American Indian Political Action III::

1940s and 1950s

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) emerged in the mid-1940s. It too was a supratribal political organisation, though with rather different goals and a much broader base of support than the Society of American Indians. NCAI's leaders - men and women - were also largely well-educated (graduates, for example, of Haskell or Carlisle) and professionals. Unlike the SAI, NCAI emphasised tribalism as well as pan-Indianism - that is, it embraced an emergent commonality of interests as well as the distinct tribal identities the Indian world comprised. In effect, it was an organisation of tribes (75 delegates from some 50 reservations attended its first convention in 1944, for instance) and emphasised, not assimilation, but the preservation of tribal rights and existence. Unlike the SAI or the AIF, NCAI was less concerned with Indian contributions to the larger society than with Indian rights and interests within it. Here are its objectives, as outlined in its constitution:

"To enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian race; to preserve Indian cultural values; to seek an equitable adjustment of tribal affairs; to secure and to preserve rights under Indian treaties with the United States; and otherwise to promote the common welfare of the American Indians."

In practical terms, NCAI offered tribes assistance and information on such things as Indian legislation and political lobbying tactics; it also lobbied for Indian interests before Congress and the BIA. It campaigned at a national, regional and tribal level.

During the 1950s, federal Indian policy turned from outright assimilation to outright termination. It sought to eradicate tribes' distinct status altogether. Here is an example of how termination bolstered Indian supratribal activism. In 1954, Congress passed the Menominee Termination Act. At the time, though poverty was substantial on the Menominee reservation, the tribe was riding high: it had reserves of cash and a thriving forest products industry providing many with jobs and income. With termination, the reservation became a county. Tribal assets came under the control of a corporation in which individual Menominees held shares. Previously untaxed lands became subject to state and local taxes. The tribal hospital, once financed by Washington, was shut down and other services were cut. In an attempt to remain solvent, the corporation began laying off mill workers, throwing more Menominees on welfare. Faced with rising taxes and unemployment, many began to sell their shares. Before long the corporation had no choice but to lease its lands to non-Indians in order to raise money. By the mid-1960s, the result of termination was a shambles.

Much of Indian Country was aroused. Many Indian nations saw termination policies as the greatest threat to their survival since the end of military action against them. As early as 1954, the NCAI convened an emergency conference in Washington to protest the congressional moves. Indians were overtly opposed to both the assimilationist nature of termination as well as incensed at the lack of Indian input into federal Indian policy making and implementation.

The result of termination was a major shot in the arm of Indian supratribalism - a national Indian consciousness was raised significantly and various Indian leaders and organisations worked together to oppose termination. Along with the emerging civil rights movement, National pan-Indian opposition to termination in the 1950s and early 1960s paved the way for the new climate in federal Indian law - the era of self-determination, as espoused by Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. As an aside, in 1973, Congress restored the tribal status of the Menominee.

Another tributary of pre-1960s supratribalism has its source in the universities. By 1957 there were some 2000 Indians attending college. Such students had a major impact on politics. Indian students at the University of New Mexico, for example, founded an Indian club - the Kiva Club. In 1954 a group of these students gathered in Sante Fe to discuss Indian education and Indian affairs in concert with older tribal leaders. An outcome of the gathering was the establishment of other Indian clubs in universities, regional Indian youth councils and then Indian youth conferences which discussed a variety of Indian issues.

The largest of these youth conferences took place in 1960 and drew 350 Indians from 57 tribes. In 1961, 10 of these young Indians founded the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) which quickly became a major player on the Indian political scene.

So from all this, we can say that the vibrancy and power of the so-called Red Power movement that swept through the 1960s and 1970s owed much of its success not merely to the political climate of the 1960s, but to the rapidly developing pan-Indian activism that has its roots late in the nineteenth century.