concept of democracy as allen and part of the 'white man's' culture 

• NA preferred to continue their traditional tribal councils, which discussed matters openly and did not have a secret ballot 

• the improvements were not maintained in the period after
WW2 so were at best of short-term benefit

• the policy of assimilation continued The policy of termination was introduced after the war and this further limited the impact of the changes 

• the idea of a separate federal court for NA issues was abandoned 

• insufficient funds to buy back forcer reservation lands General consensus in political circles was that assimilation and not further separation was the way forward 

• original proposal to provide a separate federal court to deal with
NA issues was abandoned 

• Collier

  • the failure to abandon assimilation was a huge personal disappointment for him

  • his view however could be seen as unrealistic and possibly unachievable at this point - it was too late

  • barely consulted the Indians themselves and mistakenly assumed that they all wanted self determination 

    • he did have 10 meetings with NA's to discuss the IRA (and informed congress that the 54 tribes he met with approved the bill although many had shared their huge concerns)


    • underestimated Native American factionalism and got much of his ideas from his work with the Pueblos and Navajos 

• Allotment policy had been underway for 40 years - many were already assimilated or aspired to it


• those already farming were afraid of losing their land if it was reorganised 252 tribes vote on the IRA question and only 174 voted to accept it however only 92 tribes actually adopted constitutions

• Navajo students at day school in 1937 received 13 cents a day for lunch; well below the minimum recommendation 

• Day schools set up were largely unsuccessful amongst the Navajo because lack of roads and Navajo's nomadic ways meant low attendance 

• The IRA imposed rigid and political economic systems which were often alien to NA people The Navajo rejected the IRA”

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