NAs New Deal

Question 1

Positive view

Answer 1

There was a ‘New Deal’ for NAs through the work of John Collier, and they benefitted through the programme. This was a radical departure from the flawed policies of the previous eras, and deserved credit.

Question 2

Collier

Answer 2

Brought about a new respect for NAs and their traditions in the broader public consciousness, shifting the debate away from assimilation towards self-determination

Question 3

IRA self-governance

Answer 3

The IRA enabled tribes to adopt their own constitution and to organise themselves into self-governing entities under federal guardianship

Question 4

IRA change in policy

Answer 4

The IRA saw the end of the allotment system and the reestablishment of the tribe being the primary social unit - tribes on the reservations were again to be led by councils

Question 5

IRA land assistance

Answer 5

The IRA reversed the allotment provisions of the Dawes Act by permitting the restoration of surplus land to tribal ownership. Funds were allocated for the purchase of additional tribal land, with tribes adding 2.1 million acres to their land base 1935-37

Question 6

Blackfeet tribe benefits

Answer 6

The Blackfeet embraced the IRA; gaining access to credit and gaining control of their financial resources once more. By 1938, they had nearly $160,000 deposited in the Treasury Department - the average income for Blackfeet families was $2,639. The IRA facilitated the creation of a middle class

Question 7

Religious freedom

Answer 7

Overthrew an 1883 law that banned ceremonial dances and celebrations, allowing NAs to assert their cultural identity. Included allowing the use of the hallucinatory drug peyote, used for religious visions

Question 8

Education benefits

Answer 8

Native American children were to attend local schools and would learn about NA culture rather than white. More NAs pushed for higher education e.g. Gladys Tantaquidgeon who attended the University of Pennsylvania

Question 9

Arts and crafts

Answer 9

Collier helped establish the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, tasked with promoting and preserving NA material culture

Question 10

Population growth

Answer 10

In 1938, the census indicated NA population was growing faster than national average

Question 11

Mixed view

Answer 11

The New Deal tried to help NAs and brought some positives to them, even though they were not Roosevelt’s main priority. It did not really listen to their concerns and priorities as much as it could have done

Question 12

Limits to self-governing

Answer 12

According to the bill, any plans for self-governing would have to first be submitted to the interior secretary of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for supervision and approval

Question 13

Contract ability

Answer 13

The IRA allowed tribes to enter into contracts and sue - seen as a method for economic development. Also could form corporations and launch enterprises Refused by Navajos and others who saw it as a way to promote Collier

Question 14

Curriculum changes

Answer 14

Curriculum committees serving NAs began to incorporate the languages and customs documented by government-funded anthropologists in their newly billingual syllabus.

Question 15

Community day schools

Answer 15

While the government continued to mandate that NAs attended federal schools, it subsidised the creation of 100 community day schools in tribal lands

Question 16

Co-ops

Answer 16

Collier encouraged women’s cooperatives to produce arts and crafts as an economic venture

Question 17

Social improvements

Answer 17

Collier tapped into the resources available through the New Deal agencies to build hospitals, schools and irrigation systems on the reservations to improve conditions

Question 18

Negative view

Answer 18

The New Deal failed NAs by ignoring their concerns, problems and priorities. The limited interventions that were made were counterproductive and ill-informed

Question 19

Voting for act

Answer 19

Voting for the Wheeler-Howard act was done by a secret ballot, something alien to NAs who usually discussed matters publically

Question 20

Lack of desire for self-determination

Answer 20

The IRA had assumed that NAs wanted self-determination rights, when many did not and had successfully assimilated over 40 years and did not want to lose their homesteads. 75 out of 245 tribes rejected self-governing measures

Question 21

Negative change of governing system

Answer 21

The IRA replaced the previous governing system with a white man’s idea of how they should live

Question 22

Lack of land funding

Answer 22

Funding to buy back previous areas of land was inadequate and was directed away after WW2 broke out

Question 23

Modification of act

Answer 23

Due to the modification of the Act in 1934 by men such as Wheeler, it became more directed towards assimilation

Question 24

Paternalistic attitude

Answer 24

Collier assumed what NAs wanted without asking, continuation of paternalism