1950-1970 Flashcards
1
Q
What was the policy of termination
A
-The introduction of more aggressive measures to hasten total assimilation began in 1953 - A time when there was increasing interest shown by timber and mining companies in Indian lands - Termination ended recognition of the existence of Native Americans tribes and the treaty rights that they still retained, and recognised Native Americans as independent, self-supporting Americans
2
Q
What were the impacts the policy of termination on the NAI
A
- Native Americans were alarmed about the termination
policy - In some NAI areas law and order disappeared entirely such
as North and South Dakota - However, -Judged by numbers alone, the impact of
termination was small - It affected just over 13,000 out of a total Indian population of
400,000 - Only about 3 percent of reservation land was lost
- Yet again, it caused huge anxiety amongst Native Americans
- By 1968, the negative effects of the policy were becoming
fully apparent - By this stage, Native Americans had the highest rates of
illiteracy, of disease and unemployment in the US and lived
in the poorest accommodation
3
Q
How did the Federal Government try and persuade the NAI off the reservations
A
- To push the policy with Native Americans who favoured
it, the delights of comfortable housing complete with
labour saving devices outside of the reservations were
widely advertised on the reservations - A voluntary Relocation Program was established, this
gave Indians financial support for relocation - The Indian Vocational Training Act (1956) was intended
to improve the employment prospectus of Indians by
providing work-related training - This training was provided with federal funding for all
those who applied, provided that they lived near the
reservations and were under the jurisdiction of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
4
Q
How did urbanisation impact the NAI
A
- By 1960 around 60,000 Native Americans had left the
reservations and gravitated mainly to the cities nearest to
their reservations – Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland and
Oklahoma City. - Unemployment in 1968 was 42% amongst Native Americans;
however, it was especially high in some tribes such as the
Pueblos in New Mexico (77%) and the Blackfeet in Montana
(72.5%) - A study of 19,000 Indians in Oklahoma indicated that almost
50% had no welfare - Life expectancy for NAI was 44, 20 years lower than average
citizen
5
Q
What was the policy of Affirmative Action
A
- The concept of affirmative action was introduced in the early
1960s in the United States as a way to combat racial
discrimination - Indian workers benefited to some extent from
the policy led by Johnson and the Democrats but continued
by Nixon in the 1970s. - However, like their black American counterparts, the reality
of urban dwelling for the majority was poverty, alcoholism
and unemployment
6
Q
What was the NCAI
A
- The National Congress of Indian American Indians founded
in 1944 - The first large scale national organization designed to
monitor federal Indian policies - NCAI sought ‘to enlighten the public towards a better
understanding of the Indian race, preserve culture etc.
7
Q
Explain the importance of the NCAI in benefiting the NAI during the 1960s
A
- During the 1960s, the NCAI had some successes in its quest
to achieve improvement for the Indians through the courts - It had also obtained a pledge from President Kennedy to
develop the human and natural recourses of the
reservations, but these had not been fulfilled by the time of
his assassination. - Young Indians, however, became frustrated at the slow progress made by NCAI coupled with an increasing suspicion that this organisation was out of touch with the Mass of Native Americans
8
Q
How did Kennedy make attempts to improve the position of the NAI
A
- Kennedy set up a task force to investigate and report on
the future Indian policy and programmes, but little progress
was made on ending the policy of termination as powerful
forces in Congress still supported it - Kennedy did provide more funding for Native American
education but new school buildings and improvements to
provision tended to be on the fringes of reservations rather than
on the reservations themselves.
9
Q
How did the Civil Rights Movement influence the NAI
A
- The growing assertiveness of young Native Americans was
the result of a combination of personal frustration but, more
importantly, the inspiration of the African-American protest
movement for civil rights - The significant change by the 1960s was the willingness to
unite in protest
10
Q
What was the Indian Youth Council
A
- In 1961, the National Indian Youth Council was established to
protest against the injustices experienced by Native
Americans - its role quickly developed into a much more powerful body,
taking on multiple law suits to protect treaty rights. - E.G. National Indian Youth Council demonstrations
11
Q
What was ‘Red Power’
A
- There remained in the 1960s a significant proportion of the
Native American population who did not want assimilation - They wanted back their lands and the rights to love on them
with dignity and according to their tribal laws - In response to the emerging, militant ‘black power’ the term
‘red power’ came into the vocabulary - Young militants demanded, amongst other things, that the
Indians be known as ‘Native Americans’ - In general, however, they demanded different sovereign
rights to black power - By 1968, protest was growing stronger, particularly among
younger Native Americans
12
Q
What were the fish ins of the 1960
A
‘Fish Ins’
- To be able to fish and provide for your family was a key part of
their sovereign right demands – yet this had been increasing
lost as they did not own the land
- Series of ‘fish in’ protests occurred in the early 1960s
challenging the Federal Government - NIYC fish-in on the Puyallup River (1964) - supported by
prominent figures such as Marlon Brando - March 3, 1964, a NIYC-planned protest occurred in Olympia,
Washington. Somewhere between 1500-5000 people attended
making it the largest intertribal protest to date - Traditional
dances were performed on the steps of the state
capitol building, organizers gave speeches, and in front of the
governor’s mansion one group held a war dance - In 1968, Indians in Washington State asserted their old treaty
rights to fish in the Columbia River and Puget Sound - they
staged a ‘fish in’ after the Washington State Supreme Court
ruled against their fishing rights
13
Q
What were the impacts of the ‘Fish Ins’ in the 1960s
A
- The fish ins of March 1964 did not bring about immediate
change, but they were responsible for the gathering of more
than 45 tribes
14
Q
What was the American Indian Movement (AIM) and how did it impact the NAI quest for civil rights
A
- In 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was
established; this was to prove the most militant organisation
promoting improvements for the Indians - AIM use the American press and media to present its
message to the United States public - It creates event to attract the press
- AIM took its message directly to the American public
- Its leaders looked for opportunities to gain publicity
- AIM took up the issue of racial discrimination against Native
American youths - In response, young Native Americans patrolled the streets
wearing red berets and jackets, monitoring police activities - As a result, there was a decline in the arrest and
imprisonment and in the number of young Indian offenders.
15
Q
What was the significance of the Indian Civil Rights Act (1968)
A
- Granted Native Americans, for the first time, full access to
the United States Bill of Rights. - This guaranteed them the right to freedom of religion, the
right of habeas corpus–or justification of lawful
imprisonment, and the right to a trial by
jury (among others). - The idea behind the extension of the Bill of Rights to Native
American communities was that it would protect individuals
from potential abuses within tribal lands and pave the way
for formal trial courts that would extend the sovereignty of
Native American reservations to include legislative authority. - This means that Native Americans’ civil rights would be
protected but they would also be able to govern
themselves in sovereignty. - Extremely significant and in consequence to changing
government attitudes as a result of the civil rights movement
and pressures for NAI organisations
