Indian Reorganisation (1928-1942) II::

Collier's Vision

John Collier, who was appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs by President Roosevelt in 1933, and who had been active in the reform movement since the early 1920s, encouraged the acceleration of the trends begun in the Meriam Report. In 1933 he emphasised the consolidation of tribal lands, stressed the importance of local day schools over distant boarding schools, more Indian employment in the Bureau of Indian Affairs (the BIA), and decentralisation of the Indian service. In 1934 he called for the revival of tribalism and a preservation of Indian heritage.

Major reform legislation was passed, although much of it was enacted in a much compromised form. The Johnson-O'Malley Act (1934), for example, encouraged federal-state cooperation in the provision of education, medical attention, agricultural assistance, and social welfare to Indians. But the biggest piece of reform legislation during this period was the passing of the Indian Reorganisation Act (1934), or simply, the IRA, which embodied much of Collier's attempts to encourage self-determination, cultural plurality, a revival of tribalism, and economic development.